Costly Plan to Deploy Anti-Missile System in Alaska Criticized as Ineffective and Provoking New Arms Race

Interview with Stephen Young, senior analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, conducted by Between The Lines' Scott Harris

One year after announcing America's withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty -- signed with the former Soviet Union in 1972 -- President Bush made public his administration's plan to deploy the system's first missiles in Alaska by 2004. While Russia and China have muted their criticism of the U.S. move, their military leaders have warned that the Bush decision to deploy a missile defense system will likely mean their nations will build more intercontinental missiles with countermeasures to reduce any American advantage.

Many political and military observers also express concern that Bush's decision to build an anti-missile system will provoke nuclear enemies India and Pakistan to further build up their atomic arsenals. Beyond the global instability this decision may produce, scientists maintain that the costly system being built will be ineffective at intercepting any attack by real or imagined enemies such as North Korea.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Stephen Young, senior analyst, with the Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security Program, who takes a critical look at the viability of and likely fallout from deployment of a U.S. anti- missile system.

Contact the Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security Program by calling (617) 547-5552 or visit their Web site at www.ucsusa.org

Related links:

Global Network Against Nuclear Weapons and Power in Space: www.space4peace.org

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