IMPACT: NMD IS NEEDED TO PROTECT AGAINST NEW PROLIFERANTS ENGAGING IN A WMD ATTACK ON THE USA

MOST MILITARY EXPERTS SAY THAT MISSILE DEFENSE IS ESSENTIAL TO COUNTER THREATS BY SO-CALLED "ROGUE STATES"

Justin Brown, The Christian Science Monitor, November 12, 1999, SECTION: USA; Pg. 1 HEADLINE: Forcing a rethink of global security // acs-ln-11-19-99

The concept of a national missile-defense system is supported by most US leaders and military experts. With long-range missile technology becoming more accessible, building a shield is considered the only way to counter rogue states, some of whom may soon be able to wipe out a major US city at a moment's notice.

THE THREAT OF SMALL NATIONS WITH BALLISTIC MISSILES IS THAT THEY WILL ENGAGE IN DIPLOMATIC BLACKMAIL

BOB DROGIN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times September 10, 1999, SECTION: Part A; Page 1; HEADLINE: MISSILE THREAT TO U.S. 'SERIOUS,' REPORT WARNS // lnu-acs

Although the number of nuclear-armed missiles capable of striking the United States has decreased since the Cold War, the report says the world has grown less secure because missile technology has spread to unpredictable regimes such as North Korea and Iran. Such states may threaten to use missiles as a means of diplomatic blackmail, rather than for warfare.

USA NEEDS MISSILE DEFENSE TO AVOID MISSILE BLACKMAIL FROM MANY SOURCES

The Columbus Dispatch, October 11, 1999, SECTION: EDITORIAL & COMMENT, Pg. 10A, HEADLINE: ON TARGET TESTS PUT ANTI-MISSILE SHIELD A STEP CLOSER // ln-10-29-99-acs

Even without deploying that weapon, Pyongyang has wrung important concessions from the Clinton administration, which last month lifted trade and travel sanctions against North Korea in return for the communist nation's pledge to stop testing the new missile.

The possibilities for missile blackmail against the United States are obvious to enemies around the world.

Without a missile-defense system, the United States will remain vulnerable to such threats. The recent missile-interception successes suggest that such a shield can be built. For the security of the nation, it should be built.

DETERRENCE HAS FAILED AS A SYSTEM, AND DEFENSES ARE NECESSARY TO STOP "ROGUE" NATIONS

PHILIP STEPHENS February 9, 2001, Financial Times (London) SECTION: COMMENT & ANALYSIS; Pg. 19 HEADLINE: COMMENT & ANALYSIS: Shadows over Nato's unity: The partners are not yet ready to admit it but transatlantic disputes over defence and security reflect diverging attitudes //VT2002acsln

In the good old days of the cold war, the Soviet menace was always more important than any differences within the alliance. The US and Europe both sheltered under the umbrella of Mutually Assured Destruction. But Moscow no longer threatens a nuclear holocaust. Russia is powerful but poor. US hegemony is assured.

So traditional deterrence has lost its appeal. US security concerns now focus on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the missile technology needed to deliver them. The Central Intelligence Agency warns that the US is more likely now than during the cold war to face a missile attack. The new enemies are the rogue states: North Korea, Iran, Libya. The capacity to destroy them is insufficient comfort. Washington must build impermeable defences.

WE NEED NMD TO COUNTER THE MAIN SECURITY THREAT — A SMALL SCALE ATTACK OR ACCIDENT

EDITORIAL;Chicago Sun-Times May 01, 2001,  SECTION: Pg. 27 HEADLINE: Missile defense must go forward //VT2002acsln

Opponents will groan that missile defense involves technical challenges too great to overcome. The mind-boggling advances from our laboratories and research facilities in recent years belie that. Russia, China and some of our allies will complain for political reasons. The United States seeks no military confrontation with any country. Bush plans to reduce our stockpile of nuclear weapons, another campaign promise. And there's nothing to prevent further negotiations with Russia to lower our respective missile arsenals further. But we still live in a dangerous world. The president's plan recognizes that the main threat today is a small-scale nuclear attack or accidental launch, not a global catastrophe as during the Cold War. Bush would be derelict in his duties if he did not respond to the changed realities of the world.

EMERGING MISSILE FORCES COULD KILL MILLIONS OF AMERICANS

Paul Leavitt; USA TODAY September 10, 1999, Pg. 19A HEADLINE: Russia, China, N. Korea top list of possible threats to U.S. // lnu-acs

   Russia, China and North Korea pose the greatest threat to the United States from long-range ballistic missiles, the CIA said in a report Thursday. The report comes as the Republican-led Congress pushes President Clinton to endorse a national missile defense system. The new threats are from North Korea, which might test-fire a new long-range missile this year, and Iran, which over the next 15 years is likely to develop missiles that reach the United States. The threat from North Korea is heightened by its "willingness to sell its missiles," an unclassified summary of the report said. It said the emerging missile forces could kill millions of Americans and could be armed with nuclear, chemical or biological warheads.

NMD IS A SENSIBLE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF WMD PROLIFERATION

John B Sheldon, Centre for Security Studies, University of Hull January 17, 2001, The Independent (London) SECTION: COMMENT; Pg. 2 HEADLINE: US MISSILE DEFENCE //VT2002acsln

In the past all we had to do was deter the old Soviet Union. Today the US and its allies are faced with a strategic environment that poses myriad threats that could well prove undeterrable by traditional Cold War methods. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles is a matter of public record. A missile defence is an eminently sensible idea that would strengthen deterrence in the face of uncertainty and enable freedom of action on the international stage free from nuclear blackmail by rogue states.

NMD IS NEEDED AS PROTECTION AGAINST ATTACKS BY "ROGUE NATIONS"

PETER MALONE, managing director of CSP Associates, a strategy consulting firm, January 24, 2001, The Boston Globe SECTION: OP-ED; Pg. A15 HEADLINE: MISSILE DEFENSE AND ARMS REDUCTION //VT2002acsln

Missile defense is needed to deal with threats from immature or "rogue nations." In the absence of this defense, the United States may be deterred in the future from defending its interests should hostile Third World nations develop even the most rudimentary missile threat.

CURRENT PROLIFERATION EFFORTS HAVE FAILED, TIME FOR NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE

James T. Hackett national security official in the Nixon and Reagan administrations,The San Diego Union-Tribune August 04, 1999, SECTION: OPINION Pg. B-9: HEADLINE: Tests show missile defenses can work // lnu-acs

The administration's struggle to stop nuclear and missile proliferation through diplomacy has failed. India and Pakistan joined the nuclear club and both are developing longer-range missiles to carry nuclear weapons. North Korea may have acquired a nuclear weapon and is advancing its ability to deliver it to U.S. soil. China is modernizing its nuclear weapons and the missiles that can drop them anywhere on the U.S. mainland. Iran, with the help of Russian engineers and Russian rocket engines, is working on missiles that can reach both Europe and the United States.

AS PROLIFERATION TAKES PLACE, THE RISK GROWS THAT SOMEONE WILL LAUNCH A NUCLEAR WEAPON AGAINST THE USA

Joseph Perkins The San Diego Union-Tribune March 12, 1999, SECTION: OPINION Pg. B-11: HEADLINE: Why we need full speed ahead on a national missile defense system; As As a growing number of nations unfriendly to the United States develop nuclear weapons, the possibility increases exponentially that one day in the future a maniacal leader of one of these that countries will be tempted to launch a missile at an American city. America can wait until such a catastrophe occurs before deploying a national missile defense. Or it can move full speed ahead to deploy, as Sens. Cochran and Inouye advocate, as soon as is technologically possible.

NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE IS DRIVEN BY A GROWING CONVICTION THAT WE CANNOT STOP NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

The Times (London) August 18, 1999, HEADLINE: Club mad // lnu-acs

The trigger is a congressional bill, which President Clinton reluctantly signed into law in July, which obliges the Administration to build, as soon as it is technically feasible, a National Missile Defence System to protect the United States against missile attacks by rogue states. The cause is the growing belief, not only on the American Right, that the battle to prevent missile proliferation has been lost - and lost to states which are the last countries the world would wish to see so equipped.