INHERENCY: AMERICAN PUBLIC IS PROFOUNDLY MISINFORMED ABOUT NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE REALITIES

John Ashcroft St. Louis Post-Dispatch March 23, 1999, SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. B7, HEADLINE: MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM IS URGENTLY NEEDED // lnu-acs

A recent poll shows that more than 85 percent of Americans favor the deployment of a missile defense system and that three out of every four Americans were surprised to learn that the United States cannot destroy an incoming ballistic missile.

The American people would be even more surprised to learn that they remain defenseless today, not so much due to the cost or technological hurdles of missile defense as to a lack of political leadership here in Washington.