- WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld says the United States expects to have a limited ability
to defend against incoming long-range ballistic missiles by the end of
2004.
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- In remarks prepared for delivery to the seventh annual
Space and Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville, Alabama, on August
18, Rumsfeld pointed out that the first ground-based missile interceptor
was placed in its silo in Fort Greely, Alaska, on July 22, some two years
after President Bush announced his decision to deploy an initial missile
defense capability.
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- Disputing critics who claim that such defense capabilities
are destabilizing, the secretary said "missile defense continues to
be a means of building closer relations with allies like Japan, Italy,
and Israel, as well as new friends and allies."
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- Instead of waiting to launch what he described as a fixed
and final missile defense architecture, Rumsfeld said the United States
is deploying only "an initial set of capabilities." In a follow-up
session with reporters, he said it is not necessary to wait "to have
something perfected." The notion, he said, is to evolve and test systems,
to learn from that and to then make improvements. In addition, the capabilities
of a missile defense system will improve with new technological advances,
the secretary said.
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- The issue of when to put the missile defense system on
alert is an issue for the experts to determine in the future, Rumsfeld
told reporters attending the annual conference, which was sponsored by
the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
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- Five additional interceptors are scheduled to be added
to the missile defense complex in Alaska by the end of 2004, and the Missile
Defense Agency (MDA) hopes to put another 10 interceptors there by the
end of 2005. In addition, MDA expects four interceptors to be placed at
Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest of Los Angeles, in 2005.
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- Addressing the evolutionary aspects of the U.S. missile
defense program, Rumsfeld said that fielding modest near-term capabilities
"will allow us to gain operational input from combatant commanders."
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- On the subject of the program's imperfect testing record,
the secretary said, "All cutting-edge endeavors include trial and
error." Even though most of the tests have been successful, "we
have learned from both the successes and the failures," he said. Additional
missile defense tests are scheduled for the fall.
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- In his speech, Rumsfeld said terrorists carefully study
the United States for any indications of potential vulnerability. History
offers the lesson, he said, that "weakness is provocative." The
secretary said the longer limited defenses against ballistic missile attacks
are delayed, "the greater the likelihood of an attempted strike."
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- In the absence of any defenses against missiles, Rumsfeld
said, "terrorists and rogue regimes could use the threat of an attack
to try to intimidate America or her allies from acting against them."
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- In addressing current threats, the secretary pointed
to the potential of extremists equipped with weapons of mass destruction
and warned that they are "accountable to no nation ... abide by no
international laws or standards of conduct, and ... have absolutely no
regard for human life."
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- He also talked about North Korea's pursuit of missiles
"capable of reaching not just their neighbors, but our country as
well," adding, "The same can be said of Iran."
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- Answering a question about North Korea, Rumsfeld conceded
that there is a lot that is unknown about its missile development program
because much of its work is conducted underground. "They do not behave
in a testing pattern that is considered comparable to ours or the Russians,"
he said of the North Koreans, adding that they do not share the safety
and liability concerns of other nations.
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- Although missile defense is a key component of the United
States' new strategic approach, Rumsfeld noted that it is not the only
one. With an ever-growing list of allies, he said, President Bush "has
also pushed forward with the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), forming
a new international coalition to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction
and related materials."
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- Rumsfeld also was questioned about the evolving Global
Defense Posture Review that will shift the numbers and global deployment
locations of U.S. troops over the next decade. "We will not weaken
the deterrent in any place," he said. In fact, the secretary said,
military capability will increase because of greater "speed and deployability
and usability and lethality."
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- Rumsfeld said the weight of the overseas U.S. military
force "will shift somewhat out of Western Europe because we no longer
are fearful of a Soviet Union invasion across the North German plain with
tanks."
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- Even though the United States does not plan to maintain
a large permanent presence in the Persian Gulf, he said, "one has
to recognize that the Gulf is a part of the world that's important and
where we have made a commitment, and we'll be working with those countries
and some Central Asian countries in various ways, not in terms of permanent
bases, but in terms of relationships and training and cooperative agreements."
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- Rumsfeld also emphasized the importance of deploying
U.S. troops in countries where they are welcome. "I don't think it's
good for our forces to be put in countries where they're not wanted ...
we have aspirations not to take over anyone's real estate," he said.
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- "Our goal is to help contribute to a more peaceful
and stable world," Rumsfeld said, "and if our forces are going
to be located somewhere else, we want them where they're well received."
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- The posture review, which he said has been "extensively
discussed with our friends and allies," will likely take five to 10
years to roll out, according to his analysis.
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- The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.
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- http://usinfo.state.gov
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