Talking points on
national missile defense

    In December 2001, President Bush announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia, which forbade building and deploying a robust national missile defense shield. The administration has tried to present missile defense as a moral imperative for the country. However, we at WAND believe that the true moral imperative is not to build yet another expensive, provocative, new weapon system, but to reduce the threat of nuclear war and accidental catastrophe through arms control, disarmament, and international cooperation. U.S. leadership is needed now to stop another arms race before it begins.

    • The 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, compiled by the CIA and 10 other agencies, said the United States is more likely to suffer a nuclear, chemical or biological attack from terrorists using ships, trucks or airplanes than one by a foreign country using long-range missiles.

    • The improbable threat of being struck by a missile from countries such as North Korea, Iraq, or Iran can be reduced further, and at much less cost through bilateral and multilateral diplomatic initiatives and verifiable arms control agreements.

    • Missile defense will justify the desire of Chinese nuclear planners to enhance their nuclear weapons program. In fact, in September 2001 the US told China it would not oppose such a move if it would drop its opposition to missile defense, even though an increased nuclear capability in China poses a direct threat to US security.

    • President Bush said the ABM Treaty was a relic of the Cold War, but the US still maintains nearly 2000 weapons on high alert pointed at Russia. A true post Cold War framework should be based on mutual and verifiable nuclear reductions between the U.S. and Russia, and the removal of nuclear weapons from high alert.

    • Governments around the world, especially in Europe and East Asia are concerned that U.S. missile defense plans will undermine global arms control and disarmament efforts.

    • A Congressional Budget Office report (February 2002) on the costs of national missile defense shows that the Bush administration's plans for missile defense could cost as much as $238 billion (current dollars) over the next 15 - 25 years. This estimate does not include three additional components which could be part of the Bush NMD plan (such as sea-based boost-phase system) which could add hundreds of billions more to the cost.



    WAND believes the U.S. should:

    Provide positive incentives for any country w/ ballistic missile programs to permanently halt them;

    Vigorously pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures to rapidly reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons stockpiles and other weapons of mass destruction;

    Sharply reduce the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile;

    Provide assistance and incentives to Russia and others to safely dispose of weapons of mass destruction, to halt the export of related technologies and weapons, and to redirect weapons industries to peaceful purposes; and

    Immediately de-alert U.S. nuclear weapons and encourage Russia to do the same

    For more information on National Missile Defense, see WAND's NMD Resource page.

    WAND

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