National Missile Defense
Recently, President Clinton signed into law the National Missile Defense Act of 1999. What is a national missile defense (NMD)? A NMD is in theory "a technological shield that could destroy all incoming missiles" (Cirincione and Von Hippel 1). A NMD would most likely employ ground-based missiles that would intercept and destroy incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). ICBMs are missiles that are capable of hitting targets thousands of miles away from their launch site. The National Missile Defense Act "calls for developing a missile-defense system that could protect the United States from an attack by a handful of nuclear armed ballistic missiles" (Ballistic Missile Defenses). It is important to realize the proposed NMD would not be designed to protect against an all out nuclear attack featuring hundreds of missiles. President Clinton is expected to make a decision on whether or not to deploy a NMD as early as June of 2000. Is a NMD a good thing for the United States? I believe the United States should not develop and deploy a NMD system. The many proponents of a NMD such as President Clinton, Congress, and various military officials have devised a number of reasons why a NMD is needed. According to M
"What Proponents of Missile Defense Argue and Rebuttals." Council for a Livable World. n. pag. Online. Internet. 2 Nov. 1999. Available WWW: http://www.clw/org/ef/bmdrebuts.html. "ABM: Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty." Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. n. pag. Online. Internet. 17 Nov. 1999. Available WWW: http://www.acq.osd.mil/acic/treaties/abm/abm_es.htm. Advocates also argue that a NMD would help protect the United States from an accidental launch from Russia, former republics of Russia, and China. According to the Central Intelligence Agency, "Russia employs an extensive array of technical and procedural safeguards and China keeps its missiles unfueled and without warheads mated" (Mendelsohn 30). Even if there were some type of accidental launch from, it would be hard to determine the number of missiles that would be launched. Any significant amount would overwhelm a NMD and it therefore be rendered useless. Also, "Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine have transferred to Russia all the strategic and tactical nuclear warheads they inherited following the collapse of the Soviet Union" (Ray 324). These weapons are now under the safeguards utilized by the Russian government and therefore are protected against an unauthorized launch. Gordon, Michael R. "Russians Firmly Reject U.S. Plan to Reopen ABM Treaty." New York Times. 21 Oct. 1999: A3.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Russia China, ABM Treaty, Graig George, Chat Edwards, Race Stability, Program Mendolsohn, United States-would, Congress President, ICBM United, Agency Russia, missile defense, ballistic missile, abm treaty, nov 1999, von hippel, nov 1999 available, proposed nmd, arms control, russia china, deploying nmd, 1999 available, pag online internet, ballistic missile defense, online internet 2, nuclear dangers 1999,
Approximate Word count = 2447
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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