FW: Power of the Internet 3

[Karen Watters Cole]

…to provide connections: Three Missile Defense news items in one day from 3 global locations.  All from http://www.reuters.com.  - KWC U.S. to Begin Deploying Missile Defense Tue December 17, 2002 07:53 AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush has ordered the U.S. military to begin deploying a national missile defense system with 10 interceptor rockets at a base in Alaska by 2004, defense officials said on Tuesday. The decision, which comes despite last week's failure of an anti-missile test over the Pacific Ocean, was expected to be announced by the White House and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld later in the day, the officials told Reuters. The defense officials, who asked not to be identified, confirmed a report in The Washington Times that Bush was going ahead with an ambitious schedule to field 10 ground-based interceptors at Fort Greeley, Alaska, by 2004 and an additional 10 interceptors by 2005 or 2006. The decision to begin deploying a national missile defense, which has been criticized by Russia and China, follows North Korea's announcement this month that it will proceed with a controversial program to develop nuclear weapons. The Fort Greeley site would allow the U.S. military to try and intercept any attack by long-range missiles being developed by the North. U.S. Lauds Warmer Ties with China Military Tue December 17, 2002 06:54 AM ET SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A senior U.S. military officer closed a five-day visit to China, hailing progress in closer military ties and expressing hope that Beijing can help resolve the crisis over North Korea's nuclear program.  Admiral Thomas Fargo, the highest-ranking U.S. military official to visit China since the spy plane crisis of April 2001, also stressed shared interests in the U.S.-led war on terror but gave few details of his talks with Chinese officials. "First and foremost, I worry about conflict on the Korean peninsula," Fargo, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said in a speech delivered earlier Tuesday to students at Shanghai's prestigious Fudan University.  "China ... is in a unique position to positively influence the outcome of this crisis. We look to China's strong and proactive assistance," he said. North Korea sparked an international furor last week after it declared its intention to restart a nuclear reactor mothballed in 1994 over alleged production of weapons-grade plutonium under a deal with Washington.  Beijing, which fought alongside Pyongyang in the 1950-53 Korean War and remains its closest friend, has publicly urged the North to abandon its nuclear weapons program. "There are clearly areas where we have shared interest in cooperating right now," Fargo told reporters after the speech. "Both of our countries believe strongly that the Korean peninsula needs to remain non-nuclear."  Fargo gave no specifics on discussions during his tour of various military bases and in meetings with senior officials in Beijing, Chengdu, Nanjing, Ningbo and Shanghai. But he said the United States and China had worked out a framework for fuller military exchanges during talks last week in Washington, D.C., the first formal top-level military talks since President Bush took office two years ago.  The U.S.-China military relationship has warmed since a tense diplomatic stand-off triggered by a mid-air collision between an American spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet last year.  Chinese backing for U.S. efforts in combating terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks have been crucial in mending ties, and the two countries had since initiated a flurry of exchanges, including a port of call by destroyer USS Paul Foster in November. But U.S. officials have called for greater access to Chinese military bases when full exchanges resume. "This is a step in the right direction," Fargo said in relation to his visit and Pentagon talks. Britain Receives U.S. Missile Shield Request Tue December 17, 2002 06:56 AM ET LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said Tuesday it had received a request from the United States concerning its planned missile defense shield, but had not yet given a response.  Prime Minister Tony Blair may have to approve the upgrading of early warning systems at Fylingdales in northern England to allow the U.S. program to go ahead. Blair's official spokesman said Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon would make a full statement later Tuesday.  "It will confirm that we have received a written request from the United States but will not give our response," he told reporters, declining to give further details. Britain has been preparing the ground for an announcement for some weeks.  Last month, Hoon declared missile defense could strengthen global stability and deter attack by "rogue states."  And last week, a Ministry of Defense discussion paper spelt out how a missile shield might work, its possible deterrence effect, the costs involved and what Britain's input might be. If the government agrees, and sources say it is highly unlikely they would not, Blair will face serious opposition from within his ruling Labor Party.  Hoon is expected to give Washington an answer in the New Year. In a first step toward setting up a missile defense umbrella, the U.S. in June unilaterally withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty which banned such systems.  The move worried U.S. allies and led to protests in the Labor Party, many of whose members are vehemently opposed to closer military links with Washington and argue a missile defense shield could spark a new global arms race. The system, dubbed "Son of Star Wars" after an initiative pioneered by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, depends on intercepting an incoming missile with another missile. Outgoing Mail Scanned by NAV 2002