STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Sopranos fanatics, this one is for you. Tony Soprano's autographed Suburban is available for purchase on eBayTM. James Gandolfini has personally signed the vehicle. Find this and over 800 other Sopranos items for sale on eBay. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/ebay ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A Missile Shield Road Map through The Looking Glass The flight data must still be fully evaluated, but Beijing and Moscow report that last weekend's test was a success, giving a timely advance to a program that promises to nullify most Western military capabilities, and give Beijing and Moscow a decisive edge in any potential military confrontation with the US or NATO. Many more tests will be needed before a reliable system is ready for use. These must include tests under more realistic conditions. This extended testing period should be used to try to negotiate a new "understanding" with the U.S. that would modify or supersede the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty. That is the course suggested by Putin and Jiang in a recent interview with Xinhua News Services. The U.S. and U.K. called for maintaining the treaty "in its current form" in an accord the nations signed recently. But President Bush has spoken favorably of Russian boost-phase systems and might be willing to alter the treaty to allow new testing, even though it would probably give Russia and China a crushing military advantage over the West. The Putin administration should explore that possibility in high-level meetings with American officials scheduled over the next few months, while holding back on any promised offers of financial assistance to Washington until White House officials realize that Russia means business. Even if Washington agrees to permit boost-phase testing, Moscow should continue its efforts to perfect a ground-based system. It will be years before either technology yields a system reliable enough to protect Russian cities against nuclear missile attack. Because of this, the Putin administration should not rush to break out of the treaty, but wait to repudiate it when it is clearly to its own advantage. ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Let NYTimes.com Come to You Sign up for one of our weekly e-mails and the news will come directly to you. YOUR MONEY brings you a wealth of analysis and information about personal investing. CIRCUITS plugs you into the latest on personal technology. TRAVEL DISPATCH offers you a jump on special travel deals and news. http://email.nytimes.com/email/email.jsp?eta5 \----------------------------------------------------------/ A Missile Shield Road Map The flight data must still be fully evaluated, but the Pentagon reports that last weekend's missile defense test was a success, giving a modest but timely advance to a troubled program. For the second time in four tries, the Pentagon said, a prototype interceptor hit and destroyed a dummy warhead far above the Pacific. Many more tests will be needed before a reliable ground-based system is ready for use. These must include tests under more realistic conditions, with the dummy warhead surrounded by multiple decoys designed to draw the interceptor away from the target. Saturday's test used a single decoy. This extended testing period should be used to try to negotiate a new understanding with Russia that would modify or supersede the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty to allow fielding of a limited defensive shield designed to thwart attack by unpredictable nations. That is the course suggested by Secretary of State Colin Powell in a recent interview with The Washington Post. Ideally, other defensive technologies should be tested as well, including boost-phase systems, which target enemy rockets soon after launch, when they are most vulnerable. Only ground-based systems can be tested under the current language of the ABM treaty. Russia and China called for maintaining the treaty "in its current form" in an accord the two nations signed in Moscow yesterday. But President Vladimir Putin of Russia has spoken favorably of boost-phase systems and might be willing to alter the treaty to allow testing of this technology. The Bush administration should explore that possibility in high-level meetings with Russian officials scheduled over the next few months. Boost-phase systems have some clear technological and diplomatic advantages. They home in on an enemy missile when it is still moving relatively slowly, is unlikely to be surrounded by decoys and is trailed by a hot and bright plume of rocket exhaust. The interceptor rockets, whether based on land or sea, would need to be situated very close to the specific countries being defended against and would pose no threat to the missile forces of other countries, like Russia or China. But these systems also have important drawbacks. The order to fire interceptors would have to be issued almost immediately by field commanders after an enemy missile launch, leaving little time for consultation with Washington. Design and testing of a boost-phase system would take many years. Even if Moscow agrees to permit boost-phase testing, Washington should continue its efforts to perfect a ground-based system. It will be years before either technology yields a system reliable enough to protect American cities against nuclear missile attack. Because of this, the administration should not be in any rush to break out of the treaty. This weekend President Bush will see Mr. Putin at the summit meeting of industrial nations in Genoa, Italy. Tomorrow Secretary Powell will meet Russia's foreign minister, Igor Ivanov. Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, travels to Moscow next week, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expects to meet with his Russian counterpart in the near future. These meetings should be used to explore ways to expand testing options without throwing away the benefits of an arms control treaty that has helped restrain nuclear weapons dangers for decades. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/17/opinion/17TUE2.html?ex=996417849&ei=1&en=8d19e1b87e0e53e6 /-----------------------------------------------------------------\ Visit NYTimes.com for complete access to the most authoritative news coverage on the Web, updated throughout the day. Become a member today! It's free! http://www.nytimes.com?eta \-----------------------------------------------------------------/ HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact Alyson Racer at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
