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Campaign Against National Missile DefenceNational Missile Defence (NMD) is the system that the US government proposes to develop to give it the capability of intercepting ballistic missiles in flight. The intention is to have a "kill vehicle" collide with a missile prior to re-entry: what commentators have called "trying to hit a bullet with a bullet". Scientists involved are not agreed that this is even theoretically possible, let along practicable, and any such development would require the use of very sophisticated radar systems, including the facilities at Pine Gap, in central Australia. This form of defence system is explicitly not allowed within the terms of the ABM treaty. The US Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, asserts that such a system "would intercept relatively small numbers of ballistic missiles" and would not be able to defend against the "thousands of weapons deployed by Russia". (June 7, 2001, Belgium.) Deploying an NMD would thus lock Russia into maintaining its "thousands of weapons" so as not to allow the US first strike capability and sabotage the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It is also likely that China would feel it necessary to massively increase its arsenal of nuclear weapons to maintain the status quo with the US. Far from ridding the world of nuclear weapons, the US plan to begin development of the NMD would start a new and more dangerous arms race. See article in Peace Courier : "A balloon could fool Son of Star Wars" |
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