Lip Service: Live Missiles and Dead Letters

WITH missile threats proliferating, the issue of national missile defense, which has divided Republicans from Democrats for 15 years, is heating up. India and Pakistan have tested nuclear weapons; Iran, Iraq, China, and North Korea have nuclear and missile programs; and Russia’s control over its own nuclear arsenal is deteriorating. Consequently, congressional support is growing for prompt deployment of defenses against ballistic missiles.

The Clinton Administration is blocking any such move, insisting that the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty of 1972 forbids it. But the United States made that treaty with the Soviet Union, which became extinct in 1991—and the President is having a hard time explaining how the treaty survived that demise. In fact, for political reasons the Administration prefers to cast its opposition to missile defense as a treaty obligation rather than as a policy choice.

About the Author

Douglas J. Feith

Douglas J. Feith is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and served in the George W. Bush administration as undersecretary of defense for policy.

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WITH missile threats proliferating, the issue of national missile defense, which has divided Republicans from Democrats for 15 years, is heating up. India and Pakistan have tested nuclear weapons; Iran, Iraq, China, and North Korea have nuclear and missile programs; and Russia’s control over its own nuclear arsenal is deteriorating. Consequently, congressional support is growing for prompt deployment of defenses against ballistic missiles.

The Clinton Administration is blocking any such move, insisting that the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty of 1972 forbids it. But the United States made that treaty with the Soviet Union, which became extinct in 1991—and the President is having a hard time explaining how the treaty survived that demise. In fact, for political reasons the Administration prefers to cast its opposition to missile defense as a treaty obligation rather than as a policy choice.