Arms Control Freaks

SINCE taking office in 1993, the Clinton administration has undertaken a systematic program that must be described as anti-anti-missile defense. Despite promising to build defenses against short-range missile attacks as soon as possible, President Clinton and his senior national-security officials have adopted a policy of delay and obfuscation intended to maintain the defenseless status quo. And it is not clear even now—in the wake of the administration’s calls to renegotiate the ABM Treaty—that it is truly willing to abandon its arms-Control orthodoxy.

The architect of Clintons anti-anti-missile defense policy is Robert Bell, a former staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee under Sam Nunn. During the fight over President Reagan’s SDI proposal in the 1980s, Bell championed the “narrow,” most restrictive interpretation of the ABM Treaty. Bell joined the White House National Security Council staff in 1993 and at once carried out a major “review” of missile defense with the underlying goal of preserving the ABM Treaty. This review led to a secret directive signed by Clinton in 1993 that affirmed the treaty as the basis for U.S. missile defenses (such as they were) and strategic relations with Russia.

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Bill Gertz

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SINCE taking office in 1993, the Clinton administration has undertaken a systematic program that must be described as anti-anti-missile defense. Despite promising to build defenses against short-range missile attacks as soon as possible, President Clinton and his senior national-security officials have adopted a policy of delay and obfuscation intended to maintain the defenseless status quo. And it is not clear even now—in the wake of the administration’s calls to renegotiate the ABM Treaty—that it is truly willing to abandon its arms-Control orthodoxy.

The architect of Clintons anti-anti-missile defense policy is Robert Bell, a former staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee under Sam Nunn. During the fight over President Reagan’s SDI proposal in the 1980s, Bell championed the “narrow,” most restrictive interpretation of the ABM Treaty. Bell joined the White House National Security Council staff in 1993 and at once carried out a major “review” of missile defense with the underlying goal of preserving the ABM Treaty. This review led to a secret directive signed by Clinton in 1993 that affirmed the treaty as the basis for U.S. missile defenses (such as they were) and strategic relations with Russia.