Bush's Missile Defense Stance Prompts Allies to Mull Options.

• Author: Book, Elizabeth G.

In a highly anticipated speech, President George W. Bush reaffirmed his administrations commitment to deploying a missile-defense shield.

Delivered in early May at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., the president's speech generated headlines but, according to observers and military analysts, left many unanswered questions about how missile-defense issues would be approached during the next four years. These questions dealt with what would happen if the ABM treaty were abrogated, whether U.S. action on missile defense would start another arms race, and what the role of diplomacy with the European allies would be in the process.

Indicating plans to "move beyond the constraints" of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, Bush announced his intentions to build "a new framework" for the development and deployment of a missile-defense shield that would protect the United States and NATO allies.

Bush dispatched delegations of U.S. representatives to meet with allied governments around the globe. He sought to involve the allies in discussions on how to alter or revoke the ABM treaty. The ABM treaty, designed to prevent an all-out nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States, was signed during the height of the Cold War. Those who favor its alteration or annulment invariably believe that the treaty is not valid, because the Soviet Union no longer exists.

The missile shield that he wants, Bush said, is not to protect U.S. interests from an attack by Russia, which is "no longer our enemy," but from ballistic-missile attacks by Third World nations, so-called rogue states which are engaged in programs to develop weapons of mass destruction. Rogue states identified by the Pentagon are Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya, North Korea and Cuba.

There are only eight countries in the world armed with the most dangerous nuclear missiles: The United States, India, Pakistan, Israel, Great Britain, France, China and Russia.

ABM Treaty

Defense experts and politicians around the world are buzzing with theories about how a U.S.-led missile-defense effort could play our. A senior congressional official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the ABM treaty was outdated, because the threat has changed from all-our nuclear war to so-called asymmetric threats, such as terrorism and computer warfare. "The U.S. no longer has a problem with Russia, and we axe listening and working with our allies to discuss the problems associated with terrorism," he said. "These are small steps. The president is making a very determined effort."

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he believes that the ABM treaty has kept the United States secure for the past 30 years. He said that Bush should not "undermine the hard-won strategic...