Antimissile system dangerous, misguided

David Suzuki 21sep01

Once the horror of last week's terrorist attacks on the U.S. subsides, the demand to make America safe again will send politicians scrambling. Undoubtedly, the national missile defense system (NMD) will be in the spotlight, only this time it may have the increased support of Congress and an angry American public.

That's too bad because, although Americans have every reason to feel shaken and vulnerable, the NMD project will not enhance U.S. safety. Instead, it could destabilize world security, spur a new arms race, and increase the threat of accidental nuclear missile launches. And it will do nothing to prevent terrorist attacks on American soil.

At first blush, the idea of building a system to knock nuclear or chemical weapons out of the sky before they hit the country sounds like a good one. It's defensive, after all, and therefore peaceful.

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Let's look at it from the perspective of countries such as North Korea or China, who may feel threatened by the awesome power of the United States. These countries only have a handful of nuclear weapons, but that small arsenal is enough to act as a deterrent that prevents the United States from even considering invading them. If the United States can potentially shoot those missiles down, then deterrence disappears. To compensate, these countries will want to have enough weapons to overcome an American missile defense system. In fact, the United States has already signaled to China that it would be acceptable to build up its nuclear arsenal if that alleviated its concerns about the NMD.

Proponents of the system say it is necessary to defend the United States against "rogue" nations such as North Korea, Libya, or Iraq. Of course, this argument ignores the fact that world leaders are well aware that any country that launched a nuclear missile at the United States would meet a swift and violent end. It also ignores the fact that a crude nuclear weapon launched from such a country would be the most difficult to hit. That's because more advanced weapons use spin stabilization to make them more accurate, whereas crude weapons tumble wildly, making them extremely difficult to track.

Moreover, the best time to intercept a missile is during its boost phase, when its rockets are burning. But according to physicists like MIT's Ted Postol, hitting a missile then could send it spinning out of control over Europe or Canada, where it could explode.

Proponents of the NMD are already using the recent terrorist attacks in the United States as justification for better defenses. But as Sept. 11 illustrates, the real threats to American security come from much more mundane sources. We mustn't forget that the World Trade Center was brought down by a few individuals brandishing nothing more advanced than knives, cardboard cutters, and the threat of a bomb. The bomb turned out to be real. It was the aircraft itself, a guided missile filled with 40,000 liters of jet fuel.

Technology is truly a double-edged sword. The wonderful freedom of communication we have thanks to cell phones, the Internet, satellites, and computers and the freedom of movement we enjoy thanks to global transportation enable us to keep in touch with friends and family, travel the world, and experience new cultures. However, those same technologies enable those with evil intent to plan and execute atrocities such as the ones we witnessed last week.

Technology like a missile defense system also has a double edge. On one hand, it is designed to protect people. On the other, it could be perceived as a legitimate threat to another nation's security. With an estimated price tag of $60 billion, unproven and as-of-yet undeveloped technology, and the potential to create even more international tension, the missile defense project is a misguided and dangerous waste of money and resources.

It does not take a scientifically advanced rogue state to launch a biological weapon to kill Americans. It does not take an accidental launch of a Russian nuclear missile. It merely takes blind hatred and access to everyday technologies that we take for granted.

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