Critics blast U.S. anti-missile system on eve of key test

A new arms race?

Some arms experts also are saying that the system could disrupt U.S. international relations and trigger a nuclear arms race with China.

The Clinton administration has said the anti-missile system is intended to defend against nations such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq, which may soon develop missile systems capable of reaching U.S. territory.

Experts say China's current arsenal of nuclear-tipped long range missiles may number fewer than 20. If the anti-missile system is successfully developed, it may be capable of intercepting all of those Chinese missiles.

Officials in Beijing say that if the U.S. system is deployed, they may in turn increase the number of nuclear missiles pointed at the United States. Analysts say that could trigger a chain reaction of missile proliferation.

"This certainly will have an immediate effect on India, because India has started its nuclear missile program to deter China, and it will trigger India's reaction," said Andrei Arbatov, a Russian arms expert.

"India's expansion of its nuclear missile program would encourage Pakistan to do the same, and certainly Iran will react to that, and maybe eventually Iraq would join."

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Mississippi, said, "Those countries are going to build up their missile defenses whether we improve our defense or not."

Greenpeace sending ship

A previous test firing for the anti-missile project in January was unsuccessful, but the first test launch of the system in October 1999 hit its target, the Pentagon said.

President Clinton is expected to make a final decision whether to continue with the project this fall, with planned deployment in Alaska by 2005.

Friday's test is expected to be watched closely by Boeing Co., integrator of the proposed system, and Raytheon Corp., which builds the 121-pound anti-missile weapon.

The environmental group Greenpeace said Thursday it was sending a ship with 23 protesters aboard into the so-called "hazard area" in the Pacific that has been ordered evacuated by the U.S. military.

Greenpeace also said deployment of the system would spark a new nuclear arms race.

A Russian alternative

During a summit in early June between Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S. proposal became a contentious issue.

Moscow claimed the system would violate its 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Washington, and that nations such as North Korea and Iran do not pose a valid threat to the United States.

"This initiative, besides political steps that lead to nuclear anarchy in the world and the destruction of the entire system of treaties, does not result in the desired military strategic achievements," Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev, commander of Russian strategic missile forces, told CNN.

Russia has proposed a "theater based" anti-missile system operated by both Moscow and the United States, located near regions that potentially threaten the security of both nations. The United States has said such a system would be ineffective because it most likely would be based in Russia, raising U.S. security concerns.

The summit did produce, however, a U.S.-Russian agreement to build and jointly operate a high-tech center in Moscow designed to share information on global missile launches, to protect against accidental missile attacks.

European relations

The National Missile Defense system also could disrupt U.S. relations with Europe, analysts said, creating a strategic scenario where military alliances with Europe would no longer be necessary.

"The Europeans are worried that the U.S. might actually decouple its strategic interest from the European interest, and that's something they want to avoid at all cost," said Joseph Cirincione, of the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.