September 30, 2004

New missile defense system deployment premature, says Wilkening

"The White House is expected to announce the deployment of a national missile defense system, an early policy favorite of the Bush administration. The Pentagon recently installed its fifth missile interceptor in Ft. Greeley, Ala. But critics say it has yet to be tested effectively," NPR's Mike Shuster reports. The national missile defense system now being deployed "just doesn't seem like a wise expenditure at the current time," CISAC Science Program Director Dean Wilkening told Shuster. "Research and development is fine," Wilkening said, "but a system with such a marginal capability--maybe a one in five chance of intercepting a warhead if it was launched by North Korea--just doesn't seem like a wise use of scarce resources." Read more »