 |
 |
|
|
|
|
||
| Washington,
January 11, 2001 - Greenpeace today called on the U.S. Senate to reject
Donald H. Rumsfeld as the country's next Defense Secretary because his
support of a National Missile Defense system (NMD) threatens both national
and international security. "Donald Rumsfeld's support of a national missile defense system will lead the United States and the rest of the world right back to the Cold War and a new, much more dangerous nuclear arms race," said Greenpeace disarmament campaigner William Peden. "Rumsfeld's outdated approach makes Greenpeace wonder if he's been asleep for the past twenty years." The international anti-nuclear organization expressed severe concern President-elect George W. Bush's designated appointee has closed his mind to the dangers of the controversial program which will cost American taxpayers more than $60 billion, while increasing the threat to the country's national security. Three reasons why Rumsfeld cannot be trusted to be impartial on national missile defense: · Rumsfeld chaired the "Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States," which painted a grossly exaggerated picture of the nuclear threat from "supposed states of concern" and helped build political support for NMD. · He is on record many times advocating missile defense deployment no matter what it takes. · Rumsfeld has close links with the Center for Security Policy, a small but powerful pro-missile defense organization. The Center has described Rumsfeld as a "trusted advisor and faithful supporter." Greenpeace opposes all aspects of a National Missile Defense program because other nuclear weapons states will expand their nuclear arsenals to counter it, negating the recent progress made at disarmament talks to reduce the number of nuclear weapons worldwide. French President Jacques Chirac, who opposes NMD, has said: "The more improvements that are made to the shield, the more improvements are made to the sword. We think that with these (anti- missile) systems, we are just going to spur swordmakers to intensify their efforts." "If Donald Rumsfeld wants to defend U.S. citizens he should throw out this dangerous program which alienates allies, antagonizes opponents and costs taxpayers a fortune," said Peden. "To counter perceived threats, the United States must launch a diplomatic offensive, not a missile offensive." Greenpeace also noted the national missile system is not technologically feasible. "The only thing this system will shoot down is the nuclear disarmament process," said Peden, noting that two out of three tests to date have failed. The only beneficiaries of this $60 billion boondoggle are defense contractors with whom Mr. Rumsfeld seems so aligned. Last July during an integrated test of the system, Greenpeace occupied both Vandenberg Air Force base and the Kwajalein Island in the South Pacific where the "kill vehicle" was fired. |
||
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||
