WASHINGTON, DC - March 26 - In a new policy update released today, experts at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation reiterated that ground-based mid-course missile defense has not demonstrated that it is effective in accomplishing its mission or capable of defending the territory of the United States.

Lieutenant General Robert Gard(USA, ret.) and John Isaacs authored the policy update. Gen. Gard, a former executive assistant to two secretaries of defense and president of both National Defense University and the Monterey Institute for International Studies, is Senior Military Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Isaacs, a former Congressional legislative aide and Foreign Service officer in Vietnam, is the Center's Executive Director.

Read the update online.

"The further deployment of elements of the ground-based mid-course system, including the proposed deployment to Europe, should be suspended until research and development can demonstrate that missile interceptors are capable of overcoming decoys," argue the authors.

According to the Congressional Research Service, more than $120 billion has been invested in missile defense since President Reagan's speech 25 years ago. The authors conclude that "Delivery of a nuclear weapon against the United States is far more likely by means other than an ICBM, which leaves a return address. The opportunity costs of pursuing missile defense are very high in military terms alone, not to mention other higher priority national security and domestic programs."

Read the update online.

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