| WASHINGTON
- March 30 - For the sixth time in a row, the U.S. Department of Defense is reporting that a high altitude anti-missile defense
system (Theater High-Altitude Area Defense) failed to hit its target at White Sands Missile Range today.
"Millions of taxpayer dollars went up in smoke in the skies over New Mexico
today," said John Isaacs, President of the Council for A Livable World, a leading arms control group. "After $120 billion and 40 years of research and
development, today's test failure shows that we don't have the technology to hit a bullet with a bullet.
"Go slow on ‘Star Wars' – that's the message to Congress from today's
failure. Today's test failure is a timely wake-up call to members of Congress who are rushing to stake our national security on ‘Star Wars'
systems that have failed 14 out of 18 recent tests," said Isaacs.
Before they left for the congressional recess, the U.S. House of
Representatives and U.S. Senate passed bills that would commit America to deploy a national missile defense system before it works, without regard to
the extraordinary cost to taxpayers, its effectiveness, or the impact on ongoing arms control efforts. A conference committee will need to iron-out
differences between the bills before it is submitted to both houses for final passage. The Administration indicated its opposition to the House bill
and dropped its veto threat to the Senate version.
The THAAD system is based on national missile defense technology, and is
designed to protect troops from short- and medium-range missiles. The system has cost $3.8 billion to date.
"Missile defenses – even if we could get them to work -- do nothing to
protect America from the real threats posed by terrorists with biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons – weapons more likely to be delivered in a
panel truck or a suitcase than on the tip of a ballistic missile," said Isaacs.
"With today's test failure, we renew our call for President Clinton to stand
by current U.S. policy and veto the missile defense deployment bill if it comes to his desk," Isaacs concluded.
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