Retired top brass say no to 'missile shield'
Generals, admirals say system unproven, urge tighter security

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff, 3/27/2004

WASHINGTON -- Forty-nine retired generals and admirals yesterday urged President
Bush to suspend plans for a national missile shield and instead use the money to
secure nuclear materials abroad and ports and borders at home.

The Bush administration plans to field a nationwide defense system in September
to shoot down missiles armed with chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons, and
has budgeted $3.7 billion this year for the project.

Lexington, Mass.-based Raytheon is one of the main government contractors and is
developing the missile interceptor and most of the radar technology.

But the 49 former senior military leaders contend that the system remains
unproven. They also said it is more likely that terrorists would smuggle weapons
of mass destruction into the United States than a country would launch a missile
at the United States, risking a devastating retaliatory strike.

"As you have said, Mr. President, our highest priority is to prevent terrorists
from acquiring and employing weapons of mass destruction," wrote the former
officers, including retired Admiral William J. Crowe, former chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retired General Joseph P. Hoar, former chief of the
US Central Command.

The retired officers added that "the militarily responsible course of action" is
to use the funding for the missile shield "to secure the multitude of facilities
containing nuclear weapons and materials and to protect our ports and borders
against terrorists who may attempt to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into
the United States."

The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, recently
concluded that only two of the antimissile system's 10 key technologies have
been fully tested. Meanwhile, to make the September deadline, the Pentagon has
waived some operational testing requirements. The military's top weapons tester
stated earlier this month that such testing is not planned "for the foreseeable
future."

The letter calls on the president to "postpone operational deployment of the
expensive and untested" system.

It is one element of a larger missile defense effort -- estimated to cost $53
billion over the next five years -- that will use ships at sea and other methods
to track and deflect missile launches. Navy Secretary Gordon England announced
Monday that a specially equipped Aegis destroyer will be positioned this fall in
the Sea of Japan, where it will be an alert for North Korean missile launches.

Raytheon builds the "kill vehicle" designed to destroy an incoming missile. The
firm also makes many of the system's radars, including ones positioned on Cape
Cod, the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, and the Pacific island of Kwajalein.

© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.