U.S. and Russia to Address Missile Defense on Friday

President Obama Should Reverse Bush Policy on European Deployment

March 4, 2009 -- President Obama is reconsidering the Bush administration's decision to deploy an untested missile defense system in Europe, indicating that he is taking a more realistic, technically grounded approach to missile defense. Given Russia's strong negative reaction to the planned deployment, experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) say it makes sense to reconsider this policy on strategic as well as technical grounds. They say U.S. security would be undermined by deploying an ineffective missile defense system that impedes U.S.-Russian nuclear weapons reductions and collaboration on key security issues.

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Missile defense will be a centerpiece of upcoming U.S.-Russian meetings, including discussions this Friday in Geneva between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as well the first meeting between Presidents Obama and Dmitry Medvedev on April 2 in London.

According to recent press reports, the administration has suggested that the United States will reconsider plans to place antimissile interceptors in Europe if Russia will help prevent Iran from developing long-range missiles. Engaging Russia and defusing the conflict over deployment is the right approach for several reasons, according to UCS's David Wright, co-director of the organization's Global Security Program.

First, the antimissile system the Bush administration was negotiating to deploy in Poland and the Czech Republic would not effectively stop a potential future missile attack, Wright said. The interceptors for the European system have not been tested and could readily be defeated by decoys and other countermeasures that any country with the capability to develop a long-range missile could incorporate on that missile (for more information, see our page on the proposed European missile defense system).

As President Obama stated during his campaign, he supports missile defense, but only if the system has been demonstrated to be effective.

Second, proceeding with this deployment, Wright said, would increase the risk to the United States by hindering Russian cooperation, which is needed to help prevent the development of new threats.

The Bush administration's deployment plan helped sour U.S.-Russian relations, but the United States needs Russia to help prevent Iran from developing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons, Wright pointed out. Russia may have significant influence over Iran's actions given it is helping Iran build a nuclear reactor. Moreover, many experts believe that the North Korean and Iranian missile programs have received significant technical assistance from Russian missile experts over the past two decades. It is unclear whether the Russian government was involved, but the United States needs Russia to identify and curtail further missile assistance abroad.

The United States also needs Russia's cooperation to reduce the threat posed by its large nuclear arsenal and inadequately secured nuclear weapons materials, which could be stolen by terrorists. "President Obama should say no to deploying a missile defense system that offers no security benefits and needlessly provokes Russia," Wright said. "Missile defense is not a magic bullet. Real-world threats require real-world solutions."

Source: The Union of Concerned Scientists