August 27, 2006 :: AP :: News
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld today sounded a note of caution about expectations that ground-based interceptors would work in the event of a missile attack by North Korea, reports the AP. Speaking at a news conference after his visit to the underground silos in Fort Greely, Alaska, Rumsfeld said he would not be fully persuaded until the system has undergone more complete and realistic testing. “I want to see it happen,” he said. “A full end-to-end” demonstration is needed “where we actually put all the pieces” of the highly complex and far-flung missile defense system together and see whether it would succeed in destroying a warhead in flight. “That just hasn’t happened,” he said, adding that some elements of the missile defense system are yet to come on line, including some of the radars and sensors used to track the target missile. Rumsfeld declined to say when he thought the missile defense system would reach the point of full reliability, but stressed that his advisers have told him they believe it will work as designed in the event of an actual missile attack. “I have a lot of confidence in these folks, and I have a lot of confidence in the work that’s been done,” he said.
(Article)
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