Rumsfeld Touts Missile Defense
W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 26, 2001 -- One week into his second tenure as Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld made clear that — despite any opposition — the Bush administration is committed to deploying a $30 billion national missile defense system to protect the United States from ballistic missile attack.
“The president is not ambiguous,” Rumsfeld told reporters in his first press conference in the Pentagon since taking office. “He intends to deploy a national missile defense.”
The secretary said the Russians, who bitterly object to the plan, must understand that the technology envisioned by the United States is purely defensive against an attack by a rogue nation such as North Korea or Iraq, and does not threaten nuclear stability between the two nuclear giants.
“The Russians know —they have to know—that the kinds of capabilities that are being discussed are not capabilities that threaten them in any way,” said Rumsfeld.
Russia Opposed to Plan
Moscow has long claimed that if the United States does deploy a national missile defense system, it is essentially walking away from the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty—a foundation of Cold War arms control policy that limited both sides from developing defensive missile systems out of fear one side would trump the other in a nuclear engagement.
Rumsfeld declined to address the future of the ABM Treaty specifically in his news conference, but hinted that some changes might be in the offing. He noted that the original signatory—the Soviet Union—no longer exists, and that missile technology has changed significantly, making defensive systems less of a threatening prospect, he said.
As expected, Rumsfeld generally avoided specifics during the 20-minute talk, in the Pentagon briefing room.
Support for Iraqi Opposition Considered
Rumsfeld did address, however, the level of support for Iraqi opposition groups that might be encouraged to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Although the groups are splintered, and widely considered to be ineffective, the United States has agreed to provide some funding and equipment support.
The Bush administration is considering even greater support than the original $97 million per year authorized by Congress for the opposition groups, especially the Iraqi National Congress. Rumsfeld indicated the entire matter remains under discussion by the Bush administration’s national security team, but he offered one hint of his own thinking. “It is not helpful to have Saddam Hussein’s regime in office,” he said.
During his first week in office, Rumsfeld has spent much of his time receiving briefings and organizing his staff. He laughingly reminded the press corps that he was serving “again”—having first served as secretary of defense a quarter century ago during the Ford administration.
Right now Rumsfeld has only has a handful of key aides and is depending largely on some 20 or 30 high-level political appointees from the Clinton administration who agreed to stay and help. Those appointees include the number two man at the Pentagon, Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy DeLeon.
Rumsfeld has been meeting each morning with General Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, DeLeon, and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Richard Myers, for a daily operational and intelligence update.
Defense Spending Concerns
A top priority is preparing the annual $310 billion defense budget, which is to be submitted by April to Congress as part of the overall administration’s FY 2002 spending plan.
One point of controversy has already emerged: The Clinton administration had already supported an increase of $25 billion, but the services also are seeking as much as $10 billion in “supplemental” funding for immediate costs such as covering the higher price of fuel, increases in pay and medical benefits and some procurement of spare parts and new equipment.
But Rumsfeld has let it be known in the hallways of the Pentagon he does not want to the services lobbying Congress for more money without his say-so.
Still, for the new secretary of defense, the major task is getting organized so he can manage the military, especially the 25,000 military and civilian employees who work in the Pentagon each day. President Bush has already asked Rumsfeld to undertake a thorough review of military requirements and force structure separate from other reviews already ongoing.