IMPACTS: LOSS OF ABM TREATY DESTROYS GLOBAL ARMS CONTROL EFFORTS

FUTURE ARMS REDUCTIONS ARE LINKED TO RETENTION OF THE ABM TREATY

William D. Hartung and Michelle Ciarrocca, the World Policy Institute Los Angeles Times, January 30, 2000, SECTION: Opinion; Part M; Page 2; HEADLINE: THE WORLD / MISSILE DEFENSE; PENTAGON SPELLS 'SAFETY' N-M-D //ACS-LN-2/4/2000

Russia has made it clear that future reductions in its nuclear arsenal via the START treaties--treaties that would reduce the number of deployed strategic warheads about 75% from current levels--are conditional upon continued compliance with the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The ABM treaty limits each country to one national missile defense site with no more than 100 interceptors, thus ensuring that each country is susceptible to the dangers of the other's nuclear arsenal.

ABM TREATY IS THE CORNERSTONE OF MODERN ARMS CONTROL

Justin Brown, March 13, 2000, The Christian Science Monitor

SECTION: USA; WHERE THEY STAND; Pg. 2 HEADLINE: Two views of security, as seen in 'star wars' // acs-ln

The implications of building a national missile defense (NMD), the descendent of the Reagan-era "star wars," are significant. To deploy the system, the US would have to drastically amend, or even scrap, the 1972 Antiballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, considered a cornerstone in modern arms control.

COLLAPSE OF THE ABM TREATY MEANS THE END OF ALL GLOBAL ARMS CONTROL EFFORTS

James O. Goldsborough The San Diego Union-Tribune January 24, 2000, SECTION: OPINION Pg. B-7 HEADLINE: Bad national defense, but good politics //ACS-LN-2/4/2000

Deploying a national missile defense system will jeopardize both the START 2 and ABM Treaties, the two main constraints on the arms race since the Nixon administration. With the GOP defeat of the Test Ban Treaty last fall jeopardizing the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Washington is putting at risk the total progress in arms control achieved during the past quarter century, and risking a new arms race.

UNLESS WE KEEP THE ABM TREATY, THERE WILL BE NO FUTURE REDUCTIONS IN NUCLEAR WEAPONS

MICHELLE CIARROCCA , World Policy Institute, February 19, 2000, The New York Times SECTION: Section A; Page 14; HEADLINE: Best Missile Defense Is None at All // ACS-LN

Russia has made it very clear that reductions in its nuclear arsenal are contingent upon American compliance with the Antiballistic Missile Treaty, and China -- with only a handful of ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States -- will certainly deploy more missiles to sustain its deterrent capability. As for the "rogue" countries that the system is to defend against, they can employ decoys and countermeasures to overwhelm any system in place.

UNILATERAL ABROGATION OF THE ABM TREATY CREATES AN IMPOSSIBLE ARMS REDUCTION ENVIRONMENT

Council for a Livable World 9-13-99 (DOWNLOAD) NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE:

If START and ABM were not considered, said Berger, "I cannot think of a worse way to begin a negotiation on the ABM Treaty, nor one that would put at greater risk the hard- won bipartisan gains of START."

REAL BALLISTIC MISSILE THREATS ARE REDUCED BY ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENTS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE ABM TREATY

The ABM Treaty is as vital today as it was during the Cold War. The only countries with the potential to strike the United States with ballistic missiles are Russia and China. This threat is being reduced through arms control treaties such as the START treaties, and the Nunn Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. However, Russian President Boris Yeltsin has repeatedly stated that Russia will not reduce its nuclear arsenal unless the United States adheres to the ABM Treaty. It is clearly in the U.S. interest to negotiate deep reductions in the Russian stockpile of nuclear weapons, rather than allow them to remain deployed and to either destroy or better secure Russian weapons of mass destruction and their delivery vehicles before terrorists or "rogue" states are able to acquire them.

ABM TREATY IS THE KEYSTONE FOR AGREEMENTS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

James O. Goldsborough, The San Diego Union-Tribune December 20, 1999, SECTION: OPINION Pg. B-7 HEADLINE: Spending billions for less national security //acs-ln-12-22-99

The genius of the ABM Treaty, signed by President Nixon, was that it was the first step in slowing an arms escalation that had become mindless, with nations seeking greater security in technological advances that actually undermined security. The ABM Treaty, banning NMD systems, made SALT 2 and the gradual abolition of multiple-warhead missiles possible.

WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ABM TREATY RISKS DESTROYING ALL EXISTING ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENTS -- AGREEMENTS WHICH HAVE PROVIDED NUCLEAR PEACE FOR DECADES

John Donnelly, Globe Staff, The Boston Globe, October 19, 1999, SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A1 HEADLINE: Arms control specialists see risk in US treaty moves // ln-10-29-99-acs

Since 1945, only months after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, world leaders have sought to halt the use and spread of nuclear weapons with the deterrence of treaties.

Now, those treaties are in danger of falling apart, say a range of arms control specialists. Some in Congress, mostly Republicans, are arguing for the breakup of some of the treaties, saying their Cold War terms are outdated and put America at risk.

With the US Senate's rejection last week of the test ban treaty as well as US talks with Russia about reopening terms of the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty, many nonproliferation analysts believe such US moves could create a domino effect and jeopardize all the treaties.

WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ABM TREATY DESTROYS ALL NULTILATERAL AGREEMENTS ON WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

MICHAEL R. GORDON, The New York Times, October 21, 1999, SECTION: Section A; Page 3; Column 1; HEADLINE: Russians Firmly Reject U.S. Plan to Reopen ABM Treaty // ln-10-29-99-acs

"An attempt to withdraw from the 1972 ABM treaty would destroy the entire system of treaties dealing with the restriction and reduction of weapons of mass destruction," General Manilov said. "All these agreements can be implemented only as a single whole"

THE ABM TREATY MADE ALL OTHER ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENTS POSSIBLE

Janadas Devan The Straits Times (Singapore), October 31, 1999, SECTION: Review Focus shield"; Pg. 41 HEADLINE: Missile talks up in the air // ln-acs-11-11-99

Most experts agree that if not for the ABM treaty, none of the arms control agreements that the US and USSR negotiated in the '70s and '80s would have been possible.