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Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

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BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE IN THE 1990S<br />

the summer <strong>of</strong> that year was critical. 70 Before the event, some<br />

claimed that the upcoming test was rigged. An article in Time<br />

stated that “little is being left <strong>to</strong> chance . . . . So little, in fact, that<br />

this may be a test in name only—an expensive piece <strong>of</strong> Potemkin<br />

performance art <strong>to</strong> win enormous military appropriations.” 71<br />

In any event, the program suffered a twin failure on 8 July<br />

2000, when the kill vehicle failed <strong>to</strong> separate from the booster,<br />

and the balloon decoy did not deploy from the target missile.<br />

The Los Angeles Times called it a “spectacular test failure” and<br />

a “debacle <strong>of</strong> monumental proportions.” 72 In addition, while a<br />

neutral observer might consider the incident a nontest, certainly<br />

it was bad public relations and politics.<br />

With only one success on three attempts, diplomatic pressure<br />

from friends and nonfriends alike, domestic pressure magnified<br />

by the media, and escalating cost estimates, President Clin<strong>to</strong>n<br />

was under great pressure <strong>to</strong> cancel the program. The close<br />

presidential election campaign did not help matters. On 1 September<br />

2000, he announced that he was postponing a decision,<br />

leaving that responsibility <strong>to</strong> his successor. 73<br />

George W. Bush and BMD<br />

That successor turned out <strong>to</strong> be the more enthusiastic BMD<br />

supporter <strong>of</strong> the two presidential candidates, Republican<br />

George W. Bush. With his election, the path <strong>of</strong> the BMD <strong>to</strong>ok<br />

another turn. In May 2000, well before the election heated up,<br />

candidate Bush proposed deep unilateral cuts <strong>of</strong> nuclear<br />

weapons along with a robust BMD that would be shared with<br />

allies and at a more distant date shared with both the Russians<br />

and Chinese. 74 <strong>Short</strong>ly after Bush’s election, the Russians suggested<br />

an arrangement that would exchange cuts in <strong>of</strong>fensive<br />

weapons for some level <strong>of</strong> cuts in defensive weapons. In mid-<br />

November, the commander <strong>of</strong> Russia’s missile forces proposed<br />

a scheme that would limit each side <strong>to</strong> an agreed-upon number<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>fensive and defensive weapons but allow each <strong>to</strong> decide the<br />

exact mix. Bush repeated his call in January 2001 for building<br />

the BMD and nuclear arms reduction; he also seemed willing<br />

<strong>to</strong> consider the Russian proposal. 75<br />

257

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