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A Daily Chronicle of Bush Administration Distortion August 19, 2004
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Bush "Living In the Past" On Missile Defense



President Bush this week said that "those who oppose ballistic missile system[s] really don't understand the threats of the 21st century. They're living in the past." He then claimed, "We're going to do what's necessary to protect this country."1 But a look at the President's push for an unproven defense system aimed at preventing a Cold War-style attack while he underfunds counterterrorism/homeland security shows that he is the one whose policies are wholly outdated. It also shows that, in fact, he is not doing everything necessary to protect America.

The missile defense system the President is pushing is designed to shoot down Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) - a weapon experts agree posed a far greater threat to America during the Cold War. By contrast, today the threat of 9/11-style terrorism is far greater than that of an ICBM. A missile defense system does nothing to address that kind of terrorism. Additionally, nonpartisan congressional auditors this year found that the missile defense system was wholly unproven.2

Despite these facts, the President is pushing to spend billions on the system, while cutting funding for more pressing national security programs. Specifically, he is pushing a massive 9% cut to the Nunn-Lugar program3 - the government's central effort to protect loose nuclear material and prevent that material from getting into the hands of terrorists on the international black market. He has also drastically underfunded basic homeland security programs, including grants to first responders.4

To illustrate just how out of touch the President has been on national security issues, consider the summer before 9/11: As the White House received warnings of an imminent terrorist (not ICBM) attack, the Bush administration threatened to veto an urgent request to shift $800 million from missile defense into critical counter-terrorism programs.5

Sources:
  1. "President's Remarks in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania ," The White House, 8/17/04.
  2. "Missile defense called unproven," San Francisco Chronicle, 4/24/04.
  3. "Fact Sheet: GOP Budget and Homeland Security," HouseDemocrats.gov, 03/25/04.
  4. "The Bush Record: Homeland Insecurity," Democrats.org.
  5. "What Went Wrong.," Newsweek, 05/27/02.



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