Pentagon to Build National Defense System by 2010; Representatives Ehlers and Holt Disapprove of System Because it is Scientifically Unsound
;ATLANTA --- Responding to opposition from two members of Congress, Hans Mark, the top scientist at the United States Department of Defense, said, "(there is) no question that we (the United States) can build a national missile defense system designed to protect the continental United States against attack ... by definition this is feasible and it can be built.'' Mark, the Director for Defense Research and Engineering, also predicted that the United States will be able to deploy the first elements of this system between 2008 and 2010 -- if not sooner. This is the strongest statement to date on nuclear missile defense made by a senior member of the Clinton Administration. It comes on the heels of overwhelming votes in the House and Senate committing the United States to a National Defense system. ;Mark made the comment while serving as a panelist at The American Physical Society's Symposium "Science Policy for the New Millennium.'' Other panelists included Reps. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), and Rush Holt (D-NJ), and Rita Colwell, Director of the National Science Foundation. David Alpern, Senior Editor, Newsweek, and Co-Anchor, Newsweek on Air, acted as the moderator at the panel discussion. ;Last week, Holt and Ehlers, both former physics professors, voted against the House bill on the grounds that the technological and scientific feasibility of the system remains largely unproven. Holt emphasized that more attention must be paid to the science involved. ;He said, "Wishing won't overrule physics ... Simple strategic analysis will tell us that provocative yet permeable defenses are destabilizing and they lead to reduced security. In fact, the more technically affected the system turned out to be, the worse the idea would be because of its increase in instability and the damage done to our efforts to reduce Russia's weapons.''
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Pentagon to Build National Defense System by 2010; Representatives Ehlers and Holt Disapprove of System Because it is Scientifically Unsound
