February 2, 2006 :: UPI :: Analysis
Martin Sieff, writing for the United Press International news agency, wonders why President Bush failed to mention U.S. ballistic missile defense in his recent State of the Union address on Tuesday. The year 2005 was "the year when, more than ever before, the American BMD system finally moved after nearly a quarter of a century from the realm of ‘Star Wars' visionary fantasy to that of hard military and engineering fact." It was a breakthrough year of successful tests, increased weapons and radar deployments, and more major nations than ever around the world committing billions of dollars to buy U.S. systems and develop complementary defense systems. Yet Bush did not say a word about any of it in the speech.
Sieff speculates that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's prominence could be fading. Rumsfeld was "the great cheerleader of BMD" and if he is replaced, his successor will be more concerned with Iraq, or perhaps launching a full-scale war against Iran. Sieff suggests that with the departure of Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Under Secretary for Policy Douglas Feith, missile defense lost two of its biggest Pentagon supporters. Nevertheless, Sieff believes that Bush's silence on BMD Tuesday night "should not be interpreted as any weakening of political will or presaging any major cutback in resources on deploying it."
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