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U.S. "Successful" Missile Test Criticized
WASHINGTON, July 15 (IslamOnline & News
Agencies) - The latest controversial missile test conducted by the United States though considered "a success" by U.S. standards was met with international disapproval and criticism Sunday.
This came after U.S. Defense Department said a test of an anti-ballistic missile system was a success, scoring a direct hit against its target.
It was the first test of the "hit-to-kill" system since U.S. President George W. Bush took office, and the first of a total of four tests reported to have been wholly successful.
But Russia condemned the test Sunday, saying the exercises could jeopardize all previous agreements on nuclear disarmament.
Environmentalists also denounced the tests, saying they threatened to re-start a global nuclear arms race.
According to the CNN online service, a dummy warhead, carried aboard a missile fired from a U.S. Air Force Base in California, was shot down 225 km (140 miles) above the Pacific by a "kill vehicle" launched from the Marshall Islands.
Despite the success U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish told reporters at a Pentagon briefing there was "still a long way to go" and the full details of the test would not be available for several weeks.
"We will press on to the next test, this is one in a series of tests, and we will continue to press (forward) to our objectives in the program.... This test is just one in a journey."
The test was however condemned by peace groups who say it risks sparking a destabilizing arms race, particularly within the Pacific.
In Australia, a spokeswoman for environmental group Greenpeace said continued tests would put millions of lives at risk around the world.
"The Star Wars program threatens to start a new nuclear arms race," Greenpeace Pacific spokeswoman Samantha Magick said in a statement released after the test.
"Pacific island states who are still waiting for compensation for nuclear tests carried out decades ago are being put at risk again, as the missile tests involve launching intercept missiles from Kwajelein atoll in the Marshall Islands," Magick said.
Both China and Russia have warned that the proposed U.S. system undermines the 1972 Anti-ballistic missile treaty, CNN reported.
The Cold War-era treaty is regarded by many as the cornerstone of arms control and many Democrats in the U.S. Congress have questioned the need for the system.
The treaty, made with the former Soviet Union, bars nationwide defenses against long-range missiles and certain kinds of anti-missile testing.
It was designed to prevent an arms race in developing systems that would overwhelm each side's defenses.
A Russian statement said the test threatened the international structure of nuclear disarmament.
"A logical question again arises - why take matters to the point of placing under threat the entire internationally agreed structure of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, including its core, the 1972 ABM treaty?" Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement.
A BBC online Moscow correspondent said the Chinese and Russian leaders may well agree a joint statement on their objections to the project after China's President Jiang Zemin arrives in Moscow on Sunday for a four-day official visit.
Many see no reason or need to violate the ABM treaty in the immediate future.
But the Bush team seems intent on placing missile defense on a fast track, BBC online service says.
Bush has asked Congress for $8.3 billion to finance missile defense research and testing in 2002, a $3 billion increase over this year.
On Friday Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov warned that if the U.S. went ahead with plans to build underground silos for missile interceptors at Fort Greely, Alaska, it would risk starting a new arms race.
"If those plans were realized in practice, they would seriously complicate negotiations and would signify the United States' exit from the ABM treaty," Ivanov said.
Bush administration officials have said they want Moscow to agree to amend or replace the treaty with an arrangement permitting testing and deployment of defenses against long-range missiles.
The five established nuclear powers - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - possess enough nuclear warheads to obliterate the world many times over.
Yet it is more than 30 years since they signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which includes a commitment to dismantle these weapons.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, signed in 1970, is the most widely accepted arms control agreement, despite this nuclear threats have emerged.
A total of 187 states have now signed the agreement, with exceptions being Cuba, Israel, India, and Pakistan.
Israel, the U.S.'s strongest ally in the Middle East region, is known to have nuclear weapons capability, but has never declared it or tested. It has an estimated arsenal of 100 warheads and a missile range of 940 miles, according to the BBC online service.
The treaty obliges the nuclear powers never to transfer their nuclear technology to other countries, and forbids other countries from acquiring nuclear capability.
In turn, the nuclear powers are supposed to work towards the elimination of their stockpiles.
The United States is amongst the five countries who have admitted to having nuclear weapons and signed the NPT and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans nuclear test explosions.
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