GEORGE BUSH’s rush to field a missile defence system before the presidential elections in September 2004 could endanger the programme’s success. The government spending watchdog, the General Accounting Office (GAO), warned last week that the tight timetable is forcing the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to employ immature and poorly tested technology.
Coming from a non-partisan government department, the warning is an embarrassment to the Bush administration as it strongly echoes critics who say the anti-missile technology is far from ready for deployment.
The GAO report concentrates on the management of the anti-missile programme, rather than questioning the need for such…
