Dateline: 06/17/02

Announcing the formal withdrawal of the United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, President Bush pressed for rapid development and deployment of the long-debated National Missile Defense system.

In a brief statement issued on June 13, Bush noted new and different threats faced by the U.S. since the Cold War days of the ABM treaty. "As the events of September 11 made clear, we no longer live in the Cold War world for which the ABM Treaty was designed," he said. "We now face new threats from terrorists who seek to destroy our civilization by any means available to rogue states armed with weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles. Defending the American people against these threats is my highest priority as Commander-in-Chief."

To meet what he called the "new strategic challenges of the 21st century," President Bush called on Congress to fully fund the his requested budget for missile defense. "This will permit the United States to work closely with all nations committed to freedom to pursue the policies and capabilities needed to make the world a safer place for generations to come," he said.

ABM and the "adversarial relationship"
In July 2001, the Bush administration agreed with claims by the Russian Foreign Ministry that continued development of a U.S. missile defense system would violate terms of the ABM treat.

"We have never made a secret of the fact that the president fully intends to deploy a defense of the United States and ... it should be no secret to anyone that Article One of the treaty explicitly prohibits such a defense of national territory," said Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. 

The White House contended that continued existence of the 1972 treaty perpetuated an "adversarial relationship rooted in the Cold War" between the U.S. and Russia. "It's [the ABM treaty] based on the idea that there is stability in the ability of the United States and Russia to blow one another up. We think that is not an appropriate relationship for a new relationship with Russia," stated J.D. Crouch, assistant defense secretary for international security policy.

Terms of the ABM treaty would have prevented both the U.S. and Russia from developing the types of highly mobile missile defense system now considered necessary for protection against post Cold War-era threats.

New times, new threats
With the end of the Cold War, U.S. defense planners started to view "rogue" states, like Iraq, North Korea and China, rather than Russia as the top potential sources of nuclear missile attacks. According to President Bush, the sole purpose of the missile defense system now being developed by U.S. military planners would be to protect the U.S. and its allies from attacks from such countries.

US-Russia agree to work together
In May 2002, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Bush, meeting in Moscow, signed an agreement to reduce the nuclear arsenals of both former Cold War adversaries by about 65 percent, to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads, by the year 2012. In addition, the two nations agreed to cooperate in joint research and development of missile defense systems. 

"Over the past year, our countries have worked hard to overcome the legacy of the Cold War and to dismantle its structures," stated President Bush. "Cooperation on missile defense will also make an important contribution to furthering the relationship we both seek."