Canadians renew arguments over participation in U.S. missile system

Published: 2006-03-10

TORONTO (CNS) -- Advocates of Canadian participation in the U.S. ballistic missile defense system have been restating their arguments to Canada's new government, while opponents are gearing up for a fight. The discussion has increased since late February, when Canadian Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor repeated his government's openness to restarting negotiations with the Americans. Bases in California and Alaska are experimenting with the missile defense system, designed to knock out incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles while they are in space, before they re-enter the earth's atmosphere. The head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said March 8 that the bases could be made ready to fire at incoming missiles within minutes or hours. In Canada, the debate has included questions such as: Is it more ethical to use military technology to protect cities and civilians from nuclear attack, or more ethical to leave the balance of nuclear terror in place and work at disarmament agreements? And will the system of slamming "kill vehicles" into incoming warheads high above the earth's surface ever really work, or is it an inherently flawed ambition?

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