The missile was launched from Kwajalein Atoll, about 4,800 miles from the where the target was released, in Vanderberg, California. The crucial test was declared a success when the "kill vehicle" struck its target dead-on at 11:09 PM, the exact moment planned.
The success did not surprise Air Force Lt. Fen. Ronald Kadish, head of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. He had told reporters the night before that he was "quietly confident" about this "very complex" test. According to Salon, Kadish's confidence was bolstered by the fact that a global positioning satellite beacon was guiding the missile to its target.
Since the event, the White House has widely boasted about the test's success, all the while trying to reclassify records showing that the test was not run properly. In a desperate attempt to cover its behind, the Defense Department has blatantly tried to intimidate Theodore Postol, a missile defense expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Finally, a Pentagon official owned up to the scam, admitting that real warheads would not possess come-get-me technology.
See Salon's article, "The rigged missile defense test"
July 30, 2001 -- U.S. Disses World
"U.S. Warns It May Skip Conference On Racism"
-- The Washington Post, July 27, 2001
"U.S. rejects accord on germ warfare; Move wipes out 7 years of negotiations"
-- Houston Chronicle, July 26, 2001
"178 Nations Reach A Climate Accord; U.S. Only Looks On"
-- The New York Times, July 24, 2001
"U.S. at Odds With Europe Over Rules on World Drug Pricing"
-- The New York Times, July 20, 2001
"U.S. Expects to Violate ABM in Months"
-- Reuters, July 12, 2001
"U.S. Fights U.N. Accord To Control Small Arms; Stance on Draft Pact Not Shared by Allies"
-- The Washington Post, July 10, 2001
July 25, 2001 -- The NRA Presidency
During the presidential election, the National Rifle Association's Kayne Robinson said, "If we win, we'll have a Supreme Court that will back us to the hilt. . . . If we win, we'll have a president where we work out of their office -- unbelievably friendly relations."
It appears that Robinson was right. At the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, George Bush's Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton gave an obstructionist speech, arguing the United States will not, "join consensus on a final document that contains measures contrary to our constitutional right to keep and bear arms." The speech could have been written by the NRA.
In addition, The Boston Globe reported this week that Attorney General John Ashcroft has changed the Justice Department's long-held stance on gun control; the Department's new position is that the Second Amendment protects an individual's -- not just militias' -- right to bear arms. Ashcroft, who is a member of the NRA, has changed the Justice Department's stance to match the gun lobby's.
See the NRA's Web site, which celebrates Ashcroft's recent move.
Recently in Hall of Shame:
July 7, 2001 -- Bush promises to help the Salvation Army discriminate
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