America's proposed missile shield

For a little while, the United States and Russia moved their deadlocked talks on an American missile shield to Oslo (on June 19 and 20). Strong forces in the two big American parties are pressing President Bill Clinton to give the go-ahead for such a system. The Russians counter that it would break earlier arms reduction agreements and result in a new nuclear arms race.

The Russians aren't alone in those worries. The thought of the United States someday making itself invulnerable to nuclear missiles is not appealing to its European allies. It breaks the principle of common defense and common threats. The United States, in principle, could be the world's only superpower that can threaten with atomic weapons without being exposed to them. That could be a turning point in international politics.

Several independent American sources say the whole project is really a hopeless dream. The Pentagon currently has neither the economic nor the technical resources to build an effective missile shield. But that does not seem to dampen the most eager hawks in Washington.

-- Verdens Gang, Oslo, Norway