Australia joins U.S.-led missile defense system
Australia joins U.S.-led missile defense system
Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters, Canberra
Australia has joined a controversial U.S.-led "Son of Star Wars" defense program designed to shoot down ballistic missiles, strengthening military ties with its key ally despite a risk of Asian displeasure.
Announcing the decision on Thursday, foreign minister Alexander Downer said the shield system would deter rogue states from acquiring missile technology, but he gave no details of possible costs or how Australia would participate.
"This is a strategic decision to put in place a long-term measure to counter potential threats to Australia's security and its interests from ballistic missile proliferation," Downer told parliament, adding Britain and Japan supported the program.
While he did not mention North Korea by name, the communist state has a nuclear weapons program and ballistic missiles capable of hitting U.S.-ally Japan. North Korea is also a major exporter of missiles and technology.
Australia's left-leaning Democrats and Greens parties strongly objected to Australia's involvement in a project with unproven technology, saying it could trigger an arms race.
"It is a mistake to spend billions of dollars developing technology that may never work and will just encourage others to create new weapons," said Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett.
The Bush administration has earmarked US$50 billion over five years to build a missile defense with an initial, rudimentary, capability to shoot down incoming warheads by next September.
The multi-layered system is still under development and could include interceptor rockets to smash into a missile soon after takeoff, high-powered lasers and ship-based antimissile rockets.
Critics say it would be years, if not decades, before a reliable shield could be built and cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming decades.
A Japanese newspaper said on Thursday Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi planned to introduce a missile defense system to protect Japan from North Korea, which fired a ballistic missile over Japan in 1998. Koizumi denied any decision had been made but said the issue must be tackled soon.
Some defense experts view Australia as an essential component in the missile defense system. Australia already hosts small but important U.S. security operations, notably the remote Pine Gap base that receives information collected by eavesdropping satellites.
But Canberra's move to join the system -- as well as the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter project to build an advanced fighter-bomber -- could irk Asian neighbors who already accuse Canberra of playing "deputy sheriff" for Washington in the region.
Downer said it would strengthen military ties with the United States that his conservative government has bolstered since coming to power in 1996.
Analysts said joining the program added "another layer of intimacy" to the U.S./Australia relationship that would not go down well in the region.
"It is dangerous in as much as it seems that when the United States acts, Australia follows by reflex," said foreign policy expert Michael McKinley from the Australian National University.
"It creates a sense that Australia is only reluctantly a part of the region in social and economic terms."
Downer, aware of regional sensitivities, said the government had already briefed some Asian nations of its involvement and would keep its regional partners informed of its participation.
Defense minister Robert Hill said that under the program, Australia could include expanded cooperation to detect missiles at launch, acquiring ship or ground-based sensors, and research, but ruled out a ground-based missile defense system.
The U.S. Ambassador to Australia, Tom Schieffer, said the program could have commercial benefits by allowing Australian industry to participate in the development stages.
The original "Star Wars" initiative pioneered by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan never got off the ground and was seen as too costly and too ambitious.