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Canada could say yes to NMD

If Denmark and Greenland allow Thule upgrade, Canada will follow

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS SERVICE

NUUK - Canada will probably jump on board and announce its involvement in the U.S.-led National Missile Defense project within a few months, a Canadian defence policy expert said.

Mercedes Stephenson of Calgary's Society for Military and Strategic Studies, a researcher specializing in the NMD and Canada, considers it "likely" the Canadian government would announce its support for the NMD if the Danish and Greenlandic governments allow the U.S. to upgrade Greenland's Thule air base.

The NMD system would theoretically protect the U.S. from enemy missile attack through a network of radar and missile launching sites that would detect incoming missiles and destroy them in the air.

If Canada doesn't lend its support, Stephenson said, it could risk losing its voice in security issues, and that its national sovereignty would be more at risk than if it didn't join in, particularly since any missiles shot down by the NMD system would be intercepted over northern Canada.

"Unless they were heading from South America, which is highly unlikely at this moment," she said.

Canada's involvement in the Northern Command, the U.S. group that will oversee the NMD, could be in terms of personnel, Stephenson suggested.

This is the case now with NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, whose leadership is shared between the U.S. and Canadian military.

As part of its role in the NMD, Canada could also allow its military bases, such as those in Alert and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, to assist with radar surveillance of northern air space.

But Greenland's top politicians still aren't sure whether they will accept the upgrading of the Thule air base.

An agreement between the Danish and the Home Rule governments that would allow the U.S. to expand Thule, was postponed last weekend.

Per Stig Møller, the Danish foreign affairs minister, and Hans Enoksen, Greenland's premier, had been expected to reach a final agreement on conditions for a U.S. yes-vote.

But on Sunday evening, negotiators announced that neither side had been able to reach a deal. Talks are expected to resume after Møller and Enoksen consult with their party members and advisors.

During a missile defense hearing last week at the Danish parliament, Christiansborg, in Copenhagen, Chinese scientists said their country's citizens oppose the U.S. missile defence plan.

"The Chinese are against missile defense, and it can have impact on our decision about upgrading," said Jensine Berthelsen, chair of Greenland's foreign affairs and security committee, after listening to the testimony.

"The Bush administration would upgrade the missile defence in 2004, because there is going to be election the following year in U.S.," Gualing Gu, a scientist from the Chinese Academy, said during the hearing.

"The NMD would not stop the production of more missiles," Gualing Gu said.

"Many peoples ask whether missile defense really can defend the U.S. and their allies against missiles and terrorism attacks. Missile defense is against the principle of non-proliferation of missiles. It's undermining the global and regional stability and has serious negative impact on global non-proliferation and weapon control."

But the U.S. hasn't given up on its plan to link the northern perimeter of North America with a chain of missile-intercepting radar and missile sites.

In fact, the U.S. wants to more than double the number of interceptor missiles that could be deployed at Fort Greely in Alaska.

In a decision published last Friday in the Federal Register, the missile defense agency said that in granting itself the authority to deploy up to 40 interceptors, the military would achieve "maximum flexibility for maintenance and future operational needs."

The original 16 will be operational in 2004.

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