Greenpeace today described as 'naive' William Hague's announcement that the Conservative Party would make support for the US Star Wars program an election manifesto commitment. Stephen Tindale, Greenpeace Policy Director, said:
"Hague's posturing over Star Wars is more reminiscent of a belligerent schoolboy, out of his depth in international affairs, than a political leader. He is simply naive if he thinks that Star Wars will make the world a safer place. Most defence analysts and politicians already agree that the US missile defence program will undermine global security."
"Star Wars will not prevent terrorist attacks, is incredibly expensive and doesn't work, he added, "Furthermore it will cause a new arms race, which is in the interests of no-one except arms manufacturers".
If Star Wars goes ahead it breaks the terms of the 1972 Ballistic Missile Treaty and if that happens Russia and China have vowed to withdraw from all nuclear disarmament agreements and work on new missiles that can evade the system. This will lead to other countries, such as India and Pakistan, following suit.
France, Germany, China, Russia and the UN have all made strong public statements opposing Star Wars. French President Jacques Chirac, has said: "The more improvements that are made to the shield, the more improvements are made to the sword. We think that with these (anti-missile) systems, we are just going to spur sword makers to intensify their efforts."
Tindale continued, "A Tory government would make Britain the only country in the world, apart from the U.S., to support Star Wars".
"If Hague wants to protect Britain's interests he should reject this dangerous program which alienates allies and antagonises opponents".
Greenpeace is running an international campaign against the development of Star Wars. Last July during an integrated test of the system, Greenpeace occupied both Vandenberg Air Force base and the Kwajalein Island in the South Pacific where the "kill vehicle" was fired.
Greenpeace opposes all aspects of a National Missile Defence program because other nuclear weapons states will expand their nuclear arsenals to counter it, negating the recent progress made at disarmament talks to reduce the number of nuclear weapons world-wide.
Further information
Greenpeace press office: 020 785 8255
