Cato Daily Dispatch for December 4, 2001
Missile Defense Test SuccessfulPostal Service Further In The Red
Russia Opposes A U.S. War With Iraq
Missile Defense Test Successful
A prototype interceptor for an experimental system to defend the United States against missile attack scored a hit last night against a mock warhead shot from California over the Pacific Ocean, according to The Washington Post.
The event marked the third intercept in five attempts over the past two years and was sure to boost the Bush administration's controversial pursuit of a national missile defense. But the testing program is still in its infancy, with many artificial conditions included in these early trials -- a fact cited by missile defense critics in discounting what the tests prove about the weapon's feasibility.
In "What's the Right Missile Defense System for America?" Senior Defense Policy Analyst Charles Peña writes that "if the United States is going to build a new strategic framework with Russia and eventually scrap the ABM Treaty, it should do so to provide real national security for the U.S. homeland and not to be the world's policeman."
In "National Missile Defense: Examining the Options," Peña and Barbara Conry discuss a realistic view of the challenges of deploying missile defense. In the study, "Arms Control and Missile Defense: Not Mutually Exclusive," Peña suggests that a limited NMD system could be built without endangering relations with Russia.
Postal Service Further In The Red
The Postal Service ended its fiscal year $1.7 billion in the red, according to the Associated Press.
Chief financial officer Richard Strasser blamed the loss on the declining economy and increased competition. In addition, he noted today that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 had caused a reduction in mail volume.
The loss was for the 12 months that ended Sept. 30. The anthrax attacks through the mail began later and will result in additional costs to the agency, Strasser said.
He told the postal Board of Governors that the agency ended the fiscal year with revenues of $65.8 billion and expenses of $67.5 billion.
The Cato Handbook for Congress calls for the privatization of the U.S. Postal Service and the repeal of the Private Express Statutes that preserve the postal monopoly. Director of Regulatory Studies Edward L. Hudgins, editor of the book "Mail @ the Millennium: Will the Postal Service Go Private?" has testified before Congress on privatizing the Postal Service.
Russia Opposes A U.S. War With Iraq
Russia would oppose a military strike by the United States against Iraq and believes diplomacy is the only way to solve the arms inspections dispute between Washington and Baghdad, a Russian envoy visiting the Middle East said Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
Nikolai Kartuzov said Moscow, a key ally and major trading partner with Baghdad, was making a great effort to prevent an attack on Iraq. He did not elaborate.
Kartuzov, who spoke to reporters after meeting Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa in Cairo, said targeting Iraq would have serious repercussions in the Middle East.
Speculation that America might attack Iraq has intensified following Baghdad's continued reluctance to let U.N. inspectors determine if Iraq's programs to build weapons of mass destruction have been dismantled.
Earlier this year the Cato Institute hosted the policy forum "Ten Years after the Gulf War: The Lessons and Future of Washington's Iraq Policy," featuring former U.S. ambassador to Iraq Edward Peck and Middle East expert Laurie Mylroie.
On Thursday, Dec. 13, the Cato Institute will host the policy forum "Should the United States Go To War against Iraq?" featuring former CIA Director James Woolsey and Cato Chairman William Niskanen.
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