US on the Verge of Creating a Missile Defense System

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They don't call it "Star Wars" any more, but Ronald Reagan's dream of a "shield" against incoming ballistic missiles is alive and well. In Alaska and California, missiles designed to shoot down other missiles have been installed in their silos, and there will be many more to come. Critics accuse the Bush Pentagon of wasting tens of billions of dollars on a system that's being deployed before it's been fully tested, but the President insists he's making America safer. Missile defense could be a divisive issue in tonight's presidential debate. Warren Olney speaks with experts on defense, strategic policy and nonproliferation about the system and whether it will mean the start of a new arms race with Russia and China, Making News: Merck Announces Worldwide Withdrawal of Vioxx Arthritis Drug Vioxx, the blockbuster arthritis drug, has been pulled off the market worldwide. That means more than $2 billion a year for Merck and Company, but Ray Gilmartin, CEO of the pharmaceutical giant, says clinical trials show an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Scott Hensley, who covers the pharmaceutical industry for the Wall Street Journal, reports that circumstantial evidence has been building for some time. Reporter's Notebook: Seismologists Raise Alert Level for Mount St. Helens In 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington State erupted with an enormous blast, coating towns 250 miles away with volcanic ash. Bill Steele, seismology lab coordinator at the University of Washington in Seattle, is one of several scientists predicting another eruption. Although he assess the chances of another eruption at 70 percent, he doubts it will be a repeat of the 1980 event that killed 57 people.
They don't call it "Star Wars" any more, but Ronald Reagan's dream of a "shield" against incoming ballistic missiles is alive and well. In Alaska and California, missiles designed to shoot down other missiles have been installed in their silos, and there will be many more to come. Critics accuse the Bush Pentagon of wasting tens of billions of dollars on a system that's being deployed before it's been fully tested, but the President insists he's making America safer. Missile defense could be a divisive issue in tonight's presidential debate. Warren Olney speaks with experts on defense, strategic policy and nonproliferation about the system and whether it will mean the start of a new arms race with Russia and China,
  • Making News: Merck Announces Worldwide Withdrawal of Vioxx Arthritis Drug
    Vioxx, the blockbuster arthritis drug, has been pulled off the market worldwide. That means more than $2 billion a year for Merck and Company, but Ray Gilmartin, CEO of the pharmaceutical giant, says clinical trials show an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Scott Hensley, who covers the pharmaceutical industry for the Wall Street Journal, reports that circumstantial evidence has been building for some time.
  • Reporter's Notebook: Seismologists Raise Alert Level for Mount St. Helens
    In 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington State erupted with an enormous blast, coating towns 250 miles away with volcanic ash. Bill Steele, seismology lab coordinator at the University of Washington in Seattle, is one of several scientists predicting another eruption. Although he assess the chances of another eruption at 70 percent, he doubts it will be a repeat of the 1980 event that killed 57 people.

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Host:

Warren Olney