The pressing threats to the United States and its allies are now less certain, less predictable, but every bit as dangerous, he said, and they must be met by new strategies and new defenses.
Defenses can strengthen deterrence by reducing the incentive for proliferation.
The president, who had campaigned for a new missile shield and the unilateral reduction of nuclear arms, pressed ahead with his proposals in a 16-minute address at the National Defense University at Washington's Fort McNair. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., raised a series of questions, including the basic viability of Bush's proposal. I don't know how you support the deployment of a program that doesn't work. Bush said he was dispatching national security teams to Europe, Asia, Australia and Canada to discuss his plans with leaders there. We are not presenting our friends and allies with unilateral decisions already made.