Missile Defence Returns

The resurrection of ballistic missile defence (BMD) may pose a major political challenge for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative minority because a significant number of Liberals, as well as the full NDP and Bloc Quebecois, were adamantly opposed to Canada's participation. Public opposition was strongest in Quebec, where Mr. Harper is trying to make inroads to win a majority government in the next election. It is unknown, however, how many of those same critics would oppose this missile-defence plan, since it is spearheaded by NATO instead of the United States. This political tempest was unleashed quietly and with little fanfare at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, when a NATO military panel delivered a 10,000-page report to the North Atlantic Council, the alliance's governing body, titled NATO Missile Defence Feasibility Study. "There is a growing threat of long-range missile attack on NATO territory, and it is timely to examine ways and means of addressing that threat," Mr. Billingslea said. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=2fb186a2-6869-4910-a22f-1d2ae6f6537f&k=49297 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on May 15, 2006]

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