US President George W. Bush tonight vowed not to let the 1972 ABM Treaty stop him from deploying a missile shield amid reports that he may announce US withdrawal from the accord in days.
"We must move beyond the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, a treaty that was written in a different era, for a different enemy," the president told a rowdy crowd of students at a military college in South Carolina.
Mr Bush's comments came after the Russian Itar-Tass news agency, citing anonymous sources, said the US was planning to announce unilateral secession from the agreement soon, perhaps as early as December 13th.
"The time is coming when we will need to move beyond the ABM Treaty," White House national security spokesman Mr Sean McCormack on being asked about the reports. "The president will let you know. The time is near."
The Cold War-era accord requires that a party desiring to withdraw must give the other six months advance notice. US officials have said the missile defense program will "bump up" against the treaty's limits within "months, not years."
And Mr Bush himself has said that Washington will push ahead with such a shield whether or not Moscow agrees to scrap or amend the accord, which aides say even restricts the US ability to test promising technology.
AFP