Here’s what Pentagon Press Secretary George Little had to say on Tuesday about Friday’s failed Ground-Based Midcourse (GMD) System test:
Question: Missile defense. There was a major missile defense test…
Little: Yes.
Question: … that didn’t go well on Friday. A lot of the public is going to say, why are we spending billions on this “turkey,” in quotes? Can you give the public a sense of if you know what happened and is there a feeling of discomfort within this building that the system using the current warheads — not the new ones — didn’t do so well?
Little: The test on Friday was not a success. And it’s being reviewed as to what went wrong. And we’re cognizant of the need to get to the bottom of this.
But we maintain that we have a robust missile defense system in place to defend the United States and our allies from a range of threats. And I would repeat what I shared yesterday in my office, Tony, with a number of you and say that you shouldn’t necessarily draw conclusions about our entire missile defense system based on one single test. We have a range of assets that can support American missile defense, and we are confident that we can defend this country from the missile threat.
Actually, I think it is considerably more than just “one single test” that has introduced the word “turkey” into this discussion.
I have updated my list of offical claims about GMD effectiveness with Little’s comments
