Hit To Kill

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY OCT 29, 2001

The U.S., writes veteran Washington Post military affairs reporter Graham, has no way of preventing a nuclear missile attack upon its territory; thus, this is the story of the "frustratingly elusive dream" of creating a nationwide antimissile system that all presidents since Johnson have pursued. Graham focuses on the Clinton administration, but in doing so, he uncovers the broader complexities and pitfalls of creating an antimissile system. Uninterested at first, Clinton was pushed to pursue such a plan by a bellicose Republican Congress as well as the successful launch of a sophisticated missile by North Korea. Problems were everywhere: intelligence sources could never accurately say how real the nuclear threat was from "rogue nations" like North Korea; the military, quite presciently, worried that other threats such as a terrorist "bomb in a skyscraper" might be the more clear and present danger. The cost was enormous and it was never clear that the technology for such a system could soon or ever be developed. Political challenges were enormous as well. Deployment of the system would directly violate the ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) Treaty with Russia, which prohibited such systems. China was threatened by the U.S. moves and Europe disliked unilateral action by the Americans. After a few inconclusive tests, Clinton abandoned the plan, leaving its fate to his successor. Bush at least up to September 11, which the book predates had made an anti-missile system the centerpiece of his defense policy. Graham weaves all these threads into a compelling narrative of America's quest for invulnerability, a quest we now know all too well to be indeed an elusive dream.