False Starts For Star Wars
The Obama administration has a complex relationship with the long-gestating antimissile program known as Star Wars. On the one hand, it has used Star Wars as a bargaining chip to deal with thorny diplomatic issues. Last month, Obama sent a letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggesting that if he works with Washington to block Iran's nuclear program, then the United States might kill a George W. Bush plan to put a missile-defense system in Poland. Soon after, Adm. Timothy Keating, top U.S. commander in the Pacific, told ABC News that the Pentagon was prepared to use Star Wars to shoot down an anticipated North Korean rocket test. At the same time, Obama's position on Star Wars deployment is skeptical; the White House Web site says he'll proceed with it only pending "positive" evidence that it works. And that's the rub. Effectively, so far, it doesn't.
According to a recent Pentagon report sent to Congress and obtained by NEWSWEEK, current technology falls well short of "positive" results. Written by an independent Defense Department evaluator, the report says test results from a primitive antimissile system deployed in Alaska are "insufficient to demonstrate an operational … capability"; at best, the system might work in an "emergency" on "simple … ballistic missile threats" from North Korea. As for the system that the Bush team hoped to deploy in Eastern Europe, the report characterizes it as a "concept defined … through analysis, laboratory testing and/or legacy models and simulations." In other words, it's still on the drawing board. (A spokesman for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency conceded that the system for Eastern Europe would need fresh testing.)
Administration sympathizers say that while Obama is no antimissile-program enthusiast, he also wants to avoid looking as if he's giving in to Russia. As for North Korea, two administration officials, who asked for anonymity when discussing a sensitive issue, say Keating was way out of line to suggest that Obama might use the system now to thwart North Korea, noting that the president has been trying delicately to engage Kim Jong Il's regime. (A spokesman for Keating declined to comment.) "The White House," said one of the officials, "was not pleased."
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Mark Hosenball joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in November 1993, covering a range of issues for the National Affairs department. Most recently, he has written and reported numerous stories on terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He has also covered campaign finance, the Monica Lewinsky controversy, the death of Princess Diana, Whitewater, the crashes of EgyptAir flight 990 and TWA flight 800, as well as related air safety issues.
Hosenball came to Newsweek from "Dateline NBC," where he worked as an investigative producer. He also worked extensively as a print journalist, writing for a number of British and American publications, including the London Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard, Time Out, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. In addition, he has done commentaries for American Public Radio.
Hosenball has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Most recently, along with a team of Newsweek correspondents, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club's most prestigious honor, the 2002 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror. His reporting and that of his colleagues earned Newsweek the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002 for its coverage of September 11 and its aftermath. And a story he co-authored was highlighted in a citation Newsweek received by the White House Correspondents' Association when it awarded the magazine the 2002 Edgar A. Poe Award for "excellence on a story of national or regional importance. "Newsweek's September 11 coverage started long before the attacks. An article in the magazine's February 19, 2001 issue warned with chilling accuracy: 'The threat posed by (Osama) bin Laden is growing -- and coming ever closer to home."
Hosenball was a contributor to the CANAL + TV documentary, "L'Argent de la Drogue" (Drug Money), which was awarded the "Sept D'Or," the French equivalent of an Emmy. He also contributed to NBC News' coverage of the BCCI scandal, which earned a 1991 Peabody Award.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College in Dublin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.
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