Bush intends to pursue missile defense

According to the Washington Post, President Bush announced that he plans to pursue a missile defense system that will be able to intercept missiles by 2004.

Missile defense is something that has been evading the country for years but Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said their plan was "better than nothing." Pentagon officials say that the program will be very limited and that there will be a lot of testing ahead.

The U.S believes that countries such as Iran and North Korea could pose a threat in the future. "The reason I think it's important to start is because you have put something in place and get knowledge about it and experience with it," said Rumsfeld.

Many Democrats are critical over the amount of money and energy that is being put into this system that has not even been proven to work. Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich) said that Bush's action "violates common sense by determining to deploy systems before they have been tested and shown to work."