Findings and Conclusions of the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States.; Hearing Before the Committee on National Security, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifth Congress, Second Session, Hearing Held July 16,1998
Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1998. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Wraps. 24 cm. iii, [1], 127, [1] pages. Wraps. H.N.S.C. No. 105-45. The Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States, commonly called the Rumsfeld Commission, was an independent commission formed by the US Congress to evaluate the ballistic missile threat posed to the United States. The group began work in January 1998 and issued their unanimous final report on July 15, 1998, within the six-month mandate. The report warned of a growing threat of ballistic missiles and the inability for US intelligence to keep track of developments. This contrasted with the views of previous US intelligence estimates, which stated that the threat of ballistic missiles was still 10 to 20 years away. The commission further fueled the debate over a national missile defense system, and may have contributed to the coining of the phrase axis of evil. There were two final reports of the commission: a 300-page classified report for Congress and a 27-page unclassified report. In the unclassified version, the group came to four unanimous conclusions:
The US is threatened by ballistic missiles tipped with biological or nuclear payloads from China, Russia, Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. Iran and North Korea could develop the capability to strike the US within five years of a decision to pursue ballistic missile technology; Iraq would require ten years.
The US intelligence community has underestimated these growing threats.
The processes of the intelligence community to make estimates on this threat are causing an erosion of accurate assessments.
The US has a diminishing warning time before missile systems are operationally deployed, and may conceivably have no warning in the future. Condition: good.
Keywords: Ballistic Missiles, Donald Rumsfeld, Nat. Intelligence, Missile Defense, Strategic Command, Missile Threat, U.S. Congress, Hearings
ISBN: 0160578515
[Book #39582]
Price: $50.00