NPR's Mike Shuster concludes a 4-part series on national missile defenses with a report on the political considerations in deciding whether to develop such a system. In 1996, President Clinton dropped his opposition to proceeding with development. He agreed to continue research on missile defenses but didn't commit to a specific deployment date. That has enabled the Republican Congress to keep missile defenses alive. The research and development is very expensive, and forging ahead with it has damaged U.S. relations with Russia and China.
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