PACIFIC ISLAND DIPLOMAT WORRIES ABOUT FALLOUT OF NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE
Date: 02-01-2001
HONOLULU — A Pacific island diplomat warned today that the fallout of any U.S. national missile defense system would likely be "somewhere over the Northern Pacific."
Vinci Clodumar, Nauru's ambassador to the United Nations, asked the U.S. commander of Pacific forces if the impact of national missile defense on Pacific islands was being considered. "If missiles come out of North Korea, the flight pattern has to be over the Northern Pacific Ocean," Clodumar said at the Sixth Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders sponsored by the East-West Center.
Clodumar said any destruction of missiles "would be as far away as possible from American soil. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize the fallout will be somewhere over the North Pacific. Pacific people will be the victims."
Adm. Dennis Blair, commander in chief of U.S. Pacific forces (CINCPAC), said "the full debate is just beginning. These considerations should be factored in."
The new Bush administration is committed to developing a national missile defense system, opposed by Russia, China and other countries. Clodumar said he believes such a system "will be a growing concern" in the Pacific region.
Blair told Pacific leaders that Fiji and the Solomon Islands, which saw coups and ethnic conflicts last year, were in a region that was "not the center of strategic focus for the U.S."
Blair said any U.S. involvement in such regional conflicts would be more of a facilitating role than a direct one. "The primary responsibility resides within countries themselves" rather than from outside forces. He encouraged a regional approach to political problems such as ethnic violence.
Overall, "in the near future island states will be working to bring prosperity in an era that is relatively peaceful," Blair said.
However, a Solomon Islands official predicted a less stable future. Danny Philip, minister of foreign affairs for the Solomon Islands, pointed to the conflicts in his nation and Fiji. "In my view the region will remain very unstable in the foreseeable future," Philip said.
Blair commended island leaders for reconfirming their commitment to democratic principles at a forum last year in Kiribati. Protection of the rights of individuals and minorities, the peaceful transition of power, and enforcing the rule of law "should be the hallmarks...A peaceful Oceania benefits the U.S."
Blair asked for regional cooperation in tackling problems such as drug trafficking, illegal migration, piracy, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. "These organizations are well funded. They're going to the weakest spots they can find." The Pacific nations could cooperate with the United States and other countries in gathering intelligence and policing the region.
Blair said he would like to have "relations with all armed forces of the region." That could involve training together to deal with U.N.-sanctioned tasks such as helping with natural or civil disasters.
Blair said the United States remains committed to activities included in its direct defense links with the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands—all part of the former U.S. trust territory in the Pacific.
For interviews with Pacific island leaders or East-West Center experts on the Pacific islands, contact Susan Kreifels at eastwestwire@eastwestcenter.org or call 808-944-7176.