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A2 UP FRONT
Wednesday 31 May 2017
From Nikki Haley, another side of ‘America First’ Pentagon declares success for

key test of its missile defense
Associated Press always been known for.” ian issues, because I’m sur-
BAB AL-HAWA, Turkey-Syria Haley’s trip last week to Jor- rounded by it every day.” WASHINGTON (AP) — The “In several ways, this test
Border (AP) — Nikki Haley dan and Turkey showcased So far, the White House Pentagon scored an im- was a $244 million-dollar
crouched low in the trail- the outspoken former South has cautiously embraced portant success Tuesday baby step, a baby step
er of an 18-wheeler tap- Carolina governor-turned- Haley’s higher profile, per- in a test of its oft-criticized that took three years,”
ing up a box of lentils and Trump diplomat’s emer- haps as an antidote to missile defense program, Coyle said. The most re-
wheat for besieged Syrians, gence as Trump’s foreign Democratic and Repub- destroying a mock war- cent intercept test, in
her hands-on diplomacy policy alter ego: still bold, lican critiques that Trump head over the Pacific June 2014, was success-
a world apart from the still brash-talking, but with doesn’t care about human Ocean with an intercep- ful, but the longer track
gleaming new NATO head- greater attention to Amer- rights. Her prominent role tor that is key to protect- record is spotty. Since
ing U.S. territory from a the system was declared
North Korean attack. ready for potential com-
Vice Adm. Jim Syring, di- bat use in 2004, only four
rector of the Pentagon of nine intercept attempts
agency in charge of de- have been successful.
veloping the missile de- “This is part of a continu-
fense system, called the ous learning curve,” said
test result “an incredible Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a
accomplishment” and Pentagon spokesman,
a critical milestone for a ahead of Tuesday’s test.
program hampered by The Pentagon is still incor-
setbacks over the years. porating engineering up-
“This system is vitally im- grades to its missile inter-
portant to the defense of ceptor, which has yet to
our homeland, and this be fully tested in realistic
test demonstrates that we conditions. North Korea
have a capable, credible says its nuclear and mis-
deterrent against a very sile programs are a de-
real threat,” Syring said in fense against perceived
a written statement an- U.S. military threats. Its ac-
nouncing the test result. celerating missile devel-
Despite the success, the opment has complicated
In this May 24, 2017 photo, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley holds a food parcel provided $244 million test didn’t Pentagon calculations,
by the World Food Programme, part of the humanitarian aid shipments into Syria, during a visit at confirm that under war- most recently by incorpo-
the Reyhanli border crossing with Syria, near Hatay, southern Turkey. Haley is presenting another time conditions the U.S. rating solid-fuel technol-
side of President Donald Trump’s “America First” doctrine, one that focuses on human rights and could intercept an inter- ogy into its rockets. The
humanitarian assistance. continental-range mis- step would mean even
(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici, Pool)
sile fired by North Korea. less launch warning time
Pyongyang is understood for the United States. Liq-
quarters where President ica’s traditional global roles as a face of Trump’s for- to be moving closer to uid fuel is less stable and
Donald Trump was debut- and the personable side of eign policy has fueled talk the capability of putting rockets using it have to
ing his “America First” doc- diplomacy. in Washington about her a nuclear warhead on be fueled in the field, a
trine overseas. Whereas Trump has em- political future, including such an ICBM and could process that takes longer
Haley, Trump’s U.N. ambas- phasized U.S. security and potentially as a future sec- develop decoys sophisti- and can be detected by
sador, had started the day prosperity and Secretary of retary of state. cated enough to trick an satellites. Underscoring
in Turkey’s capital, opened State Rex Tillerson has dis- And while Haley has some- interceptor into missing its uninterrupted efforts,
a refugee school in the tinguished between Ameri- times contributed to mixed the real warhead. North Korea on Monday
south of the country, then ca’s interests and its values, messages, on everything Syring’s agency sounded fired a short-range bal-
traveled hours in an ar- Haley is the national securi- from Syria to the delicate a note of caution. listic missile that landed
mored vehicle to the Syrian ty voice insisting the U.S. still issue of Jerusalem’s sta- “Initial indications are that in Japan’s maritime eco-
border. Her afternoon stop seeks to promote human tus, the White House has the test met its primary nomic zone. In Tuesday’s
had to be short. She had a rights, democracy and the continued sending her out objective, but program U.S. test, the Pentagon’s
packed schedule, and at a well-being of others. Yet frequently to represent officials will continue to Missile Defense Agency
nearby refugee camp she Haley brushes off any sug- the administration in pub- evaluate system perfor- launched an intercep-
was soon kicking soccer gestion of divergent inter- lic and on television. On mance based upon te- tor rocket from an un-
balls with stranded Syrians ests, arguing instead that Tuesday, Haley’s office an- lemetry and other data derground silo at Van-
and noshing on shawarma. the members of Trump’s nounced she’ll travel next obtained during the test,” denberg Air Force Base
As she hopped a flight to Cabinet simply “see the week to Switzerland to give his statement said. in California. The target
Istanbul, Trump was arriv- world through a different a speech to the U.N. Hu- Philip E. Coyle, a former was an intercontinental-
ing in Brussels to scold Eu- scope.” man Rights Council and head of the Pentagon’s range missile fired from a
ropean allies for relying “We take basically what then to Israel, where she’ll test and evaluation of- test range on Kwajalein
too much on U.S. defense we work with every day meet Israelis and Palestin- fice and a senior fellow at Atoll in the Pacific.
spending. Haley’s mission and try to make America ians and observe local U.N. the Center for Arms Con- According to the plan, a
represented another side first through that lens,” operations. Haley’s role trol and Non-Proliferation, 5-foot-long “kill vehicle”
of Trump’s “America First,” she said at Altinozu Refu- as boundary-pusher may said Tuesday’s outcome released from atop the
assuring nations on the bor- gee Camp in southern have roots in her political was a significant success interceptor zeroed in on
der of the world’s worst cri- Turkey, in explaining her upbringing in South Caro- for a test that was three the ICBM-like target’s
sis that the U.S. wasn’t for- sharply contrasting style. lina, where the daughter of years in preparation, but mock warhead outside
getting them. “For me to make America Indian immigrants became he noted that it was only Earth’s atmosphere and
“I think ‘America First’ is hu- first, I have to fight for the the first female governor the second success in obliterated it by sheer
man rights and ‘America political solution, have to in a state notorious for its the last five intercept at- force of impact, the Pen-
First’ is humanitarian issues,” fight for human rights and I “good-old-boy” Republi- tempts since 2010. tagon said. q
Haley said. “It’s what we’ve have to fight for humanitar- can network. q