Lisbeth Gronlund and David Wright

In 1998, Congress adopted a plan to test potential missile defenses—devices that are designed to intercept foreign missiles before they reach the United States. Under this plan, missile defenses will be constructed and tested until the year 2000, when Congress will decide whether to deploy these defenses. In the following viewpoint, Lisbeth Gronlund and David Wright contend that the planned ballistic missile defense system is technologically infeasible and will pose a barrier to reductions in international nuclear arsenals. Gronlund and Wright are senior staff scientists at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit alliance of scientists and citizens working for a healthy environment and a safe world.

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1. According to the authors, how have the goals of...