Inuit concerned by missile system

IQALUIT — U.S. President George W. Bush’s renewed support for a missile-defense system has Inuit on the defensive.

Bush said he intends to move forward with the National Missile Defense System, even if it means scrapping the longstanding Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that prohibits just such a system.

Dubbed the “son of Star Wars,” this system is supposed to defend the U.S. from attacks by countries such as North Korea or Iran.

The system would set up a defensive screen to track and destroy incoming ballistic missiles headed to U.S. airspace. To this end, Washington has proposed setting up radar installations in the United Kingdom, Alaska and Greenland that would, along with satellites, provide an early warning system.

The Inuit Circumpolar Conference, representing 152,000 Inuit in Greenland, Canada, Alaska and Russia, has expressed its opposition to the U.S. plan to put one of the radars at the Thule airbase.

The ICC and the Greenland Home Rule Government have called for an environmental review and a social-impact assessment on the NMD. They’ve also demanded that the Danish and U.S. governments keep Greenlanders informed and include them in all talks about the NMD.