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No more ass-backward than anything else this administration has done.
'Realistic' Missile Tests Ordered
Senate Also Votes to Increase Army Troop Levels Permanently

By Helen Dewar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 18, 2004; Page A13

The Senate ordered "realistic" tests of the Bush administration's proposed missile defense system yesterday but balked at Democratic proposals to delay deployment until the tests are conducted and to require an evaluation by an independent testing office.

The Senate also voted, 93 to 4, to increase permanently the authorized size of the Army by 20,000 troops, to 502,400. The administration has temporarily expanded Army troop levels to more than 495,000 but opposes a permanent increase. The House voted earlier to expand the Army by 30,000 and the Marines by 9,000 over three years.

The missile defense votes amounted to a go-ahead for initial deployment of the first nine ground-based missile interceptors in Alaska and California later this year and signaled likely congressional support for about $10 million for the program in next year's defense budget.

Democrats, arguing that the planned national shield may not be effective in shooting down incoming missiles, wanted to require tests of the system's operation under realistic conditions, with the results to be evaluated by the Pentagon's chief of testing, Thomas Christie, whom they regard as independent from political pressures.