The Nation : Cheney Endorses MX Mobile Rail System

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney has told President Bush he favors removing the nation’s 50 new MX nuclear missiles from silos and placing them on railroad cars to be shuttled around the countryside in a superpower crisis, senior U.S. officials told the Washington Post. Cheney also has told Bush he does not advise spending additional funds now to develop and deploy on trucks a smaller strategic missile, the Midgetman, a scheme with substantial support on Capitol Hill, the officials said. A decision by Bush on the fate of U.S. land-based nuclear missiles has been billed by senior officials and Bush as one of the most important decisions to be made at the outset of his presidency. The Bush Administration is scheduled to reveal its amendments to Ronald Reagan’s defense budget, including its decision on the land-based missiles, Monday.