US presses allies on missile shield: "The United States urged NATO allies to invest in a missile shield and avoid harmful budget cuts at a meeting of defence and foreign ministers clouded by the war in Afghanistan.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates made the plea, echoed by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, amid French reservations about the anti-missile system.
'The studies have been done, the data are well-known and the affordability is clear,' Gates told alliance ministers. 'It is time for a decision.'
The ministers gathered at NATO headquarters to discuss a new 'strategic concept' that will shape the 28-nation alliance's vision for the next decade to face new threats including missiles from 'rogue' states and cyber assaults."
