Apparently, the United States no longer abides by this philosophy.

When signing the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 1972, former President Richard Nixon and then-Soviet Union General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev agreed to limit the amount and types of missiles each country would produce.

Now, the Pentagon has announced the possibility of building a national missile defense system. The Pentagon is backed by the Clinton administration in seeking to negotiate with Russians in an attempt to amend the treaty.

If the United States begins to build a missile defense system, it will be an outright violation of the treaty. Moreover, it will set an unhealthy precedent when dealing with other peacetime treaties in the future.

Building a missile defense system places the United States on the offensive, instead of on the defensive. Other countries will see it as a signal to develop their arsenals. Such action will not improve U.S. national security -- it will merely add to its problems.

The Pentagon maintains that building a missile defense system is a valid response to possible security threats from nations such as Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Developing a missile system; however, will place these nations on their guard even more. The government should be focusing on developing better foreign relations with these nations instead of alienating them further.

Furthermore, a new missile defense system will cost about $10.5 billion during the next six years. The United States does not need to add this amount of money to the already enormous defense budget, especially because the United States has the potential to obliterate entire nations. There are worthy places $10.5 billion could be helpful in this country, such as health care, education and welfare.