Dismissing Asian fears of an arms race, Australian Prime Minister John Howard Friday declared it would be “recklessly negligent” to opt out of a U.S. “star wars” missile defense system. He said no final agreement had been reached in talks on the project with the visiting Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers. Australia is disparaged by some Asian nations as America’s “deputy sheriff” in the region. But the prospect that it may equip its warships with U.S. missiles capable of shooting down long-range ballistic missiles has raised concerns of an arms race in a region grappling with a nuclear threat from North Korea and simmering tensions between China and Taiwan. Full Story