Obama chooses missile defense critic Phillip Coyle for advisory post

President Obama today nominated of Philip Coyle, a leading critic of Bush administration missile defense schemes, to be the Associate Director for National Security and International Affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.  Coyle, who was the head weapons tester at the Pentagon during the Clinton administration, will lead a team tasked with giving scientific advice to Obama on a range of national security issues.  Coyle is an analyst on weapons systems for the Center for Defense Information, a Ploughshares Fund grantee. He's been actively involved in several of the national security debates involving advanced technology and a staunch watchdog on the missile defense system the Bush administration rushed to deploy throughout its tenure. He has repeatedly said that the Missile Defense Agency has been amassing hardware that is either not aligned with the threat or can't be relied on in case of an actual emergency. Coyle instead suupports more short and medium range systems, changes Obama's plan has called for. Coyle must now be confirmed by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The vetting and confirmation process could take months.