A group of American physicists says the Bush administration has made false claims in defending its plan for a missile system in Eastern Europe. The White House has reassured Russia by vowing that its system would not be able to catch Russian missiles. But six leading scientists, including Theodore Postol of MIT, say the proposed sites in Poland and the Czech Republic would be able to negate Russia’s nuclear deterrent. Majorities in both Poland and the Czech Republic are opposed to hosting the missile system. The plan is widely seen as an overt threat to Iran.