![[F]](../_images/site.gif) New York Times on the Web Forums  Science
Russian military leaders have expressed concern about US plans
for a national missile defense system. Will defense technology be
limited by possibilities for a strategic imbalance? Is this just SDI
all over again?
    (1772 previous messages)
rshowalter
- 11:19am Mar 30, 2001 EST (#1773
of 1781) 
Robert Showalter
showalte@macc.wisc.edu
And with the internet, ideas can be nicely laid down, for
presentation, familiarisation, and re-representation -- and with all
the dialectic variations human beings want, need, and enjoy.
lunarchick
- 11:25am Mar 30, 2001 EST (#1774
of 1781)
lunarchick@www.com
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/globalwarming/0,7368,395145,00.html
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/0,6961,,00.html
rshowalter
- 11:25am Mar 30, 2001 EST (#1775
of 1781)
Robert Showalter
showalte@macc.wisc.edu
By George !
We can learn to talk together better, and get unblocked. rshowalter
3/27/01 11:21am
almarst-2001
- 12:09pm Mar 30, 2001 EST (#1776
of 1781)
Why Bush Administration Hawks Cast a Beady Eye on Beijing - http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,104055,00.html
"Who are we without an enemy?"
rshowalter
- 12:12pm Mar 30, 2001 EST (#1777
of 1781)
Robert Showalter
showalte@macc.wisc.edu
I was just about to post this -- let me do so before reading your
posting:
News
Analysis: U.S. Policy on Russia A Tougher Stance ..... by JANE
PERLEZ ...... March 24
".. in thoughts and deeds (the Bush
administration) has taken a sharp departure from the engagement
policies of its predecessor, moving toward isolating Russia and
its president, Vladimir V. Putin.
. . . . . .
"In a stylistic touch that said much about
Russia's position in the universe of the Bush administration, Mr.
Rumsfeld delivered a speech on missile defense in Germany last
month to defense specialists but failed to mention Russia and left
before the Russian delegate, Sergei B. Ivanov, spoke."
I wonder how many ordinary Americans, who do business in the
world, would have behaved so shoddily? I don't need to wonder what
Queen Elizabeth would think of such behavior -- it is immature,
unworthy of respect -- forgetful of lessons of history and
reasonable human experience -- the sort of thing done by the sort of
person that other self respecting people (and nations) would prefer
not to associate with.
.....
From the same article:
"Like the Clinton administration, but more clearly
and aggressively, the Bush foreign policy advisers have said they
plan to expand NATO, a move that Russia believes is intended to
belittle and contain it.
"Many of the senior Bush appointees — from Mr.
Wolfowitz to Stephen J. Hadley, the deputy national security
adviser — were board members of the United States Committee on
NATO, a group dedicated to the expansion of the alliance perhaps
as far as the Baltics.
If one reads the articles by these men, giving the rationale for
expanding NATO, and notes the rank they have been given, one might
wonder whether the best possible arguments for breaking up NATO,
rather than expanding it, have been given.
Perhaps, so long after WWII, and with the Cold War long since
over, the American forces, who have done such an admirable job in
the past, but who are now so hungry to make a world where they can
have enemies, should be invited to return home. There might be no
greater favor that could be done to the world at large, and to the
United States.
Military alliances are built of bonds of sentiment and common
belief,and both these kinds of bonds are fraying very quickly
between the US and all its allies.
The reasons for the US shunning the Russians, and maintaining
hostility toward the Russians, for all their faults, seem especially
inappropriate, given what was actually done in the Cold War.
almarst-2001
- 12:38pm Mar 30, 2001 EST (#1778
of 1781)
rshowalter
3/30/01 12:12pm
Very good and importand comment.
The perception is that some powerful interests in US, and not
just in this Administration, are desperately looking for the new
enemies to justify the support for their interests. It may come to
such a provocation that a hostil reaction will result, "justifying"
this policy. The danger is, no one knows precisely where the
"trip-wire" may be when a hostil intent is assumed.
rshowalter
- 12:46pm Mar 30, 2001 EST (#1779
of 1781)
Robert Showalter
showalte@macc.wisc.edu
Don't let Russia provoke. One hopes all other nations do not
provoke.
Be reasonable. Be firm. Be subject to argument from
evidence. And note how much staff work persuasion
sometimes takes -- the fact that an idea does not stick the first
time doesn't mean it may not later.
Progress is being made.
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