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Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

wordspayy - 03:12pm Dec 12, 2001 EST (#10360 of 10657)

Hussein isn’t nuts. :Continued

the state.

Just as America is in reaction to its own security environment all other states will be in reaction to Americas. The largest holder of nuclear weapons has undertaken a strategy of believing it can and must survive a nuclear onslaught. For every action a like reaction will take place. The system (nations are actors within a system) will attempt to balance itself. The ripples within the worldwide system of deterrence will break down what has in effect prevented nations like Iraq from unleashing weapons of mass destruction. The technology America now envisions to protect itself with proliferate (it always does) and future encounters with nations like Iraq will result in consideration of WMD by rational states because the risk of survival as been increased due to the existence of shielding technology. Non-survival is no longer an absolute due to the introduction of shielding methods. This was the very reason SALT I was envisioned and signed by the two largest holders of nuclear weapons.

In these times when non state actors are playing an ever increasing role in the world arena and have in all effect demonstrated their use of WMD (A Boeing 747 fuel bomb killing several thousand civilians is a WMD in my mind) Americans need to be reminded with such non state actors, no rules exist. You cannot totally thwart those who do not care about their future existence and survival. Following a pattern that destroys the worldwide deterrence model in hopes of thwarting the irrational actor only makes rational states like Iraq, like North Korea stronger. Iraq rational, North Korea rational? Crazy you say. Is it? Or is it so right on the mark that I just blew your whole mind.

lchic - 01:43am Dec 13, 2001 EST (#10361 of 10657)

You miss the point.

The american strategy could be related to commissions for armament and aerospace salesmen - the strategy does/doesn't come from the people .. they vote for Capital Hill whereas the policy comes from the non-elected admin sector.

New policy - new jobs - new thrust in the economy.

logician3 - 06:49am Dec 13, 2001 EST (#10362 of 10657)
A supposed god is being pushed down our throats.

NMD is simply a ruse to increase the military budget for the Pentagon - it is unneeded, and will deplete funds from many other programs that are much more essential to our short and long term survival, particularly the environment, healtcare, SS, etc. etc.

wordspayy - 10:26am Dec 13, 2001 EST (#10363 of 10657)

logician3 - 07:07am Dec 13, 2001 EST (#10363 of 10363)

Maybe he's just not a believer in the BJP:)

wbtake1 - 10:54am Dec 13, 2001 EST (#10364 of 10657)

Free speech comes with responsibilities! And as for TOTAL free speech we do not have it here in America nor should we! You can not slander people, you can not yell FIRE in a crowed room with only one exit (The movie theater scenario comes to mind) and so on and so forth.

You do have the right to "criticize King George" as you put it but before you do so you need to consider this. If you were in the office he holds and you have to run the biggest economy in the world and protect 250 plus million people and work 15 to 18 hour days and deal with all the other crap going on in the world just what would you do. It is easy to be an armchair president but to actually do the job is another thing. So when you "criticize King George" think about it first.

I voted for Bush because I did not want to see the scandals continue! It was time for a shift in power and I don't agree with Everything he has done but I am please with his overall job performance. You can't always get everything you wish for!

BTW- I can't imagine Al Gore in office during these trying times can you?

I am Glad that Bush is withdrawing from ABM! Times have changed and the USSR does not exist anymore. I own a company that does import/export business with Russia and the Ukraine exclusively and my wife is from Russia. I was one of the few that got to travel extensively in the USSR before it fell and I can tell you first hand that Russia and the USSR are not the same countries. Our ABM agreement was with the USSR and not the government of late. The bottom line is we have no obligation under ABM because the treaty was signed under the rule of the USSR and not Russia. It was Reagan/Bush that said they would continue with ABM for "now". The now has come.

logician3 - 12:18pm Dec 13, 2001 EST (#10365 of 10657)
A supposed god is being pushed down our throats.

wbtake1 12/13/01 10:54am

NMD is frankly insane, it will destalize the world, and will be incapable of stopping most actual attacks.

Not to mention, our missile technology causes more accidents than any attacks it would prevent.

wbtake1 - 12:46pm Dec 13, 2001 EST (#10366 of 10657)

NMD is not insane at all and the research that has gone on to develop NMD has benefited the human race. There are countless new medical devices that are saving lives from the NMD research and even some advances in the computer industry have benefited from the research.

You tend to look at weapons research in terms of what the USSR did. They developed all this great technology but it NEVER got transferred to the day to day lives of the world population. This is not the case with our weapons R&D. Poor people living in squalor have benefited in some way shape or form from the R&D of NMD.

Even if NMD is only 60-70% effective it is still better then NOTHING AT ALL!

I don't see how NMD can harm the relationship that America has with any country. Even the man who thought the concept up (Pres. Reagan) offered to give away the technology once it has been developed. The fact is there are governments that HATE freedom and will do anything to bring down AMERICA even if it means the destruction of their own people. We need to protect ourselves against rouge nations that can fire ICBMs' at use. North Korea and China are working on ICBMs so we need to defend ourselves. Keep in mind there is an arms reduction going on with the super powers and yet China and North Korea and a few others wish to continue to build ICBMs!

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