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Missile Defense

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?

rshowalter - 04:00pm May 1, 2001 EST (#2895 of 2900)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

rshowalter 4/22/01 5:01pm . . . reads in part:

" I did not vote for George W. Bush , but if John McCain or Colin Powell had been the Republican candidate last year, I would have voted Republican.

"It is seldom that the Republican Party's interest can be massively in conflict with the United States national interest. And on the basis of set assumptions, it can be clear enough what that national interest is. If assumptions that make sense to me are right, certain key issues are not going to be evadable.

"If assumptions that make sense to me are right, it is strongly in the Repubican interest, and the National interest, for crimes to be detected and punished, and for Colin Powell to become, quickly, President of the United States. That would be the practical, beautiful thing to do if those assumptions are true.

Insert: perhaps there might be another way -- but the point seems very much worth raising now.

" "I think almost all Americans would be likely to agree to that, in terms of these assumptions. Assumptions that can and should be checked , by Americans, and by interested people elsewhere in the world.

" A pattern can be "beautiful in terms of one set of assumptions" -- and that can be clear to all concerned -- and yet "ugly in terms of another set of assumptions" -- and this can be clear, as well -- even without agreement about assumtions. So people can not only be b "agreed to disagree" -- they can also be b "agreed on the details of what they are disagreeing about." rshowalter 4/20/01 10:36pm

"Key facts, which could be determined, are these:

" 1. Is "missile defense" as it has been sold, a massive technical fraud, involving the use of funds under false pretense, lying on a big scale to Congress, and the great risk and inconvenience of the entire world?

" 2. Have large misappropriations of funds, involving illegal conduct in massive disregard to standards of public responsibliity, occured that have funded the right wing in American politics, and enriched members of "the military industrial complex" in indefensible ways?

"If the answer is "yes" to either 1 and 2, then it is in the interest of the Republican party to take action, in the National interest and its own, or risk the honor and existence of the party itself. If the answer to both is "yes" this should be true beyond any reasonable question."

I said that on April 22d, and the questions raised seem even more relevant now.

These are the sorts of questions that newspapers are supposed to be able to determine.

rshowalter - 04:02pm May 1, 2001 EST (#2896 of 2900)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

rshowalter 4/22/01 5:05pm . . . reads:

I wonder what fraction of American enlisted men, especially those whose duty is directly to fight and kill, could read

. Elder Bush in Big G.O.P. Cast Toiling for Top Equity Firm .... by LESLIE WAYNE ..... New York Times . . . . March 5, 2001 http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/05/politics/05CARL.html

without being ashamed?

If they looked at the detailed circumstances of military contracting, it could not be many.

Is this what our military is essentially built to support?

. . . . .

The answer, surely, must be NO.

applez0 - 04:03pm May 1, 2001 EST (#2897 of 2900)

Listenr - that's part of the idea. To borrow an idea from 'Yes Prime Minister,' if no one knows anything about it, but it costs a minimum of $100 billion, it's gotta be dynamite! LOL!

This sick Cold War thinking has got to end. Let's shoot the old Cold Warriors, they're bloody useless lames that are endangering our futures. :)

rshowalter - 04:04pm May 1, 2001 EST (#2898 of 2900)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Whatever the "good intentions" behind "star wars" at some levels, the fraud, and the conflicts of interest, are cause for serious concern - not only in the United States, but all over the world.

rshowalter - 04:09pm May 1, 2001 EST (#2899 of 2900)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

A posting just before 2893, that seemed to be saying something positive about the administration's missile defense initiative, has been deleted.

I'm saddened by that. Doesn't anybody have anything solid to say in favor of the program, in detail, at any level at all -- can it be as bad as it seems?

( I didn't copy the reference given, but if it someone else did - I'd be interested in whatever justifications the web site link posted and then removed may have referred to.)

rshowalter - 04:11pm May 1, 2001 EST (#2900 of 2900)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

By the way, since Jan 21, I've filled six 1 1/2" loose leaf notebooks with the content of this thread -- and am now starting my seventh.

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