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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 - 08:12pm May 8, 2001 EST (#3555 of 3595)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Yes.

But recall how much the Koreans care about some Japanese textbooks. Some things need to be clear. And I'm not talking about "right or wrong" in a moral sense -- what is essential is to get the past straight enough -- at the

" who did what --- and with which -- and to whom?"

level, so that people can go on.

And work their problems through.

rshowalter - 08:17pm May 8, 2001 EST (#3556 of 3595)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

If things were moving well toward the future, I think people would be accomodating indeed about thier judgement about the past - as long as core facts, necessary for the judgement of future action, were clear.

I think the possibility of really improved security, for America and the rest of the world, is there, and we should work for it.

And not be too prudish while we're about it -- we don't have to like each other all the time --- and we don't have to trust each other entirely --- we can still go forward.

bartender74 - 08:25pm May 8, 2001 EST (#3557 of 3595)

I hate to have to explain this to you, but according to many experts, the real threat lies not from a rogue state lauching a missle strike against US soil, but in a concerted effort from terrorists who strike from within. Smaller, tactical nuclear devices pose a much greater threat. And let us not forget the horrifying prospect of a biological terrorist strike. These are the reall issues surrounding national security.

rshowalter - 08:25pm May 8, 2001 EST (#3558 of 3595)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

And I think everybody would have plenty to do.

And life would not only be safer -- it would also be more fun.

rshowalter - 08:28pm May 8, 2001 EST (#3559 of 3595)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

bartender74 5/8/01 8:25pm

We need to make peace with "rogue states" and "rogue groups" to the extent that is reasonably possible -- and if it is not, use force to protect ourselves and others.

That doesn't look impossible to me. Though, whatever is done, human beings will remain dangerous animals.

Group hunters.

But we can do a lot better than we're doing. Almarst made good suggestions.

therowd2001 - 08:34pm May 8, 2001 EST (#3560 of 3595)

NMD...? Do some reading about what some of our top brains say about it.

http://www.gsinstitute.org/laws.pdf

applez101 - 08:37pm May 8, 2001 EST (#3561 of 3595)

Ohduck - important legal process that needs to be understood. A signature is at best a statement of intent, frequently less than that. Of the vast numbers of treaties the US has signed, it has *ratified* precious few of them.

Pertinent treaties worth noting:

Wilson's precursor UN (sorry, mental block at the mo) - signed, never ratified, subsequent world war

Chemical weapons ban treaty - signed, not ratified Biological weapons ban treaty - the same START II - same, iirc...someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Land mine ban - not signed or ratified Lunar treaty (exempting it from commercial & military exploitation, akin to Antarctic treaty)- signed, not ratified

Orbital space treaty (prohibiting military use) - signed, not ratified, and first broken by US spy satellites (though that is a matter of contentious interpretation).

Much of this has to do with American insecurities and a process of negotiation that keeps key parts of gov't (like Congress) outside of the negotiating process. That and a democratic process that rewards short-termist politics over long-term planning.

When will America modify its Constitution?...the Revolution is long over! ;-p

dotjackson - 08:50pm May 8, 2001 EST (#3562 of 3595)

Goshamighty, as if "Planet of the Apes" were not enough, now we're going to have "Galaxy of the Bush-Monkey." We've got a nine-year-old brain (and not a very bright one, at that) calling the shots in this country, aided and abetted by the comic-book doofuses serving in his secret tree-house cabinet. Maybe if we can just get him excited about trouncing China (and Russia and Korea and all of Europe) at T-Ball -- and keep his idiotic rump out of space -- the universe can be saved.

rshowalter - 08:52pm May 8, 2001 EST (#3563 of 3595)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

civility has its virtues. I can recall some mistakes, can't you.

If Bush actually does work for peace, and checks his work -- I for one, would . . . . be impressed and respectful.

rshowalter - 08:54pm May 8, 2001 EST (#3564 of 3595)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

But if, after knowing he's made a mistake, he goes right on slam-banging into disaster -- well then, Johnathan Edwards himself couldn't find proper words for him..

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