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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 - 05:02pm May 21, 2001 EST (#4119 of 4124)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Every single one of almarst's concerns makes sense, and I feel he's right to be both concerned and angry.

One thing that has to be part of the solution is responsible action, in their own interest, by countries other than America.

To a significant extent, such action is being discussed, and real, effective steps are being taken.

gisterme - 06:27pm May 21, 2001 EST (#4120 of 4124)

rshowalter wrote: "...And, as usual, each side has to take account of all interests involved, but must ESPECIALLY

"mind his own business."

Usually, people contrive not to kill each other under these "up close and personal" circumstances. And even on the rare occasions when murder occurs, body counts are usually moderate..."

Taking account of all interests involved (even presuming they aren't your own interests) seems contrary to the concept of "mind your own business". Why take account if you have no interest?

Do you think murder is okay, Robert, so long as the body counts are usually moderate? What if the body counts become unusual? At what body count does murder become NOT okay for you?

Would you suppose that Maj. Strasser would think moderate body counts are okay too?

rshowalter - 08:54pm May 21, 2001 EST (#4121 of 4124)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

I want to respond, not just to gisterme's last comment, but to the thread, and especially the recent parts.

gisterme - if 100 billion dollars for MD is an essential part of the price for real nuclear safety for the world, that's cheap, from my point of view, whether it works technically or not. Then I'm for it.

If MD stands in the way of real nuclear safety for the world, I'm against it. And right now, that's how it looks to me.

I think there are plenty of other things the MI complex could be doing.

______

The desire for peace, the desire to "step away from the Cold War" is strong.

We need to get things clear - and we need to fashion deals that make sense and are correct from the viewpoint of all concerned. That includes the interests of Russia as well as the United States. And the interests of many other countries, too.

We need solutions that have "disciplined beauty" -- that fit cases, and are proportionate - from a lot of points of view. We need solutions in the real, complex circumstances, where fear levels and distrust levels are justifiably high - though there are substantial areas of limited but real trust and good will, too.

I'm going to take time, and sleep on it, before responding, in hope of coming up with a response that leaders could usefully read, and explain to others. In hope of offering steps toward solutions that work.

Some things seem clear to me:

We can't ask people to put aside their fears, without reasons good enough for them to do so.

We can't ask national leaders to trust blindly.

We can't expect people to act differently in the future than in the past, without good reasons for believing that is a reasonable expectation.

We need to deal with the brute complexity of the circumstances.

We need to remember that people have to get confident before they take a step when very big stakes are involved.

possumdag - 09:00pm May 21, 2001 EST (#4122 of 4124)
Possumdag@excite.com

Showalter said:
" The people at the meeting were really animals.
Admirable animals.
And they had a proper pride --
but they knew they were animals, too.

Did you say you went alone ..
it sounds 'two by two' Arc-territory!
:)

rshowalter - 09:01pm May 21, 2001 EST (#4123 of 4124)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Something else is clear. Russia can't be asked to agree to nuclear safety for the world, at the cost of sacrificing HER interests, from HER point of view. Neither can other nations.

The deal has to work for everybody. On their terms. With circumstances, including history and human feelings, as they are, and not as we might wish them to be.

This doesn't look easy to me, but it does look possible. For a stable solution to be possible, feelings between people can be very different, but key facts have to be the same for all concerned.

rshowalter - 09:03pm May 21, 2001 EST (#4124 of 4124)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Dawn, you would have enjoyed being there ! And I know I'd have been glad to have you there.

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