New York Times on the Web Forums Science

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?

possumdag - 12:58am May 29, 2001 EST (#4255 of 4466)
Possumdag@excite.com

Taras Shevchenko

Writer, Poet, of Ukraine/Russia. In Ukraine he's taken the place of Lennin, has statues etc perhaps mechanical propaganda, saw the peasants of 1840-50 as slaves, lived through Russian imperialism ... so Says : George Grabowicz Dmytro Chyzhevs'kyj Professor of Ukrainian Literature, Harvard University, USA. Author of The Poet as Mythmaker TS is a poet to study to get background to the Chetnya situation ... it's not a recent phenomena!

possumdag - 12:59am May 29, 2001 EST (#4256 of 4466)
Possumdag@excite.com

You've got a down on those poor old Brits. C'est moi!

possumdag - 01:06am May 29, 2001 EST (#4257 of 4466)
Possumdag@excite.com

Poet TS was concerned with the 'power struggle' and status of people regarded by the Russian Empire as Ukraine and 'Other'. Isn't this the problem today .. the Chechnyans need to come in from the cold, not be 'other', rather Russian/European 'us' 'our' brother/sister!

---

A general comment, the problem makers of this world are ignorant political stratagists. Who short change one group to give power to another ?

possumdag - 01:11am May 29, 2001 EST (#4258 of 4466)
Possumdag@excite.com

:) Australian-American secret global weapond

possumdag - 01:21am May 29, 2001 EST (#4259 of 4466)
Possumdag@excite.com

So, how do political strategists, getting back to the poet, poets-writers, use cultural and literary figures to placate the people and seemingly justify their stance ... didn't Wagner get caught up in this awfulness?

joesternfc - 08:13am May 29, 2001 EST (#4260 of 4466)

Why should the U.S. buy any S-300 surface-to-air missiles from Russia to induce Putin to scrap the ABM treaty? We should not encourage the Russian already overly large military export program. It might jeopardize our own predominant position for military exports, endangering the jobs of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American defense workers.

amacd - 08:30am May 29, 2001 EST (#4261 of 4466)
For what the global corporate elite are doing to average people everywhere, the New York Times serves the same function as K-Y Jelly

A point never mentioned by the press about Bush's NMD is that it would violate International Law ---- the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, to keep space free from war.

But that was back in an era of idealism when U.S. ideology and practice was not totally dominated by the 'pragmatic' demands of the marketplace, and we had sold our collective soul to the 'me-first' generation of the 80's and 90's.

Idealism like keeping space free from war, and keeping ANWR free from exploitation, are quaint notions we can no longer afford ---- we need it all NOW, "and you deserve it baby".

rshowalt - 09:37am May 29, 2001 EST (#4262 of 4466)

almarst , your points are good ones, and have to be answered for world stability. Given what this administration has said and done, they are absolutely valid concerns.

acheson1 - 11:40am May 29, 2001 EST (#4263 of 4466)

Plain and simple on the NMD, it makes little sense to me to spend $60 BB on NMD when there is as of yet no credible defense to a ship motoring into NYC's harbor carrying even a low-yielding nuclear device. I'm as conservative as they come, but most people forget that this also implies some degree of financial sophistication. Spending $60 BB on NMD would be like speding thousands of $s wiring your windows against a burgler, but leasving your front door wide open.

garyhandley - 11:58am May 29, 2001 EST (#4264 of 4466)

This system sounds a bit like the MX experiment-- huge amounts of money going into a highly questionable "defense package" that could be better used elsewhere. We shouldn't have our thinking process stuck in the Cold War with ICBMs and MIRVs falling from the sky anymore. Agressor nations can just as easily bring a small nuclear device into this country and cause incredible damage. Moreover, if what Bush says about North Korea and company is true and they are developing ICBM technology, they must still understand that they would face massive retaliation from the United States in the event of an attack. Perhaps the billions of dollars Mr. Bush wants to waste on an ABM system would better be used for intelligence.

(202 following messages)

New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense