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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 - 03:39pm Jun 13, 2001 EST (#5004 of 5028)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

There would be other negotiations and arrangements that would have to be made, but this could be done and people could understand and remember it.
MD266 rshowalt 9/25/00 7:32am .... MD267 rshowalt 9/25/00 7:33am
MD268 rshowalt 9/25/00 7:35am .... MD269 rshowalt 9/25/00 7:36am

If some other world leaders asked George W. Bush specifically and in detail why it couldn't be done -- the answers might be interesting, and might look interesting on videotape.

rshowalter - 03:42pm Jun 13, 2001 EST (#5005 of 5028)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

"rogue nations" -- in the sense the words have been used, and are used above -- would step into line pretty quickly, I believe. Assuming some sensible, humanly reasonable talking was done.

And we could spend our resources on other things -

- like getting the world on a sustainable energy budget -- with renewable energy supplies big enough for us

. . and getting CO2 concentrations controlled -- if the world is industrialized enough now that it needs a "world excretory system" for C02, we should build one. It wouldn't be hard to do.

rshowalter - 03:43pm Jun 13, 2001 EST (#5006 of 5028)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

And if the nuclear mess was under better control, I might be able to get a job . . . and, speaking selfishly, that would be nice.

possumdag - 03:49pm Jun 13, 2001 EST (#5007 of 5028)
Possumdag@excite.com

Showalter, did you read 5001?

If Russia/EU/America are now 'reading off the same page' in the Bwsh mind .. will the chances of sorting out MD from the Cold War be improved?

rshowalter - 03:59pm Jun 13, 2001 EST (#5008 of 5028)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

If everybody's "reading off the same page" as far as what the facts are - - then hard, careful dealmaking can work.

Nobody has to like each other, though goodwill sometimes helps.

alty53 - 04:00pm Jun 13, 2001 EST (#5009 of 5028)

You are absolutely correct when you say that Roosevelt was attempting to provoke the axis into an attack in order to jump into WWII on the side of the British (ands its inheritable) empire particularly after it became clear after WWI that the United States was the only creditor nation left standing.......but it was the American people who do the fighting and dying and we Americans were not going to die in an attempt to grab the British Empire.........we would fight and die to end Nazi tyranny....and don't kid yourself, hatred for and fear of Nazism/facism/militarism was a strong motivating force for my father and his generation.......next, you have to get out of the habit of thinking in terms of Demopublicans.....they are nothing more than the janus head party of Wall Street...whether Clinton bombs Serbia or Bush bombs Iraq or Reagan bombs Granada, its all the same foreign policy.....Super power hegemony.......corporate control of the world economy.....commodification of everything by deconstructing our common humanity......human beings as aliens to and among our fellow human beings.............total alienation for the purpose of profit

rshowalter - 04:03pm Jun 13, 2001 EST (#5010 of 5028)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

And a thread like this may be good for getting facts to focus -- or suggesting alternatives -- but not for cutting deals. For that, the actors who are actually reponsible have to work through problem only they can fully judge.

But when "meetings of the mind" aren't possible -- dealmaking isn't possible. So facts, including facts about what happened, have to be clear -- so people can grope (a suggestive word - ) toward solutions by incremental feedback-- and checking results, including feelings.

possumdag - 04:04pm Jun 13, 2001 EST (#5011 of 5028)
Possumdag@excite.com

What do Governments do to young men they pull in to fight dirty wars ....

Those who knew Timothy personally dispute this, point to his very normal and happy childhood, and blame the media and government for demonising McVeigh as the face of terror. They say his service in Operation Desert Storm turned him against the US government. He came home a decorated hero, but the experience changed his views forever.

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