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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 - 01:35pm Sep 8, 2001 EST (#8659 of 8662)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

MD5924 rshowalter 6/24/01 7:50am

MD5852 rshowalter 6/22/01 7:21pm ... includes this:

"I believe this article merits special attention, because it relates to the manufacture of "consent" and the projection of "artificial sincerity" according to patterns perfected, in detail, by the Nazis.

... In Virginia, Young Conservatives Learn How to Develop and Use Their Political Voices by BLAINE HARDEN http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/11/politics/11CONS.html linked to md4771 rshowalter 6/11/01 6:14pm

It is also interesting to search "Carlyle" in this thread. You'll find MD905 rshowalter 3/10/01 12:08pm . . . which includes this:

"I wonder how many enlisted men (and there are plenty of literate ones) could read Elder Bush in Big GOP Cast Toiling for Top Equity Firm by LESLIE WAYNE http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/05/politics/05CARL.html without being ashamed?

" I wonder how many military leaders would want soldiers to read such things prior to having to risk their lives in combat?

" I wonder how many cops, or local politicians, or accountants, could read the piece, and think about security rules - where no one can ask questions, without being alarmed?

" I wonder how anyone can read the piece, and not be alarmed by conflicts of interest in the current administration, right up to the top ? . . .

In the Eisenhower administration, there was an scandal, about undue influence. It concerned a fur coat -- a vicuna coat. Now, people in the administration, and directly connected to the administration by strong ties of family or connection, have financial interest in government decisions. They act to influence and convey information about those decisions. The fact, and the huge sums involved, are disclosed, and the reaction is very muted.

Indecencies have accumulated, standards have eroded to a stunning degree.

If something of the import of Elder Bush in Big GOP Cast Toiling for Top Equity Firm by LESLIE WAYNE http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/05/politics/05CARL.html had come out in Eisenhower's time, there would have been an uproar. There should be an uproar now, and people in other nations, judging the honor of the United States, ought to note that there has not been an uproar.

In military matters, and political matters, too, we need to take steps to reverse the indecencies that have accumulated since World War II.

Including especially nuclear weapons, and the systems of ideas that make them "all right - - and all right to use - - and all right to use as threats"

rshowalter - 01:48pm Sep 8, 2001 EST (#8660 of 8662)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Fox Urges Scrapping of 54-Year Treaty Between U.S. and Mexico By GINGER THOMPSON http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/08/international/americas/08PREX.html

I wonder how many treaties between the US and other nations do not have such "withdrawal with notice" clauses?

My guess is that such clauses are, and have long been, standard boilerplate in essentially all our treaties.

What if very many of them started to be exercised at once?

Why should they not do so, for any reason of national interest any nation happens to feel?

Why should they not do, with coordination among themselves, with a view to their own advantage?

On what grounds could the US, acting as it is now acting, reasonably object?

MD926 rshowalter 3/11/01 5:02pm ... MD927 rshowalter 3/11/01 5:08pm
MD2767 pbella 4/30/01 9:15am ... MD6561 rshowalter 7/4/01 8:35pm

rshowalter - 01:50pm Sep 8, 2001 EST (#8661 of 8662)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

It is especially worth noting that treaties determine not only money flows, but the mechanics of information flows, as well.

How many treaties, negotiated and often dictated by the US, incorporate the sorts of provisions so beutifully set out in the NUNN-WOLFOWITZ TASK FORCE REPORT: INDUSTRY "BEST PRACTICES" REGARDING EXPORT COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS http://164.109.59.52/library/pdf/nunnwolfowitz.pdf July 25, 2000

Set up with the detailed mechanics of interaction constrained in such a way that some of the signatories are frozen out of information exchanges on which their prosperity, safety, and independence critically depends?

And how many of these arrangemetns are set up with that mechanics also set out so that "little snippets" of background information, such as those sometimes given in conversations with advisors from Carlyle, can be very valuable? Elder Bush in Big GOP Cast Toiling for Top Equity Firm by LESLIE WAYNE http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/05/politics/05CARL.html

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