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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 - 03:23pm Sep 9, 2001 EST (#8707 of 8726)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Vladimir Putin could do this, too.

Not that he should.

But in my personal judgement, if he did, he might get the peace he seeks, and might well, in a forseeable future, double the rate of economic growth in his country. By cleaning up messes that are weighing Russia and many other countries down.

Messes that are hobbling the United States, as well.

Sometimes, getting right answers is the only hopeful, reasonable thing that can be done, before action is taken.

With the fate of the world in "play" -- this seems like such a time to me.

rshowalter - 03:25pm Sep 9, 2001 EST (#8708 of 8726)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

For facts to be established, someone with real independent power has to ask that it be done.

If the request was made, there would be no effective way to block the checking that would be politically possible.

wrcooper - 04:13pm Sep 9, 2001 EST (#8709 of 8726)

Rumsfeld Defends Missile Defense Plan

It's clear that the NMD is a high priority of the Bush White House. Why is the Pentagon and its friends placing so much political capital in this flawed scheme? Who really believes that it will work?

rshowalter - 04:23pm Sep 9, 2001 EST (#8710 of 8726)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

I think that they've got themselves in a box, where they've told so many lies, to so many people, for so long, that they have no choice but to fight it through - - - without regard for consequences, or the welfare of the country.

That's how it looks to me. As if they are desperate to maintain control, lest a "house of cards" come down.

If there were reasons, that could stand the light of day, for the administration's course I'd be comforted. But I haven't seen them, and in this thread, where there's been much involvement, with stakes plainly high, they haven't clarified them.

Senator Levin is saying in public that he can't get sense out of them either. It may well be that the emperor has no clothes.

. . . Now, for a weekly chore. Could you give me five minutes?

rshowalter - 04:24pm Sep 9, 2001 EST (#8711 of 8726)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

The New York Times is a major source of information about missile defense. Articles from that corpus are listed here periodically, with links.

MD7006 rshowalter 7/13/01 1:02pm ... MD7647 rshowalter 7/31/01 11:42am
discuss the corpus, and the complexity, richness, and challenge of it, and link to many articles on missile defense that have been discussed on this thread.

Listings of missile defense articles in the Times , for week periods, with links, are set out in

MD7648-7651 rshowalter 7/31/01 11:42am

MD7785-7787 rshowalter 8/8/01 2:47pm

MD7910-7912 rshowalter 8/19/01 3:08pm

MD8155-8157 rshowalter 8/26/01 1:51pm

MD8310-8312 rshowalter 9/2/01 10:12am

Links to this week's articles related to missile defense in the Times , or most of them, follow.

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New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense