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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?

almarst-2001 - 08:54pm Sep 20, 2001 EST (#9549 of 9555)

Robert,

What Congressman Weldon does not realise or ignore is the fact, that giving the posture of US military, agressiveness of US Government and the complex of superiority and missionic mentality so sucessfully instilled into American public by its media, the US is seen as a great danger to the great number of the people around the glob. And NMD is seen as an attempt to remove the fear of even suicidal retaliation as an only possible deterrance against such agression.

The NMD is not seen as a tool for legitimate defence.

That is the unfortunate fact.

rshowalter - 09:02pm Sep 20, 2001 EST (#9550 of 9555)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

A fact that I believe it is vital for people all over the world to come to understand better, and for the people in the United Statest to come to understand.

That is the context in which Missile Defense needs to be considered.

But there is another context, too.

Is it, in American parlance, a "boondoggle"? A technical series of mistakes so great that, at least in some senses, it seems to be a fraud?

That is important, too. And deals with issues, that gisterme , you, Lunarchick, and I have been discussing in much detail.

I believe that things President Eisenhower warned against need to be seriously considered, in detail, and that missile defense is largely interesting because of the light it sheds on these issues --- issues tightly coupled to almarst's concerns.

rshowalter - 10:47pm Sep 20, 2001 EST (#9551 of 9555)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

We can be wonderful to each other:

. Of Altruism, Heroism and Evolution's Gifts in the Face of Terror by NATALIE ANGIER http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/18/health/psychology/18ALTR.html

But the horrors of human function are real, too. Nuclear weapons, and with them, missile defense, involve these horrors, and our need to cope with them.

How, as a matter of mechanics, are we to deal with these horrors?
MD9302 rshowalter 9/17/01 3:47pm

rshowalter - 10:52pm Sep 20, 2001 EST (#9552 of 9555)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

We need to be WORTHY of the GOOD THINGS people associate with this flag - - not just wave it.

Our defense, and our ability to get other nations to cooperate with that defense, on missile defense and other matters, depends on that.

MD9413 rshowalter 9/18/01 8:40pm

MD9529 rshowalter 9/20/01 1:50pm

. HOW TO SEARCH THE "MISSILE DEFENSE" FORUM
MD9057 rshowalter 9/14/01 2:26pm ... MD9440 rshowalter 9/19/01 8:07am

rshowalter - 07:53am Sep 21, 2001 EST (#9553 of 9555)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Thomas L Friedman , like Maureen Dowd and others at The New York Times has expressed strong and repeated doubts about the responsiblity and even the sanity of this administration's missile defense proposals.
MD8102 rshowalter 8/24/01 12:03pm ... MD8103 rshowalter 8/24/01 12:04pm
MD9203 rshowalter 9/16/01 5:47pm

He does so, as others at the Times do, because he is a loyal American who cares deeply about the welfare of the United States.

Freidman's piece today, I believe, is profoundly important for the defense of the United States, and connects fundamentally with the fears that give us good reason to want missile defense (whether we can build a workable one or not.)

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