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Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

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rshow55 - 08:13am Apr 1, 2003 EST (# 10882 of 10886)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

Almarst , I don't share your indignation, entirely. Though I almost entirely share Krugman's indignation, set out over many columns, and Kristoff's concerns.

A Red-Blue Terror Alert By PAUL KRUGMAN http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/01/opinion/01KRUG.html

Giving Iraqis a Lifeline By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/01/opinion/01KRIS.html

While ideologues in Washington offer sweeping judgments about what Iraqis want, Iraqis seem less dogmatic. They just want the U.S. to make their lives better.

I'm also struck by how averse and even allergic the world has become to deaths and injuries in wars.

Numbers and Estimates From Iraq By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 5:25 p.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-War-Numbers-Glance.html

"The war on Iraq by the numbers:

"-- Casualties: Among U.S. troops, 42 dead, seven captured, 17 missing, according to the Pentagon and family members. Among British troops, 25 dead, none missing or captured.

"-- Deployed: A little more than 300,000 troops are in the region, with about 250,000 from the United States and the rest being from other coalition countries.

As of the time of that filing, accointing missing as dead, that's an about .028% death rate for deployed forces - in an invasion of a large country that has gone as far as this one has gone. With the deaths and injuries to civilians also tiny by historical standards.

The agony is as real as it is, the losses as real as it is. The mistakes are real. The deception (on all sides) is real.

But we are seeing, to a degree that may surprise many - how stable many things have become, by past standards. War, as it has been in the past, is changing, and being diminished. The idea of the United States as world hegemon is deeply weakened by what has happened. The idea that the world needs international rules - that can actually be enforced - has been strengthened.

Weaknesses in the positions of many countries, and many people, have been made clear by events.

We're in a time of transition, and, for all the ugliness - if we're careful - it can be for the better.

rshow55 - 08:14am Apr 1, 2003 EST (# 10883 of 10886)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

Almarst , I'm sometimes concerned by the chaos of your indignation. Order beats disorder - every time. Conflicts between people and peoples are, one way or another, conflicts between different systems of order.

I'm no more enamored of the Bush administration than Krugman is - but not everything is going badly, and many of the worst fears you've expressed over the years, almarst , are being shown to be excessive - even as some of your predictions and concerns are being validated.

It wouldn't take much checking of reasonably prioritized facts to sort out a lot. But to get that checking - when it actually matters most - against the resistances that are now entrenched - would be a revolution. All of mankind needs that revolution.

If the issues about Missile Defense set out on this thead were actually checked to closure , many of the most difficult problems facing the world would sort themselves out - because the tools and procedures needed would be developed, demonstrated, and available. When things are complicated, truth is our only hope: http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?8@@.ee7a163/296

It isn't necessary or helpful to shout at the top of your lungs all the time, almarst - a lot of things are close to a much better focus - if people work at it.

It seems to me that the things set out if you click "rshow55" in the upper left hand of these postings are holding up rather well.

lchic - 08:15am Apr 1, 2003 EST (# 10884 of 10886)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

A win-win-win war for everyone so far .... that's according to their spokesmen!

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