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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?

Read Debates, a new Web-only feature culled from Readers' Opinions, published every Thursday.

lchic - 09:13am Apr 3, 2003 EST (# 10986 of 10994)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

Diversion .... 'The Poster' posts slop postings ...

.... aren't things going to plan -- in the elsewhere zone ?

.... how long before 'sport' finds it's way back on to the front pages?

Rupert Murdock - that new American ... is supporting the war ... his media empire stretches around the globe ... and yet

John Pilger - just isn't impressed by him

John talks of the non-freedom-of-the-press.

John's happy to talk to budding jurnos ... telling them - what - 'lies' on their beat - in the professional world integrity often is jettisoned.

(see transcript http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/# )

And John gave 'Fisk' a special mention!

lchic - 09:21am Apr 3, 2003 EST (# 10987 of 10994)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/

rshow55 - 09:22am Apr 3, 2003 EST (# 10988 of 10994)
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.

There are a lot of good things on this thread.

It seems to me that if you sample the "tautological drivel" on this thread - in includes some important points (about trillion dollar errors, for instance).

Also, the thread sometimes runs enough ahead of events that it might be being useful.

rshow55 - 09:23am Apr 3, 2003 EST (# 10989 of 10994)
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.

PSYCHOLOGICAL WAR: Is Hussein Still Alive? Speculation Intensifies By DAVID E. SANGER and JAMES RISEN http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/03/international/worldspecial/03INTE.html

WASHINGTON, April 2 — The Bush administration has intensified a campaign — using radio broadcasts and other communications with Iraqi military leaders — to sow doubts about whether President Saddam Hussein is still alive and in control of the country, senior administration and military officials said.

American officials say they have still reached no firm conclusions about whether Mr. Hussein survived an attack two weeks ago. But they are trying to turn that uncertainty to battlefield advantage, attempting to raise questions in the minds of Iraqi military commanders about whether they should fight for a leader who may be dead or incapacitated.

"From what our intelligence is picking up, some of the Iraqi commanders themselves have not heard from him," said one senior official. "And we don't know ourselves. So you could call this psychological warfare, or you could call it exploitation of the biggest mystery out there."

That mystery has been discussed on this thread since lchic - 06:11pm Mar 13, 2003 EST (# 9894 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@28.UpbZapbp64w.208911@.f28e622/11438

"Showalter ... which Saddam would you love to deal with?

"I ask this, because according to a report from the ME in 'The Australian' an Iraqi doctor -- Muslim al-Essaidi says that Saddam was diagnosed with Lymphatic Cancer in 1998 ... and since that time three 'Plastic Surgeried' stand-ins have 'stood in' for Saddam ... he notes that plastic surgery can do lots --- but things that were the original Saddam and wouldn't change would include --

9896 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@28.UpbZapbp64w.208911@.f28e622/11438

My favorite detective story writer -- Dashiell Hammet wrote a very good mystery in 1933 that was made into a good movie - The Thin Man . The tale hinges on a "person", acting strangely and used as a front - who is really dead.

I've used a quote from The Thin Man about a treacherous, sexy, lying lady named Mimi a number of times. http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md11000s/md11893.htm

Right at the end of The Thin Man there's this:

" The most obvious thing in the whole lay-out, and the key to the whole lay-out was that Wyant had to be dead. "

There's good reason to suspect that Saddam could be dead. It isn't clear he's really been seen in years. The TIMES and other papers have long known and covered the fact that he uses body double for public appearances. In all of history - how many other leaders have done that - and why would any sane leader want to?

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