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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 - 10:33pm Apr 8, 2002 EST (#1197 of 1208)

From the Guardian Talk International

Sharon out of control.

Started by trelismor at 03:59am Apr 8, 2002 GMT

I guess when Mr Sharon said "the U.S. will do as I say". He really meant it.

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TheLoniusMonk - 04:04am Apr 8, 2002 GMT (#1 of 21)

Big international embarrassment for the US I guess. Thats what happens when you have a hypocritical, unformulated, selfish, ignorant set of foreign policies.

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Dead Palestinians (thread)
alAndalus - 12:03am Apr 7, 2002 GMT

' .... two sites that have collected and are disseminating casulty figures on Sabra and Shatilla II:

The Red Crescent:

http://www.palestinercs.org/Press%20Releases/PRCSUpdateApr52002.htm

Their homepage is at http://www.palestinercs.org/

Palestine Monitor:

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/factsheet/intifada_fact_sheet_cover.htm

Their homepage is at http://www.palestinemonitor.org/index.html

_{My apologies for the delay in posting these. I have been unable to contain my grief about the endless tragedy of the Palestinians to calmly reply to the Zionazi Fascist nutters who appear to have no shame of parading their hate and ignorance on these and other boards. I take heart that not even 285,000,000 Americans can prevail against the world. The American media can ignore the global protest if they wish, but they will only in the end incite only more acts of terror a la 9/11, and other acts of resistance.}

For those Americans not afflicted with the virus of Full Spectrum Sycophancy, a week-end of protest will be conducted in Washington on 4/19-22. Information about these events is posted below:

From Sustain.org

Just when we thought there couldn't possibly be any more reasons to take part in the April 19-22, Washington DC protests against the War* -- be it the war on terrorism in Afghanistan, the drug war in Colombia, or the war on the poor being waged by the IMF and World Bank -- the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) gave us another reason: they invited the war criminal Ariel Sharon to town. Sharon, who was found by his own government to be indirectly responsible for the massacre of as many as 2000 Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in 1982, ignited the current Palestinian Intifada and then led a bloody suppression of the whole Palestinian society. Since September 2000, more than 1000 Palestinians have been killed, over 25,000 have been injured, and close to 600 homes have been demolished by the Sharon-led government. AIPAC's annual conference brings together all the main forces of reaction and war. This year's conference is being billed as an event "to show support for the war on terrorism being waged by the U.S. and Israel". In addition to Sharon, both Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz have been invited to speak. To have so many war criminals together at one event is too good of an opportunity to pass up. Therefore, we would like to invite all those committed to justice to join us April 19-22 in Washington, DC to protest another War, the war against the Palestinian people, and demand that Sharon be indicted for crimes against humanity. More information and details about planned events will be posted on SUSTAIN's website at

www.sustaincampaign.org

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Any refs to above 26,000 in the NYT - anyone?

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Dead Israeli civilians see http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?50@@.eea41ae/0

almarst-2001 - 10:34pm Apr 8, 2002 EST (#1198 of 1208)

The plan behind the Saudi plan - http://www.msnbc.com/news/729757.asp?0si=-

Very interesting and substantial.

How come someone like Friedman gets all attention while Michael Moran remains overlooked?

lchic - 10:53pm Apr 8, 2002 EST (#1199 of 1208)

Alex, the one wears a white collared shirt with tie, whereas the other is open necked blue collar ... pardon the metonyms .... it's a status conscious world - across the big pond!

rshow55 - 10:59pm Apr 8, 2002 EST (#1200 of 1208)

From Moran:

Yet could anyone really have believed that Sharon, who only a few years ago was still asserting that Israel had a biblical right to “Judea and Samaria,” was going to trade the occupied territories and a slice of Jerusalem for peace?

Friedman thought he might settle for it, and I think that's reasonable -- though not "logical" in a simple-minded enough sense.

For that matter, does anyone think that the regimes of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria or Iran would be willing to give up “the struggle with the Zionist entity,” ?

Friedman thought they might settle for that, and I think the assumption is reasonable, and has some good evidence behind it -- though it is not "logical" in a simple-minded enough sense.

The conflict can only end when peace serves the interests of the main actors.

Exactly right. A point, it seems to me, that Friedman keeps sight of.

So far, in their actions if not their words, both sides have shown that simply isn’t true.

We need a resolution - - that "makes sense" in terms of logic, a balance of forces, and emotions. I think Friedman (though I sometimes disagree with him) has done worthwhile work, and think a solution is possible soon.

Possible in large part because the "logics" of neverending fighting have such painful consequences that people may have to think , and accept complexity, for a change.

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