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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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lchic - 03:12am Nov 9, 2003 EST (# 16978 of 16986)
ultimately TRUTH outs : TRUTH has to be morally forcing : build on TRUTH it's a strong foundation

US troops yesterday unleashed their most furious attack in Iraq since the official end of the war. The attacks, which happened in Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit, were carried out in response to the killing of six soldiers whose Black Hawk helicopter was shot down near the town on Friday.

As F16s jets dropped 500lb bombs on the area where the helicopter was shot down, US troops launched a massive sweep operation, designed as a show of force against resistance fighters based in the Sunni Triangle, which saw the arrest of several dozen alleged fighters and the death of five more.

Last night a loud explosion echoed across Baghdad. The sound came from the West bank of the Tigris River, where the coaltion has its headquarters. It follows mortar attacks on the complex earlier in the week.

The US assault follows a sharp escalation in attacks by the Iraqi guerrillas on US targets, which have claimed 34 American lives in the first seven days of November, equivalent to the total fatalities in all of October. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1081221,00.html

But any hope that the sweep - named Operation Ivy Cyclone - would steady nerves in Iraq was almost immediately demolished by the news that the International Committee of the Red Cross was taking the drastic step of closing its offices in Baghdad and Basra because of the rapidly worsening security situation.

The organisation had already announced that it was reducing the number of its international staff after the bombing of its headquarters in Baghdad on 27 October in which 12 people died.

The decision to close its offices in Baghdad and Basra, however, is a blow to an organisation that prides itself on being able to continue working in the worst of conflict situations. 'We are discussing what to do with our foreign staff. The situation is dangerous and volatile,' ICRC spokesman Florian Westphal said.

Despite the US military operation, however, lethal attacks on US forces continued yesterday with two US paratroopers killed in the Sunni Triangle town of Falluja when a roadside bomb exploded under their vehicle.

Amid suspicions that the bombing raids were designed as much for domestic US consumption as out of operational necessity, a coalition spokesman announced that it had also captured 12 people suspected of involvement in a deadly attack on a Baghdad hotel where US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying.

Military officers said the operation involved raids on several locations. They said they believed they had broken up a cell of former regime figures which included a financier, a supplier and operatives.

The arrests and the launch of Operation Ivy Cyclone came, however, amid more bad news for the Bush administration over its handling of post-war Iraq.

An official US army review leaked to the US NGO globalsecurity.org has revealed that the army had no plan for the occupation of Baghdad.

Officially titled the Third Infantry Division (Mechanised) After Action Report, Operation Iraqi Freedom, the study provides the first formal internal view of the Iraq war from the point of view of the soldiers who brought down Saddam Hussein.

The report provides official confirmation of a complete absence of high-level military and political planning to manage the aftermath of victory and indicates some key problems that continue to hamper US army effectiveness to this day.

Some of the lack of planning first became apparent at Baghdad International Airport (BIA): 'Multiple military and inter-agency organisations vied to set up operations at BIA, but the (3rd Infantry) Brigade Combat Team controlling BIA was too engaged in continu ing combat operations to coordinate this adequately.'

The report continues that the 3rd Infantry Division itself, which had been engaged in some of the heaviest fighting on the outskirts of Baghdad, 'lacked guidance' on how to deal with the different competing

lchic - 03:14am Nov 9, 2003 EST (# 16979 of 16986)
ultimately TRUTH outs : TRUTH has to be morally forcing : build on TRUTH it's a strong foundation

The report continues that the 3rd Infantry Division itself, which had been engaged in some of the heaviest fighting on the outskirts of Baghdad, 'lacked guidance' on how to deal with the different competing Iraqis they encountered. 'Ongoing struggles for power, establishing security without the benefit of a functioning police system, and re-establishing a pay system for government workers continue to plague the restoration of "normalcy" to Baghdad,' it said.

The report comes amid mounting criticism of the way the Bush administration has handled the aftermath of the invasion. US hopes that up to 10,000 Turkish troops would be deployed to bolster the US effort were dashed on Friday when Turkey decided not to send troops into Iraq.

lchic - 03:43am Nov 9, 2003 EST (# 16980 of 16986)
ultimately TRUTH outs : TRUTH has to be morally forcing : build on TRUTH it's a strong foundation

Red cross and Red cresent should merge (globalise) and morph their icons - be less of a target

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New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense