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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.

cantabb - 05:41pm Nov 13, 2003 EST (# 17593 of 17595)

rshow55 - 03:54pm Nov 13, 2003 EST (# 17576 of 17576)

Continued last minute frenzy from you (and lchic before).

If the record is unavailable - decisions can't be made that need to be made - that I need made - that other people need made.

What decisions ? Anything other than what’s been made, to be effective Nov 14. That’s your worry, and I doubt any one else is that concerned: Good riddance, perhaps.

Here are facts that it seems to me are basic - things that we all know - and have to know at some level - from about the time we learn to talk. People say and do things What people say and do have consequences, for themselves and for other people. People need to deal with and understand these consequences, for all sorts of practical, down to earth reasons.

What you list are not “facts,” or “basic” facts ! These are the ‘given’. NO wonder you have SO MUCH difficulty in recognizing “facts” and telling them apart.

So everybody has a stake in right answers to questions of fact that they use as assumptions when they think about what they say and what they do.

A stake in this thread ? Perhaps YOU and lchic have one. I see no body else THAT involved or interested.

Your over-simplicity fits in well with that of lchic !

In the case of this thread - I have an enormous interest in preserving the record - and if my education and background mean anything at all (and I think they do) there's a big public interest in preserving the record. Responsibly.

You may have that interest. NO body else seems to have that level of interest in ‘preserving the record.” To me, just a huge mass of inanities, at best !

More than that - if I'm to function as an economic and social actor - especially on large scale work - I have to be able to tell my story - and say what I've said and done.

To able to tell your story : Is this your “function,” an economic interest ? NO body has stopped you for the past 3+years. Aren’t you “happy” it’s going, since you’re already “so proud” of everything you’ve done here !

I don't think the NYT put all this staff work into the thread by mistake, either. They thought it was important.

Nonsense. Just your paranoia. They didn’t even have a moderator to check non-MD stuff (or showed any interest in doing so). IF this were as important as you imagine it was to NYT, YOU would have been gone in the first week YOU abused the forum.

rshow55 - 03:56pm Nov 13, 2003 EST (# 17578 of 17587)

The instant anybody sues anybody, for score - the key information about cast of characters becomes very hard to suppress.

You’re hung up on the cast of characters. And, don’t give a thought to how weak, unsupportable and incoherent your arguments and theories are ? You had numerous constructive suggestions here, some given by me in the last 8 weeks, that you could have used to improve and strentgthen your thinking. BUT, instead, you started accusing every single poster who asked you a question or pressed you for clarity or an answer, or criticized you or your approach.

You think your “corpus” has a snowball’s chance in the real world (if presented to GWB administration, as once you planned, to NYT, or Deutsche Bank or in your nearby bar) ?

rshow55 - 03:58pm Nov 13, 2003 EST (# 17579 of 17587)

I personally think that the world would be better off - and NYT would be better off - if names were associated validly with the monikers.

If so, Do you know WHY lchic has not identified herself, her employers/sponsors and her connections and interests here ? Questions that both of you have been demanding of others – poster harassment ! Height of hypocrisy !

But I'm not necessarily insisting on that. If people admitted what they'd done - we could convert this mess into a win-win situation.

You are

maclab - 05:42pm Nov 13, 2003 EST (# 17594 of 17595)

Why I am fearful of missle defense systems.

The sound good, a high tech system to take out incoming missles. One should have such capabilities just in case China or north korea desides to lob one or more at us. Sure it is better to at least be able to try to take one or more or all of them out before they strike a US city.

Maybe an accident could result in one coming our way.

I hate to be the country that shoots one or more at us... our defensive nuclear deterrents would be launched in retaliation.. they would basically have committed suicide for all their cities... can't imagine nation doing that.. let alone getting others go along with it!

so the defense shield gets launched will it be good enough to be 100% effective?

if only 1 out of a 100 gets through, that has to better than taking all 100 as direct hits..

What worys me is all the media hpye, yhe Government Bushwa and the pentagond relience on thses weapons as shields to making a first strike attack.

Everyone will be saying how great the reliability and accuracy of the shield and then boldly take the next step, we can hide behind it and use our deffensive nuclear deterrants as first strike offensive weapons...

we risk nuclear retaliation coming at us...where prior-with simple Mutual Nuclear Deterrence- no risk at all would or could be taken...

A defense shield sounds good but it elevates Defensive deterrent weapons to offensive weapons.. Mutual Nuclear Deterrence a technology with a proven 100% track record is thus undermined.....discarded for a more riskier, more dangerous offensive capability.

It should not be built, it will never be good enough...

Mutual Detterence works best when there is also Mutual vulnerability.

Please it aint broke it needs no fixen...

Act civilized, respectful, make international friends-not enemies-is the way to go.

Theses are they who when the saving thought arrived, shot it for a spy.

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