New York Times on the Web Forums Science

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.

rshow55 - 01:49pm Nov 16, 2002 EST (# 5836 of 5911)
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.

A lot has been negotiated - things are proceeding - and we could proceed gracefully and efficiently on the basis of work already done - and things in progress.

I made a suggestion yesterday from 5790-5795 rshow55 11/15/02 10:00am - - that would help Iraq, as a country, connect gracefully with the rest of the world.

If Saddam organized that - so that inspections were more thorough, more sure, and yet more polite -- and did it cleanly - that would be good - and might permit some adjustments not possible with less communication.

I'd be interested in how things worked out - and if it happened that Saddam stayed under those circumstances -- well, perhaps that would be acceptable.

In the alternative - the sort of process suggested in 5790-5795 rshow55 11/15/02 10:00am might be an effective way for Saddam to arrange a transition.

In the interest of himself and in the interest of Iraq, a country that he's often worked hard for.

And in a way consistent with other interests, too.

mmuskin - 02:09pm Nov 16, 2002 EST (# 5837 of 5911)

almarst2002 11/14/02 5:10pm

Among its fictional aspects, Stanley Kubrick's classic film Dr. Strangelove contained several astute and quite relevant observations about the nature of nuclear warfare and the inherent instabilities of mutually-assured deterrence employing nuclear weapons, which still apply even in situations of highly-asymmetric warfare as has been declared by al-Qaeda on the US. At one point, Strangelove says

"Deterrence is the art of producing in the mind of the enemy the fear to attack. (And so because of the automated and irrecovable nature...) The whole point of the doomsday machine is lost if you keep it a secret. Why didn't you tell the world, eh?"

rshow55 - 02:14pm Nov 16, 2002 EST (# 5838 of 5911)
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.

We need to find ways to get deterrance without stupidly going to asymptotic "solutions" like nukes. We need to find ways to get rid of weapons of mass destruction. In any hands - including ours.

Maybe we're moving, haltingly, in that direction.

Inspection is the best defense against the risks that motivate our "missile defense" that we're likely to have.

Inspection has limits:

. What to Expect When You're Inspecting By BILL KELLER http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/16/opinion/16KELL.html

But with the flexible, cooperative, many faceted pattern suggested in 5790-5795 rshow55 11/15/02 10:00am risks might be reduced more rapidly - and in a way that served other interests, as well.

almarst2002 - 03:43pm Nov 16, 2002 EST (# 5839 of 5911)

U.S. ponders resumption of nuke-weapons test - http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/4530780.htm

(72 following messages)

New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense