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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.

mazza9 - 02:41pm Dec 15, 2002 EST (# 6660 of 6672)
"Quae cum ita sunt" Caesar's Gallic Commentaries

Robert:

Isn't interesting that the Iraqi's are complaining to the UN about the bombing of Anti Aircraft sites in the No Fly Zones. UN resolutions established these zones to protect the Kurds in the North and Sunni in the South from Saddam's wrath. Iraq fires weapons at UN aircraft which patrol these zones. This is an ACT OF WAR against the UN and nothing is said. Then the UN aircraft return fire and Iraqi gunners die as a result, and Iraq compains. Thus is international law interpreted by the crazy dictator.

Betcha he's on President Bush's CIA Christmas list!

rshow55 - 02:49pm Dec 15, 2002 EST (# 6661 of 6672)
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.

It is also an insanely ineffective act of war - they're shooting blind, usually - not even turning on the radar sets that they barely know how to use.

We are having a lot of problems with "crazy" responses - with whole societies responding in ways that make no sense - when compared to checkable facts - from any point of view.

Anger is one response. Sometimes a justified one.

Not always the only one or the best one possible.

When gisterme asked me to come up with some real suggestions - I took him seriously. One suggestion, and a simple one, is this.

When we're dealing with crazy countries - might it not make sense to ask how professionals in the West deal with people so far off the norm that they are "crazy"?

When these professionals deal with "crazies" - force is sometimes indispensible. But tact is more often used - because it often suffices.

Unless there's real shared space - and some empathy - no reasonable, sustainable communication is possible at all - and one is much too close to a "logic" of extermination.

The approach of "picking a fight" and "denying the humanity of the other" again and again is too characteristic of your discourse, and Bush administration responses - - and it is usually counterproductive.

Sometimes fights are inevitable. But they only make sense when they actually make sense - when other alternatives have been carefully considered and tried - and costs have been carefully and reasonably thought about.

almarst2002 - 03:07pm Dec 15, 2002 EST (# 6662 of 6672)

No Fly Zones:

Mazza,

Could you please point to a specific UN resolution authorised this act?

There was a resolution demanding the stop of oppressions against Iraqi Kurds and Shea. But I don't recall the resolution declaring some parts of Iraqi airspace or land annexed from the state.

Interestingly, there is no UN resolutions nor acts to protect Kurdish population in Turkey which suffer at least on pair with those in Iraq.

almarst2002 - 03:10pm Dec 15, 2002 EST (# 6663 of 6672)

"It is also an insanely ineffective act of war"

I don't think any nation today can wage an effective war against US.

Question is, does any nation have a right to resist the US and in what way?

almarst2002 - 03:12pm Dec 15, 2002 EST (# 6664 of 6672)

Terrorism & the Domestic "War on Terror" - http://www.fair.org/issues-news/terrorism.html

almarst2002 - 03:14pm Dec 15, 2002 EST (# 6665 of 6672)

The head of Russia's security service suggested Sunday that U.S. Peace Corps volunteers who were forced to leave the country earlier this year had been spying, accusing them of trying to collect information on government officials and on the country's politics and economy. - http://www.boston.com/dailynews/349/world/Russian_security_service_head_:.shtml

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