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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 - 07:12am Feb 2, 2003 EST (# 8488 of 8497)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

The need for INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS is clear.

The need to take down and keep down dangerous nuclear weapons is clear.

Presidents, Presidents Men, ALL --- are fallible!

lchic - 07:17am Feb 2, 2003 EST (# 8489 of 8497)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

Shuttle --- all the experts across the Nation looked and considered the 'left wing' ...

"It's OK!"

Will the 'experts' be shown to be 'less than expert'?

lchic - 07:40am Feb 2, 2003 EST (# 8490 of 8497)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

Indonesia | 1965-6 | Suharto

Recently-released files reveal that when the Indonesian tyrant General Suharto seized power in the 1960s, he did so with the secret backing of the American, British and Australian governments, which looked the other way or actively encouraged the slaughter of more than half a million "communists". This was later described by the CIA as "one of the worst mass murders of the 20th Century".

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=40&ItemID=2530

lchic - 07:46am Feb 2, 2003 EST (# 8491 of 8497)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

Showalter - WRCOOPER left you a missive 8466-7, seems you two guys managed to 'recognise' each other at the ArtMuseum sounds very http://members.tripod.com/~greeneland/

lchic - 08:29am Feb 2, 2003 EST (# 8492 of 8497)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

$2.25 Trillion Budget || ANDREWS&FIRESTONE

''The history of defense spending has been one of surge and purge, where you waste money on the way up and on the way down'

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/02/politics/02BUDG.html

lchic - 08:37am Feb 2, 2003 EST (# 8493 of 8497)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

Complexity Theory - GU talk

http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?50@@.3ba7bc22/0

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ledzeppelin - 10:42am Feb 2, 2003 EST (# 8494 of 8497)

Whilst there may well be compelling evidence for ensuring one protects ones state from a ‘so called’ rogue states missiles. However one must not lose sight of the simple fact that such a system can be interpreted by others as being a weapon with the potential for a global imperialism as it could easily have the ability for an attacking capability.

Correspondingly a missile defence shield at this time in reality can in fact create more rogue states and terror networks than it set out to originally protect the US from, such as those designated within the axis of evil.

Indeed would a rogue state or terror group that wishes to act in a hostile manner to the USA use a missile based delivery system in any event.

In the 1990’s even the North Koreans as well as OBL et al., were trying to buy the technology and materials for a nuke in a suitcase. Whatismore given the research executed by the British Government back in the 1950’s in Australia under the vixen research programme this documents only to well the devastating effect upon a population even a crude or ‘so called’ dirty bomb of the size that can be accommodated by an every day briefcase would have.

What is the saying keep your enemies close but your friends even closer, to day’s friend can so easily be tomorrow’s enemy without one realising or knowing it, until the bang that is. Therefore I would fund the conventional security organisations such as the CIA and FBI etc., with the Star Wars programmes money until such time as these organisations have real time intelligence gathering capability within the camps of the friends as well as the known enemies before I even worried about missiles from rogue states.

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