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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.

gisterme - 08:13pm Jan 31, 2003 EST (# 8429 of 17697)

rshow55 - - 05:49pm Jan 31, 2003 EST (# 8426...)

"...I've suggested in MD6808 rshowalter 7/9/01 4:43pm that gisterme represents this administration, and could not write as extensively as gisterme does, without the knowledge and backing of the very highest levels of the Bush administration, including:

National Security Advisor Condaleezza Rice,

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage,

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfkowitz,

Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and the people they report to have to..."

There you go again with that fatally flawed logic of yours, Robert. Since you write more extensively than I do, does that mean that you couldn't do it "without the knowledge and more extensive backing of the very highest levels of the Bush administration?"

Or do you just apply a double standard...

gisterme - 08:17pm Jan 31, 2003 EST (# 8430 of 17697)

sambro55 - - 06:24pm Jan 31, 2003 EST (# 8428...)

"...What does gisterme say about it?"

What gisterme says about it, sambro, is that I have nothing to do with the US government other than being a tax payer and voter. I'm not an employee, elected official, consultant or in any other way connected to any government.

gisterme - 08:22pm Jan 31, 2003 EST (# 8431 of 17697)

Will,

Are you going to meet with Robert?

I'm interested in hearing your "take".

Robert,

Are you going to meet with Will?

I'm interested in hearing your "take" too.

marydrabble - 09:07pm Jan 31, 2003 EST (# 8432 of 17697)

Blair Says Britain Must Back Bush In Order To Become 51st State

London - Urging his nation to "see the big picture" and not focus on one issue, British Prime Minister Tony Blair today explained that unflinching support for President George W. Bush is particularly necessary now if Great Britain is ever to become the 51st U.S. state.

Speaking before the House of Commons, Blair conceded British involvement in a Middle East war was unpopular, but insisted "what you must concede is that in order to be granted U.S. statehood, we must be willing to defer our opinions and support our President on issues like this. For the greater good," he went on, "you must all swallow your pride, like I have, and someday, like I have, you too will be able to say, 'I am an American.'"

"But what if we don't want to?" shouted one north London MP.

"Oh, don't be silly," Blair replied.

Blair's emotional speech, the first time his government has officially declared its statehood intentions, came as a surprise to most Americans, who thought the U.K. already was the 51st state. But it caused an uproar in Commons, particularly among liberal members of the Labour Party, who feared that under the American political system, they would have to join the Democratic Party.

Blair, however, insisted the advantages of becoming another star on the U.S. flag are too great to ignore. "As Americans, we will finally be able to lift the yoke of cross-Atlantic condescension," he said. "We will finally be able to say we won the Colonial Rebellion. We will be able to once again look in the mirror and say, 'We are a superpower.' And we will be able to declare that we 'saved our own butts' during World War II."

With 60 million people, Great Britain, which would be renamed Britannia to blend in with other U.S. states that end in "a," would immediately become the most populous state. Eventually, plans call for Scotland and Wales be spun off as the 52nd and 53rd states, but Northern Ireland's status remains uncertain.

"Northern Ireland is a place of deep-seated hatreds and senseless violence, so I don't know if it would qualify as a state," said one source. "It might qualify as an American high school, though."

U.S. diplomatic sources, meanwhile, said inclusion was not a certainty, and explained that the British must make concessions before being granted statehood.

Among them:

a) Drop the phony accents.

b) Rename all airports after Ronald Reagan.

c) Disband the Royal Family, "not because America doesn't recognize nobility, but because they're a bunch of nutters."

The future governor of Britannia, however, insisted any cultural compromises would be worth it if the new state gained long-sought representation in Washington, D.C. "For too long we have been governed by America without having a vote in America," said Blair. "As citizens of the United States, we will finally make our voices heard."

"Unless they disagree with the President's voice," he quickly added.

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