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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.

jorian319 - 08:39am Jun 20, 2003 EST (# 12612 of 12690)

Jorian -- expose yourself

I love it when you talk dirty.

--- To the world

To the world I am but another number among the oprressed masses.

Who are you?

Use the internet, Luna. You already have enough information to find out.

lchic - 07:27pm Jun 20, 2003 EST (# 12613 of 12690)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

'another number'

.... binary .... Binary Ape .... no that's BARB-ary Ape .... not worth an 'apeth .... poor value for money .... cheap at the price ... bargain hunter .... big game hunter .... Tarzan ... 'G'-rated .... sepia .... former glory ... junior ... chimp-off-the-old-block .... delivery ... mail-man ..... ah! ... I've got it .... you're ..... [drum roll] ....

'The Poster!!'

lchic - 07:41pm Jun 20, 2003 EST (# 12614 of 12690)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

Over the last month, the two military dictatorships in south-east Asia, Burma and the Indonesian province of Aceh, have been the region's two main news stories. This has followed, respectively, the detention of the Burmese pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the start of military operations to crush the Aceh separatists, the Free Aceh Movement (Gam).

On a wider level, the two are completely different. The former is ruled by an illegitimate junta that terrorises and represses both democratically-elected politicians, who are not allowed to govern, and ethnic minorities, while he latter is under military rule after the government lost patience with failing negotiations. It is acting within its rights.

To that end, comparing them is an apples and oranges exercise, and so would, for the most part, be unfair. However, there are a few common themes that are interesting to note.

Led by the US, global condemnation of the Rangoon generals' actions has been so strong that even Burma's neighbours in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), felt compelled to interfere in a member state's internal affairs for just about the first time ever.

Earlier this week, they issued a statement calling for the immediate release of Ms Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy colleagues. But even this, let alone the Washington-orchestrated western foot-stamping, is unlikely to resonate that greatly amongst the junta because India and, more especially, China, are remaining silent.

In an interview this week, Burma's foreign minister, Win Aung, said that his government took the criticism seriously. But he gave the game away in his next sentence when he said: "Gradually, it will stop."

Senior General Than Shwe and his cohorts must be green with envy at what the Indonesian armed forces, from whom much of the Burmese army's structural organisation, particularly the ubiquitous village-level presence, is copied, are getting away with.

It includes the systematic execution of Acehense, with only occasional half-hearted and laughable investigations into allegations of abuse; the forcible relocation of whole villages to ill-equipped camps; the detention and virtual disappearance of students and human rights activists, and the public intimidation and threatening of the Red Cross, the national human rights commission and the local media for doing their jobs properly.

And there is more: the appointment of retired military officers to replace civilian officials who are allegedly too scared to continue working. The banning of all virtually all foreigners. The list goes on.

The global reaction to all this? Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other similar organisations have shown commendable concern. However, as far as the diplomatic front is concerned, activity has been conspicuous by its absence.

Many embassies say that they are raising Aceh at every available opportunity in private, but that it is unfair to chastise Jakarta in public when things are not as bad as they might be.

How do they know that when they are not allowed in to investigate and most of their non-governmental contacts are in hiding or have fled for their own safety? Well, they're reading the newspapers and watching television.

This is remarkably naive, considering the immense pressure that the local media is under to toe the nationalist line: the Indonesian military has successfully incorporated George Bush's "You're either with us or against us" mantra into page one of its media relations manual. In other words, the military has done an excellent job of stemming the information flow out of the war zone.

Privately, diplomats admit they don't really know what is happening. But until something tangible occurs, like an organisation such as the National Human Rights Commission producing a solid report of abuses or a tide of refugees emerg

fredmoore - 07:43pm Jun 20, 2003 EST (# 12615 of 12690)

Gee, Pugsley and Morticia never argued in the Addams Family.

I think Jorian needs stronger dynamite caps for the train set and Lchic ... its time for Cleopatra's feeding.

Shoot 'em in the back!!

Seeing how Buck made someone else cousin IT I guess I'll have to be uncle Fester.

Urrrrr Awwwww .... Mail's in ... why thank you thing!

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