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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 - 02:55pm Sep 4, 2003 EST (# 13499 of 13513)

Robert, I thank you for pointing out an error made by me in a previous post, the one you referenced above.

http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?14@93.uTWNaX74ZAm^1889463@.f28e622/8861

In the list of tyrannical men I meant to include Tojo not Hirohito. That's my mistake and I apologize to anyone who may have been offended.

I don't think the emperor was the source of the evil that arose in Japan...he was just sort of a complacent onlooker whose main crime was not to recognize just what was really going on. He like most of his subjects was himself subject to the mass delusion that seems to have occured there. After some certain point, I'm quite sure even the emperor could not have stopped Tojo and his militarist cronies.

I believe that General MacArthur and president Truman realized that, much to their credit, and that that realization is why they handled, could handle Mr. Hirohito in the way that they did. In effect, they used that demonstrated fallibility to strip the patina of diety...of infallibility from the title of "Emperor of Japan" while preserving the title. In my view, that's the most brilliant thing MacArthur ever did.

The position that Emperor Hirohito found himself in is just another example of the point made by the referenced post.

Thanks again.

gisterme - 03:36pm Sep 4, 2003 EST (# 13500 of 13513)

Robert -

"...A lot of people and organizations are set up to make very sure that such miracles don't happen to easily, until people with certain kinds of team legitimacy give the word..."

Do you mean organizations like universities and people with team legitimacy like their faculties and deans who publicly acknowledge work accomplished and lessons learned by awarding engineering degrees?

"...That's necessary, and I'm trying to get to where I can merit that word."

If that's where you want to go with your life, you'll never get there by spending all your time posting on this board.

Sorry if that sounds a bit cold; but if those are the organizations, people and the word you mean, it is true.

It doesn't take a miracle to become an engineer (or any other kind of professional) and to be successful at it...it just takes a certain amount of native intelligence, perhaps a bit of talent and lot of hard work.

None of those things can be accomplished without first having faith in yourself accompanied by a very strong desire to accomplish them.

almarst2003 - 06:22pm Sep 4, 2003 EST (# 13501 of 13513)

Dossier was crooked from the title down, says witness - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3521853&thesection=news&thesubsection=world

Just when the British Government was thinking the Hutton inquiry might have a quiet day, another set of witnesses, emails and memos materialised yesterday to grab headlines and continue Prime Minister Tony Blair's misery over the Kelly affair.

Downing St had been hoping that although the inquiry may be critical about the treatment and naming of Dr David Kelly, on balance it would escape unscathed on the issue of the September Iraq dossier.

But yesterday two witnesses from the Defence Intelligence Staff, one of whom took the unusual step of going public, ensured the dossier and Blair's use of it regained centre stage.

Dr Brian Jones, the Ministry of Defence's former assistant director of intelligence with responsibility for nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, gave perhaps the most significant evidence yet on the dossier.

Few expected he would abandon his anonymity to do so.

From the start, the retired official offered powerful arguments sure to be used repeatedly against Blair and his defence of the infamous dossier.

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