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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.

wrcooper - 11:49pm Sep 14, 2003 EST (# 13674 of 13680)

I doubt the words "I'm sorry" will ever actually get spoken or written by Showalter. He's promised before to apologize to people, or to answer their questions, but it takes him days to think about it and try to come up with a way to express his mea culpa and regrets. A simple "I'm sorry" is never up to this boy's standards. Still, after all the pondering about how best to say he's sorry, he somehow he never gets around to it.

Even when he's proven wrong, flat out falsified when he's shown to have falsely accused somebody of being a liar--that person being me--and after he promised to apologize, he decides not to. Why? He's never said, exactly. He's just said that after meeting me, he and his wife felt he didn't owe me one.

Well, he does. And because he won't issue it, that makes him a, you got it, liar, since he had told me he would. And he damn well should.

I'm glad Bob's decided he doesn't much like me. Having Bob dislike me is sort of like being knighted or something. It's a badge of honor, coming from him. I'd have to worry about myself if he did like me.That would indeed cause me to seriously examine myself. Thankfully, this irresponsible schmuck who has made a habit of accusing complete strangers of being liars based on his silly paranoid musings, while simultaneously preaching loudly and sanctimoniously to others about how they should always "check" to be sure that facts have been respected--the effrontery and hyprocrisy of the man!--dislikes me. Phew! is all I can say.

I have a feeling that gisterme will not be spending much time here anymore. I'm sure it's no fun for him with this loudmouth plastering the board and calling him a liar. It's annoying. I know.

Notice that there are never any newbies here, because I'm sure they read two or three of Showalter's interminably repeitious blatherings, and they never come back.

Well, I figure that the time's come to put old Bob on the "Ignore List". Maybe mazza and gisterme will do the same, and we can begin to discuss the issue of missile defense again, simply ignoring the old boy, letting him stew in his thick juice with no responses.

All you lurkers and newbies to the forum, don't give up. Just put Rshow on your "Ignore List" in Preferences. Save yourselves.

fredmoore - 12:52am Sep 15, 2003 EST (# 13675 of 13680)

Perhaps the problem with NK is as simple as this story:

A chinaman went into the assay office with his morning taking of gold. The clerk weighed it and gave him $300. He went away happy. The next day he came back with exactly the same amount and the clerk weighed it and gave him $250. When the chinaman asked "why so little?" the clerk told him it was fuctuations.

The next day the chinaman returned with the same amount again and this time the clerk gave him $200. When the chinaman again asked "why so little?" the clerk again replied ... fluctuations! Well, the chinaman became irate and started yelling and screaming .... "and Fluck you Americans too".

Sometimes things are easy and simple ... in ways that really matter and in ways that may yield useful convergence by those indomitable and connected courtroom standards. Beautiful yet ugly ... sad but so. Eh Robert?

fredmoore - 01:08am Sep 15, 2003 EST (# 13676 of 13680)

Will,

I wish you weren't so Maudlin ... this is after all a forum.

PS1 I thoroughly enjoyed your French translation over at the Space Forum. It would have taken me hours to brush up on my French to be able to do that. Well done.

PS2 Could the French be trusted to organise such a Mars collaboration? Could this be just a solar system Maginot Line? The French are a worry sometimes! I wouldn't go so far as to say they never learn but that is a concern. Mind you I do love the language. I wonder how you would translate KAEP into French? Protocol Energie Alternatif de Kyoto ... PEAK?

Cheers

patthnyc - 02:44am Sep 15, 2003 EST (# 13677 of 13680)
". . . how fragile we are . . ." -- Sting

JERUSALEM: Israel has hinted at possible military action to stop what it calls a nightmare scenario - nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran - but for now is waiting for US diplomatic pressure and closer international scrutiny to do the job.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-9-2003_pg4_12

Iran insists its nuclear programs are only for generating electricity as oil supplies dwindle. It also has said its equipment was “contaminated” with enriched uranium by a previous owner.

But Israel estimates Iran is just two to three years away from having nuclear weapons.

"Iran must cooperate fully. Iran has pledged not to develop nuclear weapons and the entire international community must hold that regime to its commitments," Bush recently said.

Iran apparently believes the attack could come from the United States or Israel and announced it was increasing its defence spending this year. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi recently warned Israel against embarking on an "adventure" similar to the 1981 strike, saying "it will pay dearly" if it does so.

The United States and Israel would most likely choose to carry out pinpoint strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, rather than a large-scale assault if forced to take military measures, said Ephraim Kam, a researcher with Tel Aviv University's Jaffee Centre for Strategic Studies. Kam released a study last week on Iran's nuclear capabilities.

For maps of oil pipelines PRESENT and ANTICIPATED, see:

http://www.fas.org/

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