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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.

cantabb - 07:13pm Sep 18, 2003 EST (# 13753 of 13824)

gisterme - 06:58pm Sep 18, 2003 EST (# 13751 of 13752)

If you're asking rshow to focus on it, you might as well forget it.

I was hoping the 'regulars' would do that by themselves. With or without NYT intervention.

Besides him the rest of us seem to be finding some focus...except for you.

Except for ME ?

Am NOT a regular here ("might" though). Ask others.

gisterme - 07:19pm Sep 18, 2003 EST (# 13754 of 13824)

jorian -

"...one of the reasons this forum lacks focus IMO, is that the issue is simply NOT as pressing as dealing with other, more imminent threats..."

That only indicates distraction, not reduced need. NK is two years closer to having viable ICBMs and nuclear bombs to arm them with than it was when the WTC was attacked and we're two years closer to being able to defend against them. Nothing much has really changed in the MD arena.

"...Do we need (to spend more money on) it?..."

Only if we feel that it will diffuse the threat by making the odds of a successful attack to long for even a madman...and if a BMD system fails to deter then it must defend effectivly. I think the stakes are way too high to be bluffing on something like this.

"...I think there is a gestalt in this country that would render an answer of "no" to that question..."

Why do you think that? Certainly we'd all wish that there was no need. Still, a number of people I know who were once against spending money on a ballistic missile defense system have changed their minds since the WTC massacre and in light of all of NKs recent saber rattling. A large majority of the folks I know personally think we should go ahead with the BMD.

"...OTOH, there is a reason that such decisions are not made at the public level..."

How true and IMHO, wise.

fredmoore - 07:43pm Sep 18, 2003 EST (# 13755 of 13824)

He's out of the kitchen sink

and into the sky

He'll peck you to death in the blink of an eye

escaping the axe he comes here to spy

equipped with the missiles of logic and lie

but what he fails to comprehend

and this I say as sure as a friend

there are all kinds of missiles and all kinds of defence

and this forum makes no distinction, makes no pretence

the essence of MD is not in DC

it's in our backyard and over our fence.

FM2003

gisterme - 07:49pm Sep 18, 2003 EST (# 13756 of 13824)

I'd love to see this forum get "back on topic". However with the huge volume of "stuff" that was posted by rshow and lchic that made it nearly impossible. When a casual contributer wanted to post something, it would be swept away by pages and pages of "rshow/lchic" before anybody else could see it to respond. Somebody who wasn't at this full-time like the rshow/lchic team was wouldn't even see posts by others unless they wanted to skim pages and pages of "slop" as you put it, cantabb.

I liken that "flood the forum" approach to being the forum equivalent of a person who constantly tries to shout down others in personal discourse. It's rude, nobody likes it and nobody particularly wants to participate in a conversation with a person like that.

Once I realized what they were trying to do, I'll admit that I took a personal interst in and put a lot of effort toward seeing that they did not succeed. I'm feeling a bit successful at that because there seems to now finally (whew) be a growing number of intelligent thoughtful posters taking an interest in this forum.

I'd suggest we just ignore the "shouting", wolf-crying and whining and see if we can discuss the topic like rational reasonable people.

Personally, I'm not gong to respond to rshow from now on no matter what sort of outrageous things he says about me. Bothering with that has proven to just not be worth the trouble.

Somebody else can read what he says if they want to...just in case he might say something reasonably related to MD.

cantabb - 08:04pm Sep 18, 2003 EST (# 13757 of 13824)

fredmoore - 07:43pm Sep 18, 2003 EST (# 13755 of 13756)

He's out of the kitchen sink and into the sky He'll peck you to death in the blink of an eye escaping the axe he comes here to spy equipped with the missiles of logic and lie but what he fails to comprehend and this I say as sure as a friend there are all kinds of missiles and all kinds of defence and this forum makes no distinction, makes no pretence the essence of MD is not in DC it's in our backyard and over our fence.

FM2003

You should have around when NYT had a Science Poetry Forum (may be you were).

He wasn't the one in the kitchen sink

May be he is in the sky

and will swoop down you before

you get out of the school yard

He's no spy, he's no fool

Since you can't make any distinction

between all kinds of missiles

and all kinds of defense,

no wonder you've turned into

a huge kitchen sink

a sink that stinks !

cantabb-03

[Look for reason, NOT rhyme !]

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