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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.

rshow55 - 02:09pm Sep 19, 2002 EST (# 4421 of 4427)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

There's a problem with human beings. If you tell them enough lies - - big enough lies - coherently enough - often enough -- very often they come to believe. The Nazis were masters of that, CIA learned everything they knew and worked to improve it - and things need to be checked - - including things where most Americans now trust their government completely - though they shouldn't.

There is a big reason why discussions of the US "missile defense" program needs to include discussion about the mind, and mindsets -and problems of communication.

That is that psychological warfare - - organized deception -- fraud, has been an essential part of US military-industrial arrangements for a long time - and was instrumental to the way the Cold War played out. But it has been a long time since - and patterns that may have been justified (if risky) before the fall of the Soviet Union are justified no longer.

MD152 rshow55 3/3/02 11:56am . . . "voters would have to understand patterns where there has been much effort, over half a century, to conceal and muddle some fundamentals.

Casablanca is common ground, something culturally literate Americans know -- and that people the whole world over understand, at the level of sympathy, and intellectually, too. I used the movie as a point of departure in PSYCHWAR, CASABLANCA, AND TERROR , which tells a key story about the Cold War, interesting to American, Russians, and others. http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7a163/0 Especially the core story part, from posting 13 http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7a163/12 to posting 23 http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7a163/22 There is a comment in #26 that I feel some may find interesting, as well...

Movie - script - making it 'work' http://www.writersconference.com/crew/progmain.html

An illustrated script of Casablanca http://www.edict.com.hk/movies/casablanca/casablanca1.htm

A false and dangerous dream: rshow55 3/3/02 12:10pm

We need to explain what has happened - - nations all over the world have a stake in this - - and we have to find common ground, shared space, with people as they are -- including people who don't read the NYT:

Huntin' for Nascar-Lovin', Moon-Pie-Eatin', Bluegrass-Listenin', Shotgun-totin' Democrats By Matt Bai http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/15/magazine/15STRATET.html

The "missile defense" boondoggle could be expained, and explained clearly - to people who have the sophisication that it takes to appreciate NASCAR. I don't think these folks like to be misled, lied to, betrayed any more than anybody else. But they need to understand - - and for that - people need to take the trouble to find shared space with them. Right now, a lot of these folks trust the Bush administration completely - - - but lies are unstable - and these folks don't like people making fools of them. If they were on a jury, looking at what the "missile defense" programs can do, what the people supporting the programs have claimed, and what has been spent, they'd be angry . These folks know something about the value of money - and have good sense - once they start paying attention.

bbbuck - 02:13pm Sep 19, 2002 EST (# 4422 of 4427)
Good bye Hampton Stevens - - My tagline was erroneous.

And the beat goes on.

almarst2002 - 02:56pm Sep 19, 2002 EST (# 4423 of 4427)

Robert,

For better or worst, but I am not a "Putin stand-in".

I have no idea what is on his mind. I even don't follow his public statements.

Sorry if that may cause a dissapointment.

Alex Feldman.

almarst2002 - 02:58pm Sep 19, 2002 EST (# 4424 of 4427)

GERMAN MINISTER COMPARES BUSH TO HITLER - http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=politicsnews&StoryID=1471464

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