New York Times on the Web Forums Science

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 - 04:02pm Feb 16, 2003 EST (# 9004 of 9013)
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.

rshowalter - 04:00pm Mar 1, 2001 EST (#813-818

Summary of postings between Sept 25, 2000 and March 1, 2001 (#1)

My involvement with the Missile Defense thread began with 07:32am Sep 25, 2000 EST (#266) Ridding the world of nuclear weapons, this year or next year. What would have to happen? rshowalt 9/25/00 7:32am .

For the rest of that day, I had a discussion with "becq," who I believe is President Clinton,

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md266.htm

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md273.htm

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md280.htm

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md290.htm

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md300.htm

ending at #304, which is worth reading in itself ... rshowalt 9/25/00 5:28pm http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md304.htm

There's much else, involving careful argument and hard work, but it makes sense to pick up the thread more recently, when it became clear, again, that there might be an opening fit for the practical large scale reduction, or elimination, of nuclear weapons. Key passages are set out and hotkeyed here, but I'm proud of the text in between, as well.

#640 http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md639.htm . . . Is nuclear disarmament something so far outside the real of the possible so that it is kind of foolish to have a debate on something you cant do anything about ? No one need doubt the importance of dealing with the other clear and present dangers. But is nuclear disarmament - actually undiscussable, beyond the pale? Plenty of able people, including senior military people, favor nuclear disarmament rshowalter 2/1/01 6:49pm

#374, Signatories of the Global Security Institute appeal as of October 2, 2000 seem well worth listing, because I find the list hopeful: rshowalt 10/4/00 5:08am

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md374.htm

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md379.htm

#664, An operational definition of Good Theory in real sciences for real people. and it applies to good military doctrine (which is military theory, built to use.). rshowalter 2/9/01 1:53pm

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md664_667b.htm

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md665_669b.htm

rshow55 - 04:03pm Feb 16, 2003 EST (# 9005 of 9013)
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.

Summary of postings between Sept 25, 2000 and March 1, 2001 (#2)

#679: Before the ugliness of nuclear terror can be well resolved, we'll have to come to terms with how afraid the Russians are of us, and how they are afraid, and also how afraid we are of the Russians, and how we are afraid of them. . No matter what anybody says, or how anybody poses (or what anybody says, however sincerely) both sides are fundamentally, deeply terrified of first strike tricks. rshowalter 2/12/01 12:58pm

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md678_682b.htm

#686: I made a proposal for getting nuclear weapons down rshowalt 9/25/00 7:32am that depends, in large part, on an insight from cryptography. Encoding in clear can be safe, and under circumstances of distrust, can be essential. With my partner, Dawn Riley, we did a demonstration. rshowalter 2/14/01 7:36am

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md00100s/md683_688.htm

(8 following messages)

New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense