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Missile Defense

Nazi engineer and Disney space advisor Wernher Von Braun helped give us rocket science. Today, the legacy of military aeronautics has many manifestations from SDI to advanced ballistic missiles. Now there is a controversial push for a new missile defense system. What will be the role of missile defense in the new geopolitical climate and in the new scientific era?

lunarchick - 08:47am Oct 16, 2000 EDT (#420 of 445)

Show? Would the term documentary be more appropriate. That Americans arn't getting it right in the Middle East ... READ this: http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,382931,00.html President Bill Clinton is threatening to interfere once again in the search for a peace settlement in the Middle East. If possible he should be kept at arm's length by the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, whose quiet diplomacy has begun to make peace look like a possibility. If Mr Clinton now tries to elbow him aside and to reassert America's control of what should be an international operation, he is likely to fail as he has failed before. If that happens, it will be tragic for the people on both sides, Palestinians and Israelis, for whom a settlement would have brought relief from violence and misery and despair. (more) http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/comment/

lunarchick - 10:03am Oct 16, 2000 EDT (#421 of 445)

A comment on the functioning of MI6 : "A secret service is a detachable hand. It crawls off and does work that it considers to be in the body's best interests, but the head usually remains unaware of exactly what the hand does." http://talk.guardianunlimited.co.uk/WebX?13@@.ee761e0/225

lunarchick - 05:44pm Oct 16, 2000 EDT (#422 of 445)

cnn program is reported in today's Pakistan Daily (16Oct2000) Musharraf says Nuclear Arsenal secure, US not so sure: CBS's Report -

WASHINGTON, Oct 15: General Pervez Musharraf rejected suggestions that newly-created nuclear arsenal could fall into the hands of increasingly powerful Islamic radicals. "I don't think that is going to take place," Musharraf told CBS's "60 Minutes" television program.

"Never has a religious party won seats in our assemblies," he added. Never. Pakistan is a very moderate Islamic country." But US officials are increasingly concerned that the generals, who seized power in Pakistan one year ago, are beholden to Islamic radicals, and these fundamentalists could end up controlling nuclear weapons, the network said.

They believe many military officers in Musharraf's army are sympathetic to the "militants", and if the general tries to crack down against Islamic leaders, he may be overthrown, the CBS report said.

Former US Central Command Chief General Anthony Zinni told the network that a scenario under which Pakistani nuclear weapons could wind up in the hands of Islamic radicals was very possible. "My worry is that Musharraf may be the last hope," Zinni said. "We could have fundamentalists and another fundamentalist state that looks like Iran. That could be dangerous for obvious reasons. Or, we could have complete chaos and something that looks like Afghanistan."

According to John Pike, a nuclear proliferation expert with the Federation of American Scientists, Pakistan, which carried out its first nuclear tests in May 1998, now has between 25 to 35 nuclear warheads. "Certainly enough to fight a major nuclear war," Pike told CBS. Musharraf insisted these weapons were extremely secure. "This is my guarantee," he said. (AFP) http://www.dawn.com/2000/10/16/latest.htm

Revise up from 1 to 35 the number of missiles in Pakistan!

kalter.rauch - 10:50am Oct 17, 2000 EDT (#423 of 445)
Earth vs <^> <^> <^>

You can see, though, the danger......

The public developed a taste......a craving for films like Testament, Threads, and The Day After because, after all, they provided a vehicle for the ultimate disaster movie......and a test-bed for special EFX derring-do.

rshowalter - 02:40pm Oct 17, 2000 EDT (#424 of 445)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

lunarchick it does appear that Clinton may well be getting it right (very right, miraculously right) in the Middle East.

Perhaps we'll be able to get it right on nuclear weapons, too. The world could use a miracle there. It is still technically possible to take down essentially all nuclear weapons by Christmas. That might save the world, which is at serious risk.

The technical part is easy. But hearts and minds, and especially American hearts and minds, will have to change.

Maybe that's still possible. I hope so.

lunarchick - 05:12pm Oct 17, 2000 EDT (#425 of 445)

Clinton getting it right in the MidEast ... isn't it a small step backwards by the Israelis . That the situation will be reviewed by internationals is a step forward for Palestine. Two nations learning to dance!

kalter.rauch - 08:24am Oct 19, 2000 EDT (#426 of 445)
Earth vs <^> <^> <^>

Do you ever look at a map? Have you ever played RISK (...by Parker Bros.)? Look at "Palestine"......those...are...ghettos......they...Don't...Want...To...Live...Together......

lunarchick - 08:43am Oct 19, 2000 EDT (#427 of 445)

I wasn't thinking of Palestinians taking in Israeli boarders!

lunarchick - 05:56am Oct 21, 2000 EDT (#428 of 445)

U.S. Raises Estimate of Plutonium Spilled Making Arms

The amount of plutonium and other man-made radioactive elements released into the soil during 40 years of weapons manufacturing was 10 times larger than the U.S. Energy Department had estimated.

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