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Missile Defense

Russian military leaders have expressed concern about US plans for a national missile defense system. Will defense technology be limited by possibilities for a strategic imbalance? Is this just SDI all over again?

rshowalter - 11:37am Feb 23, 2001 EST (#767 of 771)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

When socio-technical systems are complicated, and involve significant risk, checking is a major moral and operational issue. The inability of U.S. government systems to check themselves, and the slowness with which the checking happens when it occurs, bears thinking about, when one considers the stability of our nuclear weapons systems, which are embedded in vast, interconnected, and indefensibly large sociotechnical arrangements. An article today, one of a depressingly long list that might be mentioned, illustrates this point, that our nuclear theory consistently ignores and denies.

U.S. Had Evidence of Espionage, but F.B.I. Failed to Inspect Itself..... by DAVID JOHNSTON AND JAMES RISEN

The article starts:

"For a number of years, American intelligence officials have had evidence that Russia had a significant pipeline from the United States government, yet the F.B.I. failed to conduct a rigorous internal review of its own personnel, current and former government officials say."

Now, given such human reactions, and reponse times, how many ways could our nuclear arrangments be immobilized, rendered unstable, or fired, by a coordinated system of many attacks, in many modalities, happening fast?

Our "failsafe" nuclear arrangements are indefensible obsolete dangerous junk. We should take them down.

I'll give some specific details later, but militarily competent readers should be able to figure out, for themselves, how unstable and indefensible these systems are. And how dangerous.

rshowalter - 02:46pm Feb 23, 2001 EST (#768 of 771)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

I'll be back with a more detailed view, but much of the vulnerability of current nuclear arrangements, which were designed so long ago, can be understood by taking the argument of Thomas L. Friedman's Op-Ed column today... Hype and Anti-Hype

and substituting military organizations and militarily relevant names for the business organization and business related names Friedman uses.

Friedman writes (subsituting a few bolded words)

"The real Internet wars are just beginning, and they aren't going to be between the cold war equipped US military and other old technology militaries. The real Internet wars happen when all the old-line military forces, with real assets, real size and real tactics, fully absorb the Internet — . . . . . and start to take each other on with meaner, leaner forces.

I'll give more specific details later today.

rshowalter - 07:37pm Feb 23, 2001 EST (#769 of 771)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

It will be morning before I do.

I was very respectful of President Bush's comments in the press conference he had with Prime Minister Blair. And of Blair's reactions.

Here are excerpts from Bush Meets With British Prime Minister by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

"On the missile defense controversy, Bush said he hoped to make his case to U.S. allies on the merits of such a system.

......

"I think it it's common-sensical to say to our friends, ``Let's come together, work together, to develop a defense against the true threats of the 21st century,'' Bush said.

" ``It makes a lot of sense to explore options. It makes a lot of sense to develop defenses to face the true threats,'' he added.

These are all beautiful, disciplined stances.

"Blair praised Bush for opening a dialogue on missile defense with allies. He noted that ``we don't have a proposal on the table yet. But I understand and share the American concerns.'',

I agree with Blair.

lunarchick - 02:47am Feb 24, 2001 EST (#770 of 771)
lunarchick@www.com

Bertrum Russel was the British figurehead who lead the charge of MD as in Missile Disarmament, with no misunderstanding. Blair a 'cub' at the time may have held high a banner.

lunarchick - 03:03am Feb 24, 2001 EST (#771 of 771)
lunarchick@www.com

UK

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