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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?

almarst-2001 - 02:01pm Mar 11, 2001 EST (#923 of 931)

lunarchick 3/11/01 12:09am

I think the increasing believe by US military and Administrations trickeled down to the wide American Public, the believe the US can and ought to wage a nonconsequential war against a weaker nation is absolutly immoral and ultimatly destructive. For too many Americans the War became akin a computer game - the "children-safe" show during the TV evening news. Some may even enjoy it!

The seeds of immorality will not grow into delighteful fruits! One may remember how too many Germans believed it will be very easy to conquere the World after the capitulation of France.

Roberts points out on a necessery deception required on part of a military to conduct its job. But the main question lies exactly in a definition and directions of this JOB.

For the peaceful countries in a World, the job of the military is protection of their country against foreign aggression. And this directs the kind of wearpons, the shape, size and posture the military gets.

The stated mission of US military is "projection of power" to defend "American Interests and Ideals" anywere in the glob, ready to wage two distant regional wars simultaneusly.

It have being shown that officially stated American Ideals and Interests are "flexible" enough to accomodate any spin of any ineterst group without smallest traces of shame. The double standard is the NORM not the exception.

Taking this into account, coupled with what I and Lunarchik remarked above, there are very fiew variants how the World can view and judge the US military and foreign policy.

Its time to wake up for the Nation when there are signs the DECEPTION of the Military is used not only against the potential foes, but also against likely friends and ultimatly, interests of the Nation itself.

THE UNDISCIPLINED AND UNRULLED DOG IS VERY MUCH ABLE TO BITE THE FEEDING HAND.

almarst-2001 - 03:58pm Mar 11, 2001 EST (#924 of 931)

The nuclear wearpons made one of the most dramatic turnerounds any wearpon system I know off ever did. It turned from the instrument of mass destruction of aggressor into a war deterring power, able to keep a relative peace since WWII by making the war fruetless and suicidal.

Now the US military and political elite is on their way to persuade the public to drustically change this situation and anable the US to utilise its huge disballance of conventional power while removing the danger of suicidal retaliation. At least against the US itself (the Gulf War have shown that desperate nation may struck a perceived "friend of aggressor" when aggressor is beiong its power.

Similar response was demonstrated during the Kosovo war, when thousends of Albanians where pushed to become refugies, as the only way available and expected to harm the aggressor.

I believe the NMD is a dangerous fantasy of bying the involunrability. But there can be no absolute asurance in anything, given the technological progress, in the world we are living today (except inability of morality and humanism to catch up;) however, if my fears are at least partially shared by other nations, the preventive strike out of desperation may not be discounted.

If US and the World was ever so close to catastrophy, it is from now and into the very near future.

rshowalter - 04:45pm Mar 11, 2001 EST (#925 of 931)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Things are dangerous. But they are less dangerous than they might appear, and people in other nations have less reason to be desperate than you might think.

China and Russia are afraid that the US is preparing a first strike, or preparing to to invade them -- because they can imagine no other explanation for what is being done.

And so they assume the worst.

They ought to imagine another explanation. A combination of a snafu, a "good" policy that involved so many lies that no one knew how to turn it off, and a fraud.

From the point of view of Russia, China, and many other countries -- how comforting that thought should be !

I'll be posting soon with more details -- enough to assist in the imagination -- an attempt at disciplined beauty to replace "explanations" that are so ugly and disproportionate that they don't seem to make sense to anyone.

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