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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 - 07:02am Jul 17, 2001 EST (#7114 of 7121)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

MD6288 rshowalter 6/29/01 1:13pm . . . MD6289 rshowalter 6/29/01 1:26pm
we should remember a number -- both for good and ill. -- The US defense budget that now amounts to $1500/American citizen -- year after year.

Enough money to spend wisely -- to be careful about -- if only money was involved.

Also enough to corrupt -- in many, many ways.

The size of military expenditure is also so large that present military arrangements impact hugely on the life of America. --The impact of those arrangements, that satisfy valid human needs in many ways, however terrible war is in other ways -- must be dealt with, in ways that work for the people involved -- because there is no alternative.

MD6290 rshowalter 6/29/01 1:33pm

. " After World War II demobilization happened quickly, but pretty naturally, too -- because people had more attractive alternatives outside the military. For large reductions in American forces to happen now, something like that has to happen again.

We are seeing enormous distortions, all through our society, because we want to spend money -- even for no technically hopeful purpose at all - - - just to keep the military industrial complex going.

It may be worse that Dwight D. Eisenhower could have imagined, though he was concerned forty years ago and devoted his FAREWELL ADDRESS to warning the nation. http://www.geocities.com/~newgeneration/ikefw.htm

It was worse than anything Bill Casey seemed to have imagined. MD6057 rshowalter 6/26/01 7:22am MD6370 rshowalter 7/1/01 7:19am MD6371rshowalter 7/1/01 7:19am

rshowalter - 07:10am Jul 17, 2001 EST (#7115 of 7121)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

MD6107 gisterme 7/16/01 9:24pm has given me some interesting connections to things discussed before on this thread.

Gisterme makes some arguments that I thought should have evaporated, given things I've said -- and perhaps some other things I should have dealt with in more detail.

I'll deal with those points today.

For any rational military purpose -- as a weapon - - the lasar systems being talked about do not work -- and are trivial to neutralize.

They simply do not make sense as weapons.

The Rumsfeld reports advocating weaponization of space are bad policy.

But they are also nonsensical for another reason -- the lasar technology, as a technology of long range destruction, can't work, either.

lunarchick - 08:03am Jul 17, 2001 EST (#7116 of 7121)
lunarchick@www.com

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