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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?

lunarchick - 08:11am Aug 6, 2001 EST (#7760 of 7773)
lunarchick@www.com

Ted Postol : http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/roguestate/interviews/postol.htm

So why did scientists at the BMDO go along with such a disguise?

Well, I'm not aware of any scientists at the BMDO myself. I mean I never met anybody at the BMDO that I would call a scientist. I know scientists who are involved in Missile Defence activities - some of them are even my friends, although I don't admit to it in public, but nobody at the main office appears to know anything about either science or engineering. It seems to be a big public relations activity.

How big a step was it for you, Ted, to write that letter to the White House when you evaluated the information?

Well, I felt the like the last person manning a machine gun in a pass where you knew that you had to hold the line because you're retreating, colleagues need the time to regroup to defend themselves because I didn't want to do it but I felt I had to and it turned out not to be as difficult a thing for me as I had expected it to be, it was not at all like the experience I had ten years ago when I raised questions about Patriot. It turned out my credibility was so high probably because of the past experience with Patriot that people immediately accepted what I said and I was able to expand on the issues and help people understand it in greater detail rather than trying to convince people that I knew what I was talking about. So it was not a difficult thing after the initial decision to write.

stephennnn - 12:11pm Aug 6, 2001 EST (#7761 of 7773)

Better to build bridges for peace than missiles for war. Why not begin the long, laborious and difficult path of negotiating treaties for peace with our world neighbors rather than rattling sabers and and turning our our atmosphere into a battleground? The answer is simple. A leadership with a limited and backward vision only sees potential enemies rather than potential friends. Our long and involved tragedy of human history suggests that, after all is said and done, we are still members of the human race and must share our common boundary; spaceship earth

lunarchick - 06:17pm Aug 6, 2001 EST (#7762 of 7773)
lunarchick@www.com

Peace Symbol artist says - represents man in dispare with arms downwards. Japan 6-Aug: lunarchick 10/2/00 2:37am

lunarchick - 08:28pm Aug 6, 2001 EST (#7763 of 7773)
lunarchick@www.com

Report re USA clamping down on China via trade wrt their selling missile parts to Pakistan: http://www.washtimes.com/national/20010806-27607248.htm

rshowalter - 08:08am Aug 7, 2001 EST (#7764 of 7773)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Back. Had a good trip, talked to some impressive, effective people.

jamespluta - 05:00pm Aug 7, 2001 EST (#7765 of 7773)

This is insane. "Insane" being defined as doing the same thing again and again expecting different results. (1) The technology isn't there. The "promising" results have been rigged over and over again. They've had to put homing beacons on the dummy missles so they'll get hit. This defense, this idea, DOESN'T WORK! Even if it did work, (2) we don't have any "enemies" that have long-range missles to strike at us with. Russia? Certainly not. China? It isn't an enemy, and it doesn't want to be. Mexico? Hmmm, yes, that's the one we need to worry about! (3) It has long been believed by the military that any of our "enemies" are striking using terrorist tactics, like the Trade Towers and Oklahoma City. It would be so much easier to float a missle on a barge up the Mississippi and strike from within the nations defense bubble, rendering it useless. And back to the first idea, the "insane" topic. In the 1980's we credited Regan with outspending the Russians in an arms race, eventually leading to their fall as a power. Now that the borders are open we have discovered the arms race was being run on only one side of the Atlantic, ours. The Russians had not increased their defense budget since 1973, long before this 'race' was signaled to begin. It was just as then as it is now, another excuse to reap billions of dollars off government defense contracts by the already-rich-from-the-contra-and-gulf-wars patrons. I repeat, have the results since we began marking history EVER been different with regards to war?

lunarchick - 05:22pm Aug 7, 2001 EST (#7766 of 7773)
lunarchick@www.com

Good to see you back on board Showalter - not yet firing on all eight cylinders?
Read a disturbing article, Oz daily newspaper, re North Korea.
Seems that State (NK) treats folks as slaves.
It's re-paying debt to Russia via 'NK slave labourers' working in camps on the Russian Mainland.
Okay with Russian Admin - but -
Disturbing to local Russians who captured an escapee ..
handed him back ..
only to see him immediately 'shot dead'
before their eyes ..
leaving the local population
reluctant to now return escapees.
There are problems here regarding the Human Rights
of the regular-irregular NKn.

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