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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 - 06:08am Aug 25, 2001 EST (#8124 of 8127)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

These are dramatic times. I'm hoping we're moving into the last acts of a redemptive drama, with elements of comedy, and triumph.

Not a tragedy.

It is a time to be careful.

rshowalter - 07:05am Aug 25, 2001 EST (#8125 of 8127)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

The superb lead editorial today THE PROMOTION OF GENERAL MYERS http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/25/opinion/25SAT1.html ... reads in part:

" The Promotion of General Myers Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, nominated yesterday by President Bush to be the nation's top military leader, likes to tell the story of how the government spent a great deal of money to create a ballpoint pen that would work in the zero-gravity environment of space. The pen worked well, but the Russians, he recalls, solved the problem a different way. They used a pencil.

"The story says a lot about General Myers's attitude about extravagant spending on marginal technologies. It is an indication of why he is a good and creative choice to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. More than most senior officers, General Myers seems to understand both the limitations and benefits of new military technologies. The ability to discriminate between the two is a crucial attribute at a time when there is a great temptation in Washington to throw money at any new weapons system, including a missile shield.

" General Myers, who has been serving as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, is a specialist in space technologies. That makes him well suited to advise Mr. Bush about missile defenses, the president's favorite military program. General Myers owes Mr. Bush a candid assessment of the technical obstacles that the development effort has yet to overcome. With prospective nuclear powers like Iran, Iraq and North Korea more likely to deliver a nuclear weapon to American shores by cargo ship than by missile, Mr. Bush should consider the Myers allegory about the pen and the pencil.

"General Myers may need to ponder it himself. He has been a strong advocate of missile defenses. At his confirmation hearings, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee need to learn more about General Myers's views on expanding military operations in space. . . . . . "

rshowalter - 07:07am Aug 25, 2001 EST (#8126 of 8127)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

There's been a lot of discussion about checking on this thread -- some of it, between me and gisterme, both detailed and heated. I liked the civility of this exchange.

MD3254 rshowalter 5/4/01 3:39pm

Things to check:
3080: rshowalter 5/2/01 7:34pm ... 3081: rshowalter 5/2/01 7:35pm
3082: rshowalter 5/2/01 7:36pm ... 3084: gisterme 5/2/01 7:51pm
3086: rshowalter 5/2/01 8:04pm ... 3087: rshowalter 5/2/01 8:07pm
and gisterme's diplomatic but very clear dodging of the tests:
3093: gisterme 5/2/01 8:52pm

rshowalter - 07:11am Aug 25, 2001 EST (#8127 of 8127)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Perhaps we can get further along, on determining facts on which good decision ought to rest, for the security of the United States, and the security of a world threatened if the United States acts stupidly.

MD8064 rshowalter 8/23/01 5:36pm

MD8106 rshowalter 8/24/01 12:26pm . . . MD8107 rshowalter 8/24/01 1:19pm
MD8108 rshowalter 8/24/01 1:23pm ... MD8109 rshowalter 8/24/01 1:23pm
MD8111 rshowalter 8/24/01 1:39pm ... MD8112 rshowalter 8/24/01 1:42pm
MD8113 rshowalter 8/24/01 2:12pm ...

MD8113 starts:
Nobody has to trust my credibility, or anybody else's. The key arguments can be set out clearly, for all to see, in areas where things can be checked and crosschecked in very many ways, and conclusions can be drawn.

These are arguments that should be public.

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