Bushes new toy

GreenHell

Just watched the news in horror as bush announced his plans for a defense system demon spawn of the star wars system of the 70's.

This guy cannot be serious firstly the system is impossible sense you can't effectively target with lasers in space (please correct if I'm wrong on that one) and his is breaking treaties with other nuclear powers ..... gob****e

Personnally I think this has the potential to start an armss race with China .... russia couldn't afford such a system.

anyway I taught he was a spoon before now his the most dangerous spoon ever.

Clintons Cat

one thought that struck me reading Greenhells post,The main reason for the collapse of the USSR was the realisation the Soviets could no longer continue to afford or maintain their existing armed forces let alone develop a counter star wars weapon (not suprising since the actual physics were impossible to implement.)
Perhaps Bush wants to persue a similar Arms Race with China in order to divert ecconomic expansion and <hopefully> be instrumental in the collapse chinese communist state.
On the other hand it could just be a way to divert attention away from the Ti wan arms U Turn.The project will take many years and if it turns out to be ineffective or overbudget well thats the problem of the next administration.

--Kaiser--

Reagen and Bush senior both tryed to implement the so called 'star wars' program, but neither actually got anywhere, all the scientists hired knew it was an absolutley IMPOSSIBELE pipe-dream.
And yet still we have Dubya trying again. trying to start world war 3

nesf

ahh i dunno, its not all bad...

It's a good time to be a physicist, particlarily if you specialised in optics.

Of course one would have to earn a nice few grand before pointing out its impossible

Magwitch

I agree. It also keeps defence contractors happy and voters in jobs. It was inevitable that the US would come out of its corner swinging (in political as well as economic terms) after China has its day in the Sun.

His comments about Taiwan also are to be taken into consideration when thinking of deploying a starwars shield. Taiwan may well be a base for US radar and tracking realted to the SDI 2. The Republicans do not like to fight wars (they get other countries to do that for them )but do like to spend money.

yossarin

it might be just the thing for a country with an unstable economy right now.

Q_Ball

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Magwitch:
The Republicans do not like to fight wars (they get other countries to do that for them )but do like to spend money.</font>

LOL, bit like women in that sense

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It's a 106 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.

HIT IT!

Manach

An argument in favour of the missle shield is that it is better than the alternative ie bomb them back to the stone age.

Draco

This system uses missiles and not laser. It might be possible - I don't know. but considering the Patroit missile systems the deployed in the gulf only actually shot down a tiny fraction of the SCUD, I doubt if it would be any good.

JustHalf

I think we all know about the US and their missiles.

That embassy was standing in the way of our missiles... it was THEIR fault!

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It rained in San Francisco Wednesday evening, but the penguins were
still there Thursday morning, smiling broadly.

Hobbes

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by --Kaiser--:
Reagen and Bush senior both tryed to implement the so called 'star wars' program, but neither actually got anywhere</font>

Well that's not entirely true. From documents released (think it's CIA archives) they there was no way in hell Starwars would of existed but the point was to get the Ruskies all worked up and start spending like crazy to copy them. Meanwhile funds to that project were funnelled elsewhere.

Evil Phil

This new starwars system only tracks and targets missiles from orbit, they're actually shot down from the surface. It's a good point though, maybe Bush is trying to break China economically.

JustHalf

Unfortunately, one of the nuclear arms treaties (I can't remember which one) prohibits such systems as it prevents first strike attacks... a country will not attack another counter as it can be "bombed back to the stone age", as you say.

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It rained in San Francisco Wednesday evening, but the penguins were
still there Thursday morning, smiling broadly.

D-Generate

It also prohibts them from having more than 2300 nukes over 5megaton or something like that but a few years back Russia said it had well over that so I dont doubt that America doesn't

azezil

i douth they'll actuall implement it...or figure it out, but it may indirectly encourage the development of new usfull technologies, as in WW2(possibly 1, not sure) fueled the development of medical research, and anti-biotics

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"just because ur not paraniod, doesn't mean they're not after u!"

[This message has been edited by azezil (edited 06-05-2001).]

Yossarian

Has anyone an idea of what exactly the research will focus on? The last star wars project focused alot on the development of lasers, just wondering what this one is likly to focus on.

Manach

Proof positive that defense system has the finest minds in America working on it. How can it fail?
"Pentagon listens to the missile music"
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-125964,00.html

[This message has been edited by Manach (edited 08-05-2001).]

sam

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">
greenhell:
This guy cannot be serious firstly the system is impossible sense you can't effectively target with lasers in space (please correct if I'm wrong on that one)
</font>

why cant you target with lasers in space?

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">
draco:
This system uses missiles and not laser. It might be possible - I don't know. but considering the Patroit missile systems the deployed in the gulf
</font>

actually the only thing proven to work against missiles are flares(confuses the missiles tracking systems), the patriot missile relied on exploding near the scuds and messing up the scuds targetting by releasing shrapnel, or sometimes even fooling the scud into thinking it had reached its target and detonating in the air.. if bush thinks such a system would work well for nuclear missiles, america is ****ed if it ever has nukes launched against it.
ironically a laser system has more hope as an anti-missile system (provided you have extremely fast computers at your disposal) than a missile system does

Digital Tilmitt

how come when one small country does something wrong everbody jups in to save the day.(mostly NATO) but when America does something the world turns a blind eye. Bush is gonna start world war 3 with his 'Starwars'

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Booyaka

harVee

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Digital Tilmitt:
how come when one small country does something wrong everbody jumps in to save the day.(mostly NATO)
</font>

There are over 30 full on armed conflicts going on across the world right now, and neither NATO nor anybody else is doing jack**** about most of them (except of course for the US supporting the continued occupation of Palestinean land by Isreal)

Panda

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by GREENHELL:
......russia couldn't afford such a system.....</font>

/paranoid look...
Thats EXACTLY what they want us to believe, remember there may still be more Goldeneye satellites.... DUM DUM DUMMMMMM


m33p!

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Aka: Dragon,Sexual Harassment Panda, SCUMM.