"J. van Baardwijk" wrote:
> According to this morning's radio news, president George W. Bush has
> announced that the United States will unilaterally break the 1972 ABM (Anti
> Ballistic Missile) Treaty. Bush said this will be done as soon as he sees
> fit, but has not given a specific date yet.
don't worry about it. there will be a lot of argueing about it in
Congress and elsewhere, lots of editorials, etc. the 'missile defense
sheild' is no where near ready for implimentation - Bush's statement
is basicly posturing. (i'm sure he is perfectly serious, but there
isn't any 'need' to abrogate the treaty yet, and won't be for quite a
while.)
> The motivation for this decision: the Treaty is standing in the way of
> Bush's beloved Missile Shield.
that, and to make it clear that Russian and other opposition won't
stop him from doing what he thinks is 'right for America'. no
surprise.
> Bush apparently is intend on going down in
> history as the Treaty-Breaking president that started the Second Cold War.
<chuckle> ah, unless you can read minds from a great distance, or
have a really good inside source, you can't know that that is what
Mr. Bush _intends_. it may be what happens - and it is something that
i worry about a bit - but there are lots of times that what someone
intends is not what happens. i have no doubt that Mr. Bush thinks
that abrogating the treaty and developing the 'missile defense
sheild' is 'better for America' than abiding by the treaty and not
developing a 'missile defense shield'. (interestingly there doesn't
_seem_ to be any serious effort to amend the treaty so that it allows
a missile defense sheild while still acheiving it's arms control
goals. a few 'nyets' are all it took to stop any 'third way' effort.)
> Anyone want to take a guess at what Treaty will be unilaterally broken by
> the US next?
hmmmm..... i'm not completely fond of the WIPO agreements..... and
NAFTA does have some problems too.....
cheers,
christopher
--
Christopher Gwyn
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
