At 11:52 PM 11/18/2002 -0600 Dan Minette wrote:
>Well, I certainly didn't say that. Russia is too poor. But, Russia'a
>agreement doesn't come without a price. My guess is that the price for the
>agreement here and there is a blind eye to any Russian human rights abuses.
Ok, don't take this wrong way, but a lot of people participated in the
argument - and I'm not sure at all why you are so convinced that all points
were directed at you. I certainly never mentioned you.
Speaking of those other people, they also mentioned an arms race with China.
And as for ignoring human rights abuses by Russia - wasn't the price we
paid for being permitted to attack Afghanistan? or the price we paid to
expand NATO? or the price we paid to get the Iraq resolution through the
UNSC? This argument that somehow we have traded acquiesence to Russia's
human rights abuses for agreements for Russia looks more and more shaky
every time it is used, and indeed appears to simply be the default means to
discredit any foreign policy achievement by President Bush. After all, it
sets an impossible standard for Bush - i.e. successfully getting a nuclear
power to change their human rights behaviour i the matter of a year, maybe
two years, while at the same time diminishing all the things that he has
achieved.
>The ABM systems do not pass the BS test I use for new technology. The test
>isn't foolproof, but I'd be very curious to see why they don't do the
>things that successful and innovative designers tend to do with hard
>problems. Instead they do the thing that usually leads to failure:
>compress the schedule and backload the high risk portion of the test.
The reason for this is that the political opponents of missile defence have
no tolerance for failures of any sort - and would use failures to kill the
program, arguing that any failure would demonstrate that missile defence is
technologically impossible.
But considering that a few years ago, these political opponents were
arguing that it was technologically impossible to even hit a missile in
flight, and now they are arguing that it is impossible to hit certain types
of missiles in flight, I find it hard to call the current process a total
failure.
JDG
_______________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
People everywhere want to say what they think; choose who will govern
them; worship as they please; educate their children -- male and female;
own property; and enjoy the benefits of their labor. These values of
freedom are right and true for every person, in every society -- and the
duty of protecting these values against their enemies is the common
calling of freedom-loving people across the globe and across the ages.
-US National Security Policy, 2002
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