posted on August 1, 2001 08:06:16 AM
no matter how Bush spins it.
Tony Blair has been warned he faces a backlash from
Labour Party members if he backs George W Bush's plans
for a missile defence system.
Malcolm Savidge, the Labour MP for Aberdeen North, says
the so-called Son of Star Wars project could lead to a fresh
nuclear arms race.
And, he says it puts Britain at risk of attack.
The Prime Minister has refused to rule out the possibility of
Britain giving financial and logistical backing to the Bush
proposals.
In an article written for Punch, Mr Savidge said 216 Labour
MPs had signed his parliamentary motion calling on the
Government to reject the American plans.
He also pointed out that a recent opinion poll suggested
British people were overwhelmingly opposed to the Star
Wars by five to one.
Mr Savidge also urges the PM to "speak for Britain" by
refusing to give the country's support to President Bush.
In the article he said: "It is disturbing when President Bush
and others now represent Tony Blair as supporting Star
Wars.
"We must not lightly sacrifice British interests and world
safety to appease a particular US president with a
questionable mandate and an uncertain future."
Mr Savidge said Star Wars could lead to countries such as
China and India expanding their own nuclear deterrents and
pose a threat to world peace.
posted on August 1, 2001 09:13:22 AM
I think that only people left in the world who support Bush on anything are some die-hard Republicans. Those are the ones that enjoy voting for someone who'll bend them over afterwards and give to them their 'reward' without lubricants.
posted on August 1, 2001 09:28:36 AM
Actually, like you pointed out KRS in the link : Officials Say Beacon Aids Anti-Missile Test, the missile defense program technology is a farce and implementing the program is a complete boondoggle. If word ever gets out to the rest of the world what happened in that test, no one anywhere on this planet will believe a single word that comes out of Bush's mouth ever again. How badly that will hurt Americans and America's interests will never likely be estimated. Get Bush out of the White House and the Republicans out of Congress IMMEDIATELY to start damage control.
Speaking of the rigged, bogus missile test - imagine what would have happened if this had still been the Clinton Administration. First, all of the Republicans in Congress would have been up in arms. The conservative media would have a complete news black-out for at least several months, covering nothing of substance, except the rigging of the missile test. Janet Reno would have been pressured by the facts and would have had to submit an independent investigator in another Ken Starr investigation. Eventually, there would have been another Impeachment Trial and the Republicans would be taking the High Road in all of these message forums on the Internet. We wouldn't hear the end of it for YEARS to come, maybe decades!
I am afraid that Bush is going to destroy the world.
Bush plans 'space bomber'
The United States is exploring the development of a 'space-bomber' which could destroy targets on the other side of the world within 30 minutes.
As part of a weapons modernisation strategy personally directed by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Pentagon is drawing up plans for a 'sub-orbital vehicle' launched like a spacecraft, which Rumsfeld describes as 'valuable for conducting rapid global strikes'. The craft - which would set the scene for a new generation of stratospheric warfare - would be able to drop precision bombs from a height of 60 miles, flying at 15 times the speed and 10 times the height of America's current bomber fleet. It is unclear whether it would be manned.
Plans for the weapon appear to undermine claims that President Bush's controversial Missile DefenceScreen - dubbed 'Son of Star Wars' -is purely defensive.
posted on August 1, 2001 10:20:15 AM
As long as we're at it:
Nothing like new gadgetry to fascinate a republican. Sorta' like little mobiles over the baby's crib.
This isn't anything new, really; Hitler employed some mad scientists (have you heard) too, and "the idea of a rocket-propelled space bomber has been around in various guises since the 1930s, when Eugen Sanger, an Austrian rocket scientist, urged Adolf Hitler to build an "antipodal bomber" called the Silver Bird that could skip across the edge of the atmosphere to strike New York City". Just like skipping rocks when your dad takes you to the lake in the summertime, eh?
Hitler, perhaps displaying a bit of good sense after all, "was cool to the plan, but the idea of a bomber that could streak in an orbital path around the globe has captivated rocket scientists and science-fiction enthusiasts".
But dumbya has different advisors,and "proponents say the space bomber could be developed quickly by adapting shelved research for the Star Wars system, begun under Ronald Reagan, along with plans for a reusable spacecraft called the X-33, under development by NASA". So you see, it actually saves money to go ahead with this, or, it makes already wasted money seem to have not been QUITE so wasted.
"Supporters of the space bomber include General Ralph Eberhardt, the head of the U.S. Air Force's Space Command and the man Mr. Rumsfeld is expected to nominate as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff". Obviously a good choice for the oversight of all things military in this country, or, they can't find another general more whacked out than him. Hard to believe, but apparently true.
But hey! It's not what it appears. "Proponents of the plan deny that the craft marks a move to militarize space because its targets would be on Earth and it would not achieve a full orbit". Well that makes it OK, right?
Tom Daschle, the Democratic Senate leader, and a man who has exhibited some troubling tendencies to cooperate with bush has called the plan "the single dumbest thing I've heard from this administration." And that's saying a lot.
posted on August 1, 2001 07:42:49 PM
Yeah sure - a mylar balloon is a decoy!
Wait until they have multiple reentry vehicles the same size and mass as the weapon carrier and they can
maneuver back and forth as they come down and they fire off a small nuclear weapon
behind them at the edge of the atmosphere to totally blind if not fry the targeting
radars.
Also they target the antimissile site with a wave of kinetic kill vehicles that drop a cluster of what are
basically steel rods with a stabilizer on them that are almost invisible to radar and as
impossible to shoot down as a cloud of junk. But will make hash of the ballistic radar
and antimissile launch site even if it is under heavy concrete.
posted on August 1, 2001 10:55:17 PM
Appearently, the massive gouging of Americans (and Republican Voters too!) by the Bush-backed Energy Lobby in its multitude of guises has whetted the appetites of the military-industrial complex and now they want to suck dry what is left of the Clinton Economy Boom before the Energy consortium gets it all. It's kinda like they fattened up the sheep (us) with the economy, then set the wolves to the kill, ripping out the throats of the sheep and gourging on the bloody remains. The smell of kill and blood is bringing in all of the major corporations now and we'll be left with a major recession. Thanks a hellva lot, Republicans!
posted on August 2, 2001 08:55:45 AM
I chose this thread as the venue for sharing with krs a little something I received in email the other day....it looks like this thread topic has run its course so I don't need to apologize for being OT.
posted on August 2, 2001 11:14:49 AM
Great picture zilvy!! Looks like the puppet room Borillar was talking about......see how you can't see the controllers hands behind the chairs?
