Guardian UK: US missile defence system is the magic pudding that will never run out

[marmar]

The US missile defence system is the magic pudding that will never run out
Poland is just the latest fall guy for an American foreign policy dictated by military industrial lobbyists in Washington

George Monbiot
The Guardian, Tuesday August 19 2008



It's a novel way to take your own life. Just as Russia demonstrates what happens to former minions that annoy it, Poland agrees to host a US missile defence base. The Russians, as Poland expected, respond to this proposal by offering to turn the country into a parking lot. This proves that the missile defence system is necessary after all: it will stop the missiles Russia will now aim at Poland, the Czech Republic and the UK in response to, er, their involvement in the missile defence system.

The American government insists that the interceptors, which will be stationed on the Baltic coast, have nothing to do with Russia: their purpose is to defend Europe and the US against the intercontinental ballistic missiles Iran and North Korea don't possess. This is why they are being placed in Poland, which, as every geography student in Texas knows, shares a border with both rogue states.

They permit us to look forward to a glowing future, in which missile defence, according to the Pentagon, will "protect our homeland ... and our friends and allies from ballistic missile attack"; as long as the Russians wait until it's working before they nuke us. The good news is that, at the present rate of progress, reliable missile defence is only 50 years away. The bad news is that it has been 50 years away for the past six decades.

The system has been in development since 1946, and so far it has achieved a grand total of nothing. You wouldn't know it if you read the press releases published by the Pentagon's missile defence agency: the word "success" features more often than any other noun. It is true that the programme has managed to hit two out of the five missiles fired over the past five years during tests of its main component, the ground-based midcourse missile defence (GMD) system. But, sadly, these tests bear no relation to anything resembling a real nuclear strike. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/19/usforeignpolicy.russia

[Uncle Joe]

1. The purpose is to reignite the Cold War, so the military industrial complex may continue to leech

off the American People, seems to be working so far.

Whenever you hear the corporate media spew propaganda re: the budget deficit, they almost always mention entitlements for the people. They never mention the out sized military budget as being a culprit and or the ridiculous, unregulated fees paid out to private mercenary corporations which in turn leech off the military budget thereby weakening the publics' defense.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.

[marmar]

2. "they almost always mention entitlements for the people"

Exactly, Uncle Joe. Extensive socialism for the corporations, fiscal conservatism for the people.

[Diclotican]

3. marmar

marmar

The whole missile system who would be build in Poland and in the Tsjeck Republic, are just another provocation for the Russian. No less, no more. And it would prove for Russia that it need their own missile program, to counter the system that the US want to build, on the doorstep to Russia. It are no sense at all, to build this on the doorstep of Russia. Because this system have no use if Iran or North Korea ever got ballistic missiles.. North Korea's missiles are to old, and don't have the legs anyway. And if they got the leg, it is no way it would end up on american soil anyway because the technical is so old that even the russian are not using it any more. For good sake, the tree stage missile the North Korean are building is an modernized Scud D missile from the early 1960s... A grand,grand,grandfather of an missile type that the Russian army have not had in their arsenal for a long, long time as it is...

Iran on the other hand do have an missile who can be stretched and maybe have some ICBM capability in the future - far into the future. But don't se to have to much hurry to build an ICBM anytime soon.. They want missiles to protect their own country at the look of it... And they are getting help from both Russia and China to that too...

This System who USA would build, have been in conception since 1946?, And have not given any program so far.. Maybe it is time to scrub the whole system then, rather to use billions of dollar on a program who would never function anyway... I for one feel, as the little I know about the program, that it is a folly's game. Waste of money and time. And more to the point. Waste of money who could be used in the civilian sector.. If US had use half the money they do use on weapon today, on civilian use, they do would be that GREATEST COUNTRY ON THE FACE OF THE WORLD. And still have the power to project some in the world. Today US use more than twice the amount the rest of the world are using. But have no real power to project to the world. If it are not for the fact that they do have an powerfully army then.. But the diplomatic and political power, is dead for the moment, and it would cost US a lot of resources to get THAT together again.. That is the reason that Russia can shrug US claims in Georgia because the action the US have been doing the last 8 year have not been exactly stellar either..

Diclotican

Sorry my bad english, not my native language

[Uncle Joe]

5. On top of that, Diclotican, both of those nations are well aware

the U.S. could turn them in to radioactive parking lots.

For crying out loud we stood up against the Soviet Union at it's height and both sides knew better than to attack the other with nuclear missiles. Mutual assured death of not only their societies but humanity as a whole was the motivator to keep the big peace and no people on the face of the planet are immune from that prime motivation.

[Diclotican]

6. Uncle Joe

Uncle Joe

That is absolutely true. Under the Cold war We understand that an war with Russia would end in the end game where hundred or thousands of missiles would be send over our head, and civilization as we know it would be goon... MAD was the acronym used, and it was true to... Today, it looks at the outside that US is so afraid of the rest of the world, that they want to "defend them self" against everyone, with an missile system who maybe would not be good anyway.. And both North Korea and Iran, know that if they use the missiles would be the end of their societies... And even North Korea would not be that stupid... This "shield" are more about telling the american populace that they DO something, then that the system would work as planed...

And specially that it is placed in the back door of Russia is nothing Russia would be pleased to se anyway. Even that the system was never intended against Russia. This country have a long miserable history of been attacked by others. And would do anything to stop it, before it is to late and half their country is destroyed.. And 20 million russians killed by the enemy... That make for some scars in the "psychic" of the rest of the country.. I would bet my next salary on it if 20 millions american was killed by an occupied force, who wanted to murder you, just because you was american, and to exploit you as the hardest they could..

This is just to provoke Russia, and it work, because Russia would use monstrous sums of money just to get up to speed when it come to defend their interest in the area. Russia are too interesting to protect THEIR interest in the area. And to protect their own country against enemies.. And they have a president, and prime minister who are capable of using their power to the best. Georgia is just an test round for the new improved Russian army.. And US who have been so much depleted when it come to moral standing in the world, can just sit on the sideline and do nothing.. Or at least far less than it could have been doing just 8 year ago...

Diclotican

Sorry my bad english, not my native language

[Diclotican]

4. marmar

marmar

The whole missile system who would be build in Poland and in the Tsjeck Republic, are just another provocation for the Russian. No less, no more. And it would prove for Russia that it need their own missile program, to counter the system that the US want to build, on the doorstep to Russia. It are no sense at all, to build this on the doorstep of Russia. Because this system have no use if Iran or North Korea ever got ballistic missiles.. North Korea's missiles are to old, and don't have the legs anyway. And if they got the leg, it is no way it would end up on american soil anyway because the technical is so old that even the russian are not using it any more. For good sake, the tree stage missile the North Korean are building is an modernized Scud D missile from the early 1960s... A grand,grand,grandfather of an missile type that the Russian army have not had in their arsenal for a long, long time as it is...

Iran on the other hand do have an missile who can be stretched and maybe have some ICBM capability in the future - far into the future. But don't se to have to much hurry to build an ICBM anytime soon.. They want missiles to protect their own country at the look of it... And they are getting help from both Russia and China to that too...

This System who USA would build, have been in conception since 1946?, And have not given any program so far.. Maybe it is time to scrub the whole system then, rather to use billions of dollar on a program who would never function anyway... I for one feel, as the little I know about the program, that it is a folly's game. Waste of money and time. And more to the point. Waste of money who could be used in the civilian sector.. If US had use half the money they do use on weapon today, on civilian use, they do would be that GREATEST COUNTRY ON THE FACE OF THE WORLD. And still have the power to project some in the world. Today US use more than twice the amount the rest of the world are using. But have no real power to project to the world. If it are not for the fact that they do have an powerfully army then.. But the diplomatic and political power, is dead for the moment, and it would cost US a lot of resources to get THAT together again.. That is the reason that Russia can shrug US claims in Georgia because the action the US have been doing the last 8 year have not been exactly stellar either..

Diclotican

Sorry my bad english, not my native language