Bush is flogging Star Wars again

[Sandpiper]

Lest anyone forget, missile defense, not terrorism, was Bushco's national defense priority upon assuming office.

And again, lest anyone forget, a missile defense shield would have done absolutely nothing to protect us on 9/11.

Missile defense is a multibillion dollar fraud that has only worked when the tests were rigged.


Bush Criticizes Missile Shield Opponents

27 minutes ago

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

RIDLEY PARK, Pa. - President Bush (news - web sites) promoted his administration's plans to build an anti-missile system Tuesday, suggesting that the program's opponents are jeopardizing the country's safety.

Bush did not refer specifically to Democratic rival John Kerry (news - web sites), who has indicated he would rein in spending on the project.


"I think those who oppose this ballistic missile system don't understand the threats of the 21st century," the president told applauding workers at defense contractor Boeing in Pennsylvania, a crucial state in Bush's bid for re-election.


"We say to those tyrants who believe they can blackmail America and the free world: 'You fire, we're going to shoot it down,'" Bush said.

<snip>

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040817/ap_on_el_pr/bush_11

[shaolinmonkey]

1. 'You fire, we're going to shoot it down,'" Bush said. He forgot to add

"15% of the time"

[Sandpiper]

2. He also forgot to add

"As long as those tyrants are nice enough to put a tracking device on it like we did in our tests."

[shaolinmonkey]

7. We couldn't even get F-16s off the ground on 9/11, but we're going to

deploy this disaster of a weapons system. Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb. Did I mention dumb?

[rkc3]

You beat me to it.

BTW who gets to make the call re: using star wars to stop an incoming missile? What if Georgie is still trying to get through My Pet Goat?

[yellowcanine]

21. AND as long as those tyrants don't use a passenger plane or a

suitcase bomb or a truckload of fertilizer or a letter filled with anthrax spores or a truck/car/boat/bicycle/briefcase/shoe/donkey cart/suicide bomber bomb.

[yellowcanine]

3. Yeah, that worked like a charm on 9-11, didn't it, Shrubbie? Who is it

that "doesn't understand the threats of the 20th century?

[rkc3]

9. You're witnessing what happens when you do drugs for 20 years.

[yellowcanine]

23. Not to mention alcohol and hanging out in Tijuana whorehouses

contracting STDs.

[bif]

4. Yeah, bring it on North Korea!

Beautiful George. Why don't you just shut the hell up?

[RobertSeattle]

5. What a total waste

We can't even adequately stop a $50 RPG round moving at 100 mph pointed at HMMWV and these jokers think we can stop a 25K mph missile with various decoy options.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[K-W]

10. This is just a handout to defense contractors and a neocon pipe dream

Nothing more.

[Sandpiper]

12. The problem with the "Missile Defense Shield"

Is that there is no data showing that is could reliably or effectively shoot down incoming ICBMs.

The tests for Missile Defense were rigged. All of the dummy missiles were carrying tracking devices.

A senior engineer on the project, Dr. Nina Schwartz, was fired for blowing the whistle on faked test data.

As it stands now, Missile Defense is nothing but a subsidy to the arms industry.

[atreides1]

16. The Problem Is

This missile defense system is like a sign that reads "Beware of Dog",
only you don't have a dog. You just hope that the person breaking in thinks you have a dog.

There is no such thing as 100% security or protection, hell even the birth control pill isn't 100%. The only way to stop this country froim being attacked is to wipe out every other country on the face of the earth, and while I know that is not an option I would want, I'm not sure about you.

We found out on 9/11 that there is no way of preventing this country from being attacked

[NewHampshireDem]

8. God help us if he says "Bring it on"

I heard some dumbass talking about Iran's nukes reaching the US using this assbackward logic: The rockets only have an 800 mile radius, but if they cut the payloads they could reach the United States. Well, okay, it is rocket science, but anyone with half a brain realizes what bullshit that is.

[swag]

11. Get a brain, Moran!

"You fire, we're going to shoot it down,'" Bush said.

Many test ABM missiles haven't been able to find decoyless targets without the aid of a homing transmitter on the target "warhead."

I doubt any potential enemies of the US are going to send their warheads over with homing transmitters on the same frequency as our ABMs. I doubt they'll be sending missiles over without decoys.

http://www.cdi.org/program/index.cfm?programid=6

is one of the best sources of objective info I can find about Missile Defense issues, and their email updates contain the good and bad news about current efforts.

To my mind, though, nobody has rebutted the basic arguments against NMD/Star Wars, etc. put forth by the likes of the late Lars Erik Nelson and Nobel Physicist Steven Weinberg (some of these reports are still available for a fee from the archives at www.nybooks.com).

NMD exists for the mutual benefit of BFEE, Raytheon (who threw Bushco. Campaign wonderful "Texas Style" barbecues!) and other contractor-barrons of the Techno-military-industrial complex.

As with Halliburton/KBR in Iraq, Bushco. is simply taking money right out of our pockets and handing it right over to their cronies. No questions asked.

[Sandpiper]

15. Missile Defense will keep us safe...

As long as our enemies purposely put something on their incoming missiles that will enable us to shoot it down.

In other words, making their missile say "Hello, I'm an incoming warhead. Please shoot me down."

[BillZBubb]

20. Even if they are nice enough to do all that...

and tell us the precise time of the attack, we still can only shoot it down 20% of the time.

We'll all sleep so much better knowing Star Wars is on the job!

[Sandpiper]

22. And all for the low price

Of 53.1 billion dollars.

[Old and In the Way]

13. Like this idiot can get his head around the complexities of Star Wars.

Who's the threat Dimson?

Why has the MIC declared a financial War on America. By the time they are done sucking every last dime out of our pockets, what'll be left to defend?

Kerry should propose an Earth Based Defense Shield....reinvesting in alternative energy and infrastructure to give Americans real security in the 21st century.

The $400BB/year US military can't stop a commercial airliner with a 52 minute headstart from crashing into the Pentagon, think I'm going to worry about a non-existant missle threat?

[Sandpiper]

17. It's like Daschle said

"National missile defense is the most expensive possible response to the least likely threat."

[grytpype]

14. What a dumbshit!

He lives in a fantasy world, or he is a liar, whichever.

[fairfaxvadem]

18. Who's left to launch these missiles?

I mean crap, if we're talking China here, just say adios. No missile defense system is going to save our butts (or China's, or the world's) if we end up going toe to toe with China.

Just how many suicidal maniacs out there are just busting to launch missiles our way?

Dang this guy is a tool.

I can't take it.

[Old and In the Way]

24. China spends $20BB on military defense.

That's 1/20 annually of our expeditures. No way will China pick a fight with the US.

The only maniac that has the technology to launch is that kook in North Korea. Since that train explosion about 2 months ago, he has seemed to keep a very low profile.

[soupkitchen]

19. Seriously, This could be the stupidest thing a President ever said.

So after we knock it down does he say, "Nah, nah, told you so."
Or if we miss the first incoming missle does he say, "Lucky shot. I bet you can't bomb us twice."

[onethatcares]

25. when he went to Ft. Myers, he thought

it was another military base. Sad thing was, there were people that didn't appreciate him as much as Boeing does.

[Deja Q]

26. missiles are not the problem today, * is showing how inept he is.

Try nuclear briefcases, lipstick grenades, shoe bombs, and removing large quantities of stocks from the market (like just before 9/11, what happened to that, eh?).

Worse, Reagan was braindead when he started the program. Only a sheer idiot would try the same sci-fi against a problem whose perpetrators and methodology is considerably different than what was the case 20 years ago.

* is not defending anybody.

He's lost it.

The shield nonsense, if it works, would only be used to protect Isreal... other countries (only our current friends and business interests) would get the protection at a big cost.)

And what if the US is the tyrant that starts blackmailing the world? Who's going to shoot us down? (with more countries seeing what the US is doing, it's clear they'll eventually want to switch to the Euro over the dollar as mainstream exchange-rate currency. (Would you do business with a country that isn't improving its own people?) Didn't Iraq try that in their oil industry before Uncle George* blackmailed the country with his bombs? :shrug: )