U.S. may sell missiles to S. Asia

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. may sell missiles to S. Asia
Rumsfeld likely will discuss sales to India, Pakistan during his visit
By PAUL WATSON
Los Angeles Times

NEW DELHI - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to discuss the sale of sophisticated missiles and other weapons to India and Pakistan during a brief visit this week to South Asia.

Critics in both nations raised concerns that the potential sales could further fuel a regional arms race and political instability at a time of delicate peace talks between the two Asian neighbors.

Indian officials are preparing to discuss with Rumsfeld a possible purchase of the Patriot missile system when he visits New Delhi on Thursday, according to media reports here. The Patriot is a ground-based missile system that can defend against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft.

The visit comes as Pakistan is negotiating to buy F-16 fighters and other advanced military equipment from the United States.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/2932139
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[OKNancy]

1. I'm sorry, but as the moderator

I must ask you to remove that picture of Rummy. I'm afraid people will lose their breakfast ( or lunch depending on the time zone)

;-)

He sure is creepy.

[Judi Lynn]

6. He always was a good lookin' fella, wasn't he?

It's really good knowing the fates of so many people are in his lovely hands.

[Deja Q]

2. Hmmm. BOTH India and Pakistan. Two countries that hate each other...

So what happens when either country turns against the US? They will now have some decent gear to analyze and improve upon. AND with India's newfound skills thanks to corporate apostates...

And didn't we do something like this once before?

[VivaKerry]

14. Sshhhh - secret plan....

arm the hell out of both india and pakistan. Then, later, ever so quietly, create a rift at the Kashmir border....one they just can't talk through. Kablamm! They tear each other apart.

The US, being the guy in the white hat, goes over to make peace. Oh and hell, we will probably have to occupy it for peacekeeping...

End result, we have a nice little new peg in the hole of TOTAL WORLD DOMINATION.

But this is all top secret....

Problem is... india will align with china for ww4. And pakistan will align with russia for ww4. And russia and china will be aligned. Guess who gets hit on the head with an american missile? the usa.

All we are doing worldwide is turning the gun -- OUR GUNS -- on ourselves. It's painful to watch............

[NNN0LHI]

3. US imposes penalties on Russian firm for illicit missile technology sales

http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1755078-6078-0,00.html

WASHINGTON - The United States has taken the unusual step of lifting classified punitive sanctions against a Russian company for illegal arms sales and slapped new, public penalties on the firm for illicit missile technology transfers, the State Department said.

The company, Federal Research and Production Complex Altay, was hit with the secret sanctions in July when the department announced it had "made a determination" under US arms control laws that could not be made public for national security reasons.

"Publication of the determination would be harmful to the national security of the United States," the department said in a terse, one-sentence July 22 notice in the Federal Register which provided no other information.

The identity of the firm in question remained secret until this Thursday when the department rescinded the initial sanctions in a second, equally cryptic Federal Register notice that said the penalties "no longer apply."

more

[VivaKerry]

15. VERY interesting.....thanks for posting this. n/t

[radwriter0555]

4. Well if we don't give them the guns, who are we going to fight?

DUH!

It's the whole manchausen syndrome; create the illness in the other in order to play hero and save (in this case battle) them!

VERY mother theresa of bush, eh?

[Massacure]

5. U.S. sells missiles to India. India sells to China. China kicks our ass.

Is there something wrong with my logic?

[ArthurDent]

9. A lot, actually

The missiles we'd sell to India would be of a lower grade than what we have -- in short, it India were to use them against us, they'd be out-teched.

That doesn't change if the same missiles go to China in the end.

[bemildred]

7. "US Looking for suckers in S. Asia"

A reality check on doings in the High-Tech wonderland at Raytheon.

The Patriot Missile System is an example of how a software project can change over time. It was proposed as a way to protect against Soviet planes, then soviet missiles, and twenty years later, was used against Iraqi missiles. The system was meant to be temporary, but was used in permanent settlements. If a system can be patched to perfection, then the Patriot was an attempt to prove this point.



The Patriot Missile project began in the late sixties as a portable system meant to protect local airspace against intrusion by enemy aircraft. One of the selling points of the project was that although it would not be programmed to shoot down missiles, the system could later be altered to serve as an Anti-Ballistic Missile System. The system was first tested against a drone plane in 1974, and later, in 1986, the system’s developers at Raytheon Labs modified it to be used as a portable, short-term defense against Soviet Missiles and Aircraft. <1>

---

The reason this bug occurred is because of a problem with storing time in a 24-bit register. The problem is that time is stored to an accuracy of 1/10th of a second, but a 24-bit register does not have enough precision to store 0.1, so a small fraction of each second is lost. The result is that the register used to keep track of time is off by 0.0001% of the amount of time that the system has been in operation. The problem is that computers do not store information as a standard decimal. Instead, they use binary code, which can not accurately store 1/10th of a second.

---

Part of the reason this error was not found sooner was that the program was written in assembly language, 15 years earlier. Over time, it was patched and new things were added. In short, because the system was written in assembly code, it was difficult to understand and maintain. And because the system was fifteen years old and had been patched several times, the very people who had written the code were not as familiar with the code as they would be if it were written more recently. Then, during the gulf war, the system had to be modified to handle the SCUD missiles, and time was a critical factor. The developers could have been influenced by the fact that prolonged testing could have caused a disaster by keeping a necessary system out of the hands of soldiers in a time of war.

http://seeri.etsu.edu/SECodeCases/ethicsC/PatriotMissile.htm

[TahitiNut]

8. Bloody incompetence!

"... because the system was written in assembly code, it was difficult to understand and maintain."

Bullshit! :grr: A programmer can write code that's easy to understand and maintain, or code that not easy to understand and maintain - no matter what fucking language (or what level of language) is used! If, however, the person doing maintenance doesn't know what the fuck they're doing, the result is less maintainable. This is a typical example of a failure to have direct code quality assurance processes, usually because the supervision and management themselves don't have the requisite skills. Incompetence breeds incompetence.

This is obviously embedded code and attempts to use higher level languages for such applications typically introduce more bugs and side-effects than you can shake a stick at, even if the code fits.

[da_chimperor]

10. Hedging our bets and arming both sides. So we're now a seedy arms dealer?

This is seriously like something out of a movie. Makes you happy, doesn't it rummy?! Just look at that silly grin on your face! You neo-con sack of shit. :puke:

[LynnTheDem]

11. Don't forget the 'WMD'; chemical & bio weapons

The United States may sell "defensive nuclear, biological and chemical equipment" to India under the growing defense cooperation between the two countries, Blackwill told Indian industrialists on Thursday.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EG19Df01.html

[Stella_Artois]

13. That may or may not be weapons

Could be gas masks, NBC suits, drugs to treat victims etc etc.

[LynnTheDem]

17. India already HAS that kind of equipment...and can buy more on ebay

That kind of "equipment" also woulnd't be a "carrot"; they mean weapons.

[VivaKerry]

16. At least next time we really WILL know there are WMD... n/t

[VivaKerry]

12. OH! that pic of rumsfeld is a total crack up first thing in the a.m.!

Thanks for the rofl moment!!!

These neocons are batcrazy, I tell you!

[Whoa_Nelly]

18. Is this a set up to put Iran and China in check?

And to increase the drumbeat to continue pre-emptive strikes in the ME? These evil fucks would not be making this deal unless there was something very tangible in it for them.

[Barkley]

19. Its quid qo pro: missiles/ technology for troops in Iraq

There will be strings attached to these sales.

India is interested in missile defense vis-a-vis Pakistan and China missiles.