Rumsfeld Directs Missile Defense to Operate Oct. 1

[midwayer]

Rumsfeld Directs Missile Defense to Operate Oct. 1

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has quietly ordered elements of a long-range missile defense system to begin operating on Oct. 1, four weeks before the 2004 presidential election, according to a U.S. military official (see GSN, July 2).


http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2004_7_13.html#90F...

[midwayer]

1. Wonder

what kind of mischief Rummy has been up to lately?

[rooboy]

2. Now watch * challenge the world to "bring it on" n/t

[jimshoes]

3. Why do I find this disturbing?

n/t

[hansolsen]

6. "October Surprise" will include air assault on North Korean nukes

Pulling all U.S. troops off the DMZ, getting all heavy equipment out of the country, sending 10 carrier battle groups to the Pacific, and now ramping up missile defense just in case the Russians or Chinese get mad.

Note: this is not a prediction on my part, just a compilation of related news items that makes me wonder.

It certainly would dominate the news for weeks, and take the country's mind off Iraq, naked detainees, Valery Plame, the 9/11 commission, and all the rest.

[Jacobin]

10. Scary thought

Now that you mention it, the pieces from the news do fall in place in that direction, don't they.

Oh boy.

[jimshoes]

13. Anything is possible

It seems there are a bunch of madmen running the country, doesn't it? Is there some legal way of pulling the plug on these kind of shenanigans? Alarm bells should be going off on some level of gov, no?

[hansolsen]

16. I've been wondering what Kerry's position on this should be??

It seems to me there are a number of possibilites for Kerry to take on a preemptive attack on North Korean Nukes.

1. He could ignore the possibility.

2. He could advocate taking preemptive action under certain circumstances, and then claim Bush was following his lead if Bush does launch the attacks. In essence, he could support such action in advance.

3. He could come out now against preemptive attacks in cases like North Korea. If Bush does launch the attack before the election, Kerry could claim it was a mistake, a political ploy -- a wag the dog scenario, etc.

What else???

At a bare minimum he should be thinking what his reaction would be in the first hours after such an attack.

[lanparty]

18. Missle defense doesn't work ...

If knocks down an ICBM, than it will have been launched from one of OUR subs. You simply detonate it when the kill vehicle is in range.

[Mike Niendorff]

4. And the march toward empire rolls on.

Danger, Will Robinson, Danger.


MDN

[Triana]

5. let me tell you about...

"Star Wars"

I worked where these pieces of shit were engineered and built in the 80s. The engineers who worked on that project - which was WAY over budget and behind schedule bytheway, told me the thing NEVER worked and that it would NEVER work.

EVEN IF they started all over - from scratch - and redesigned the thing, it STILL was doubtful that it could work.

It DIDN'T work in the 80s and it WON'T work now. It is simply a money pit in which to dump our taxpayer dollars for the financial benefit of a bunch of defense contractors (one of whom I worked for in the 80s where this thing was being built and engineered).

Operational by October 1, eh? I DON'T THINK SO!

Furthermore, that thing will be of NO HELP to us in national defense. If/when we are again attacked it will NOT be with a goddamned missile - it's more likely to be some sort of bioweapon or other device. Secondly, STAR WARS cannot knock a knife, boxcutter, or gun out of the hands of a terrorist on a plane or anywhere else. For chrissakes the thing can't even stop a friggin MISSILE - it never could and it never will.

It's a waste of taxpayer money and a ruse and little else.

[gratuitous]

7. But Rumsfeld has ordered it to work!

You think the laws of physics are beyond the powers of the Secretary of Defense? It must work! Rumsfeld has so decreed.

[Triana]

8. Even GOD cannot make it work...

...and Rummy ain't God - contrary to his own delusions of grandeur.

[lanparty]

19. Well ...

Rummy:
Some things work, some things don't work. How do you know if something can work if you don't make it work.

We gotta make things work to know the unknowable. Thats the only way we'll know.

Do you know what I mean???

Reporter:
Yes, your a moron.

[midwayer]

11. Another poster whereas I posted this on the 911 thread

says his/her brother is working the constructon of one of these in Alaska, I believe, and said it looks like some kind of Rube Goldberg Machine. That's comforting

[kodi]

9. this reminds one of Hitler moving imaginary armies on the Russian Front

.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

12. Does that mean that the terrorists plan to catapult....

...a suicide-bomber into the U. S. with a suitcase nuke strapped to his back?

Just one more way to ratchet up the fear-factor before the elections.

[Solon]

14. You know what scares me...

considering the administration's contempt of science, and their belief in their own infallability that THEY think it will work, and they may attempt something absolutely stupid due to that belief. These meglomaniacs are impossible to deal with, even *'s own father thought a nuclear war was 'winnable', with him being safe and sound in his own damn bunker maybe. This system couldn't shoot down a damned biplane without a transponder on it, it is a fucking black hole for defense spending.

[southernleftylady]

15. its like in iraq...

they thought we would be met in the streets with candy and flowers.. but howmany of us KNEW it wouldnt be like that?

[donhakman]

17. Who could possibly deny the claim

that we shot down an incoming Korean missle with our defensive missles.

They can create a premise for war and invasion in 14 seconds any time they want.

[Jack_DeLeon]

20. Devils Advocate...

Well if we already paid for it and if we will continue to pay for it, under the rest of Bush's term anyways. We might as well have people manning it just in case. It would probably be more wasteful to just leave it sitting there.

I wonder what Kerry will do with it though? If he tries to scrap it then Republicans will just point and say Kerry is soft on defense.