[cranebill]

There is wide coverage of a threat to use nukes, how do you feel about this and what can we do about it?

Why can this missile defence system not be deployed in somewhere like German?

Do you believe it is defensive or offensive in nature?

Should we back down and redeploy elsewhere?

Are there alternatives to the missile shield?

[matmat]

cranebill, on Aug 16 2008, 02:55 PM, said:

Why can this missile defence system not be deployed in somewhere like German?

That would not make a shred of difference.
Do you think the US would care whether the russians would deploy their defence system in cuba, or if they put it in, say, haiti?

[Winstonm]

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There is wide coverage of a threat to use nukes, how do you feel about this and what can we do about it?

Nuke use by whom and who is reporting such? It is quite foolhardy and dangerous to keep poking a stick into the ribs of the Russian bear. It is folly to provoke Russia with maneuvers to include Georgia into Nato - it is debatable if there is even a need for Nato after the U.S.S.R. dissolved.

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Why can this missile defence system not be deployed in somewhere like German?

For what reason?

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Do you believe it is defensive or offensive in nature?

My understanding is that its nature can be also as an offensive weapon. This quote explains how:

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Perhaps the most counter-intuitive point is that a missile defence system on this scale can be both seen as part and parcel of a first-strike capability, and something that actually increases the likelihood of that first-strike. By providing a defensive umbrella, the implications for the holder of the defensive system of the enemy's guaranteed retaliation are so much lessened that it can drastically lower the bar when it comes to making the ultimate decision to push the button. The more effective the defensive shield, the less the consequences to your 'side', further encouraging the entertainment of the idea of first-strike as a viable option. With a perfect missile defence system you could, of course, choose to strike your enemy with virtual impunity, at any time.

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Should we back down and redeploy elsewhere?

Back down from what? Redeploy home would be a good start.

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Are there alternatives to the missile shield?

That depends - what is the purpose of the missile shield? I would think there would be other, safer ways to piss off the Russians if that is the idea.

[Al_U_Card]

It all part of the plan.

Jack up those oil prices so that Russia (biggest oil exporter in the world) can get some cash.

Create tension so that military intervention (and weapons purchase and use) become necessary.

Arms manufacturers win!

People lose....

[jtfanclub]

No such thing as a defensive weapon.

If a laser is strong enough to penetrate an ICBM, it's strong enough to kill an unarmored person on the ground.

The Patriot is called a 'defensive' weapon, but actually it was designed to be anti-aircraft. So you launch your nuclear-armed bombers, and when the Russians launch their fighters to shoot them down, the Patriot missile systems shoot down the fighters and allow the bombers to drop nukes on Moscow. Or use it to take out civillian aircraft in order to enforce a blockade.

Even 'purely defensive' weapons system like Aegis would be devastating if used against a coastal city.

[blackshoe]

Hard to see how anyone can claim that the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System is "purely defensive", since it's based on the Aegis combat system which is most assuredly not "purely defensive".

OTOH, one could argue that a system designed to shoot down BMs that have already been shot at you is not much use offensively.

And while the argument that the more effective a system is defensively, the less incentive one might have to not act offensively, that argument against such defensive systems presupposes that given perfect (or even very good) defense, the nation with such a system will act offensively. I don't buy it. Not in all cases. Some, maybe (I would think Russia more likely to act that way than the US, for example).