tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8755035051021414780.post8984978012195821456..comments2023-11-17T03:55:40.736-05:00Comments on Ink Spots: Missile defense: SECDEF told us this was coming five months ago!Lilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373158801523577733noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8755035051021414780.post-43357312666105162062009-09-18T10:41:02.886-04:002009-09-18T10:41:02.886-04:00Kudos for Gates and his artful way of hiding thing...Kudos for Gates and his artful way of hiding things in plain sight. Never thought that those lines meant pulling out of the Poland/Czech deal.<br /><br />Re: US-Russia deals, yes, Russia agrees to cooperate on negotiating a new START deal by the end of the year (when the current START ends). That was the deal.J.http://armchairgeneralist.typepad.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8755035051021414780.post-38111447935504797352009-09-17T21:51:11.577-04:002009-09-17T21:51:11.577-04:00The rationale for the system was absurd. It was f...The rationale for the system was absurd. It was first described as a defense against missles coming out of the Middle East. However, the Shahab 3 - Iran's next generation missle that hasn't been developed fully yet - (IF North Korea gives them whatever technology that's worthwhile out of the Taepodong 2) would still have a hard time reaching most of Europe. If the defensive missiles are fully ensconced in Europe, they have almost zero intercept probability. Or they really were to deter Russia. <br /><br />In other words, they were useless against any probable threat for the next 20 or so years. So why bother in the first place? Unless the U.S. wanted something in return for eventually (and inevitably) being cancelled. So, did the U.S. get anything out of Russia for cancelling the system?Jason Fritzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18335313679058470722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8755035051021414780.post-51156327349917582382009-09-17T19:00:40.008-04:002009-09-17T19:00:40.008-04:00I don't know whether I misunderstand the last ...I don't know whether I misunderstand the last 2 sentences of Gunslinger's comment above. Anyway I'd comment with my understanding of these 2 sentences... I thought President Obama got the "something" from the Russians on his Moscow trip: access to russian airspace as an alternative route to Afghanistan!... Big loosers in this cancellation are those Eastern European countries who were expecting monetary and jobs windfalls from the deal...Alex Engwetehttp://alexengwete.afrikblog.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8755035051021414780.post-68742321454803987262009-09-17T18:32:45.246-04:002009-09-17T18:32:45.246-04:00It's been a While since I've paid attentio...It's been a While since I've paid attention to this issue. Doing rudimentary analysis on the threats this system was supposed to counter it didn't make much sense to do at all. Except get something out of cancelling the program. Did we get anything out of this??Jason Fritzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18335313679058470722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8755035051021414780.post-175937266487141932009-09-17T17:39:26.802-04:002009-09-17T17:39:26.802-04:00There it is in black and white: the Defense Depart...There it is in black and white: the Defense Department has been planning for six months to shift to a more theater-oriented BMD network, rather than a continental defense. How did so many people (including me) miss it? <br /><br />Uh, because it was buried in wonkery and not so black and white? :)Madhuhttp://onparkstreet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com