President Clinton is testing a nuclear defense that could not stop Russian missiles from striking the United States, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright disclosed Wednesday.

All it could do is protect against missile attacks from less-sophisticated arsenals, such as those in North Korea, she said.

"The missile system we are planning is not designed to defend against Russia and could not do so," Albright told the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.

"A Russian defense official recently proclaimed that his nation has the ability to overwhelm the missile-defense system we are planning. That is true - and part of our point."

Her remarks left foreign-affairs observers puzzling out these apparent contradictions in U.S. nuclear policies:

Link

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), November 11, 1999

Answers

What is going on in Washington?

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), November 11, 1999.

One scenerio I haven't seen even suggested. (No offense meant to those nice people up north. Any less then appropriate behavior would be on our gubmints heads, not theirs)

So China takes (or gains political control of or whatever) Asia. Russia takes Europe. And America? Understand that Russia for example would be in a real hurt if the U.S. or China were to attack it while it was in the middle of a war with Western Europe.

What you would be hearing then except noises from D.C. that no, we cannot get you to make yourself vulnerable and then zap you. You could always nuke us...truce O.K.? in an attempt to encourage this. Why?

You people are so quick to point out the heartless, bottom line counts only attitude of TPTB yet behave as though they share the same views of other countries as the common man-in-the-street.

The average American thinks of Canada as our "friends" up north. But could the boys in D.C. be thinking about our depleated forest, and how once oil doubles or triples in price all that oil hiding in that Canadian shale would become economically feasible.

From a military point-of-view. How many people are there? With control of the media how would the protest manage to get past the "Canada Requests Aid Of U.S." propaganda that would be broadcast through all our media. The outraged cries of 8 million canadians would translate down here to a few dozen extremist.

I know, I know. I'm just a bit paranoid. They wouldn't do that. Canada is our friend. And the idea of the three superpowers dividing up the world, one continent each. Come on. Let's be real.

But why would the U.S. be basically sending a message to our life-long enemies that says "Don't worry about us."

Godda go and try to reconnect with reality. (cute thought though, no?)

-- paranoid (to@the.end), November 11, 1999.

BB,

There is no need for you to live in fear of something that is not likely to happen. You continue to manufacture paranoid delusions about every story that mentions Russia, and I believe this is because you are lacking information on this issue. Since most of this fear- mongering is a total waste of time, I'll give you my short version, but that's it.

The United States and Russia agreed to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in hope of putting an end to senselesss proliferation of weapons, since there was already enough to destroy the planet 10 times over.

Recently, rogue nations have been developing and testing nukes (ie; Pakistan, India, North Korea, etc.) The United States believes that there is a possible risk that one of these countries might be able to get within range of hitting the U.S., and since they are less politically stable, they could possibly try something very stupid.

So we decide to develop an anti-ballistic missile system that is capable of counteracting these possible attacks, but not able to deter an attack from Russia. Why not Russia? Simple, because if we did, we would be violating the ABM treaty, and Russia would perceive this as a threat TO THEM.

Think about it... if we develop a system capable of stopping a Russian attack, what will THEY think? They will think that WE PLAN TO ATTACK THEM! Since this would violate the treaty, they would feel free to begin rapid arms proliferation as a deterrent, and we will end up right back where we were 30 years ago.

Secretary Albright is attempting to get the Russians to understand that we are NOT trying to violate the treaty, and that this new defense system is NOT intended to defend us from Russia. Of course, this is a very sensitive issue, and right now the Russians are feeling a bit insecure about this new development, hence some of the recent increasing of Russia's stockpiles.

Bottom line: Russia has been a nuclear power for a long time, and have demonstrated that they are mature enough to know how to hold their load. They DO NOT intend to attack the U.S. unless provoked. Still, this administration is rightfully concerned about rogue nations, so they are attempting to reach a satisfactory defense, without making Russia think that we've got something up our sleeve.

Get it? Got it? Good!!

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), November 11, 1999.

Remember, Hawk, your opinions of me or anything for that matter carry no weight for me. You don't know how to respect a fellow human being so what do I care what you think?

I laugh at your posts on Russia because you're ignorant. That means you don't have knowledge or wisdom concerning the issues.

Let me ask you this... Why is it ok for Russia to have an ABM system of ten to twelve thousand missiles and not us? Please don't answer this. I'm not interested. How did they get that systme in place without breaking the treaty? They have broken every treaty they have ever signed. Wake up. If you interested in the truth read Lee's book on the ABM treaty. See Nyquist's article today...maybe something will get through your thick skull and you might learn something.

By the way, Nyquist is writing an article for Monday that will knock your socks off.

Your fellow American "It's not paranoia when your fears are based facts."

"If you don't face the facts, they'll stab you in the back." -Churchhill

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), November 11, 1999.

BB,

I give up. You are hopeless, and hopelessly clueless.

I have a request though. Instead of posting every few days saying that Russia is going to attack within 2 months, can you just tell us what the exact day is, or at least the week? Thanks.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), November 11, 1999.

This is the "kinder gentler" mentality which leads to smaller countries accelerating thier research programs. If they can get technology fast enough, they become one of the big players. ( Hey, we can now destroy most of the east coast, you have to talk to us about more aid for our poor and homeless ). If we were to simply take the utmost advantage of our technological superiority, make is too expensive, or make it take so long that acceleration becomes a useless tactic, these countries would give up trying. This is why the Soviet Union eventually caved. By the way, Albright is full of oakem. Any system we build would be useful for any ballistic missle attack from any enemy.

-- Bart (Stopem@right.now), November 11, 1999.

"Any system we build would be useful for any ballistic missle attack from any enemy."

Of course it would, but we don't want the Russians to know that. Albright is just playing politics, trying to persuade Russia that we are still vulnerable to them, assuring them that we would never attack them for fear of retaliation. But the Russians aren't dumb, they already know that is a load of crap, and that's why they're pissed that we are defying the ABM treaty. We have ALREADY violated the agreement when we tested that kill vehicle missile from Vandenburg last month. It exceeded the speed and range limits specified in the ABM/TMD Demarcation which places it into the category of an ABM. Russia and China had ships trolling off the coast of Shanghai that weekend to do a bit of observing, confirming their suspicions. Russia has a lot more reason to be afraid of us than we do of them.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), November 11, 1999.

You must be an arthritic and half-blind old hawk who can no longer soar and see clearly the big picture below.

There are many reasons to be concerned that Russia will attack America. The reasons given for not believing this are so similar to the Y2K DWGI's mentality that it would be funny if it were not so potentially tragic. .... "We're big macho tough smart America. No one can kick our butt...Now why would the nice Russians want to do something like that?...the government won't let that happen...

Translation: "I can't possibly deal with that potential reality; therefore, it is not possible and does not exist for me."

Believe what you will about this...we have a very old friend who is a high ranking officer on a west coast Naval base. Recently he shared that most of our fighter jets were unuseable because they do not even have the parts to maintain them. He said that there were barely enough jets available to use for training purposes. He also shared that he had personally observed Chinese officers on one of our ships. They were allowed to take photographs and notes freely.

Our military has been neutered. Ditto for our nuclear arsenal. Our security and technology has been treasonously compromised.

Russia has been ruthlessly building her military strength. Russia has invested in underground living and working areas. There are many other warning signs. High ranking defectors have warned of the intention to attack America. You may doubt it will happen, but you are quite naive and/or foolish to deny the possibility.

Instead of mocking BB, why don't you open your eyes?

-- Cerealkiller (funny@town.com), November 12, 1999.

Hawk, Learn your facts. There is no missile we are testing today that could match the speed of Russian ICBM's or their new mobile missiles. That is why Albright said what she did. Stop lying and confusing the forum

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), November 12, 1999.

BB's got it right. The fact that the Russians have a working ABM system consisting of ten to twelve thousand nuclear tipped interceptors while we have nothing makes us easy meat for the Russians if they should choose to launch. Our total deterrrence against attack now consist of the three or four Trident subs we keep on station at any given time. This is not nearly the deterrent it used to be because Clinton has removed the launch codes from them and they must be transmitted to the subs along with presidential authorization before they can fire. This coupled with the policy of no retaliatory strike until confirmation of hits on American soil guarantees the Russians a 30 minute window to launch their entire inventory of ICBM's. Upwards of 90 percent of our nuclear weapons would be destroyed on the ground and the two antenna arrays we have capable of communicating with submerged subs would be destroyed as well.

Like it or not the fact is we are sitting ducks under current administration policy. Will the Russians choose to take advantage of this window of opportunity? That's the trillion dollar question.

-- Nikoli Krushev (doomsday@y2000.com), November 12, 1999.

Hey Cerealkiller (cute name), BB and Nabi say that Russia and China are going to attack the United States in December, just in time for Christmas! The funny thing is that I've been hearing this same story ever since nuclear warheads were invented! So what have you found out from all your secret underground connections? Is it going to be before Christmas, or maybe New Year's Eve? Or is it going to be the first or second week of December? Come on.. I really NEED to know so that I can go hide in a cave. Are you sure it will be the month of December, or maybe not until January now? Are you sure it will be THIS year or maybe NEXT year?? Oh, yeah, I can hear it already... "well, uh, Russia is a little behind schedule, so it miiiiight not happen til next spring." Oh, I see, well why don't you guys just continue to keep us posted on what your defector friends are selling you and let us know the latest. As soon as Russia decides which date they will choose to commit suicide, (and also destroy the entire world in the process), just let us know. Then I will get down on my knees and pray for God to come and rescue us, just like the Bible says He will! lol!! :-)

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), November 12, 1999.

Hawk...if you are as careless in reading and studying current events and history as you were in reading my post, it would explain your confused attitudes.

I have written to a Moderator who knows who I am. I will protect the identity of my friend, but the Moderator can verify (if he so wishes) that I have sent them more details than I posted here. I don't personally know anyone in the 'underground'. I know a high ranking officer. I didn't predict a time or a day we would be attacked. I merely stated that America is vulnerable, and Russia seems to be aggressively preparing to take advantage of that. Get off your mocking behind and do your homework. December would be a strategic month. Thinking something 'could' happen is not the same thing as saying it 'will' happen.

"Get it? Got it? Good!"

-- Cerealkiller (funny@town.com), November 12, 1999.