Russia is mad about the US’ missile deal with Poland, signed today. For good reason, and one that fires up my déjà vu gland, as history has a nearly parallel example of this setup. The US has signed a deal with Poland to base 10 interceptor missiles in their country. The missiles are designed to shoot down nuclear-armed ICBMs, essentially bringing Reagan’s Star Wars dreams to life, except based on land. When completed, missiles and radar sites around the world will create a defensive missile shield for the United States, with the intent of shooting down a nuclear attack. The missile system is slated to come online in 2012. Russia has said Poland has left itself fair game for an attack with this deal.
The United States has claimed that these missiles are purely defensive, and are intended to guard the US from a nuclear attack from terrorists or a rogue nation. This is a transparent, bald faced lie. At best, it is yet another example of the Military Industrial complex sucking money from US citizens. At worst, it is a move towards more global control and empire building. Rogue nations don’t have ICBM arsenals, they have IRBMs and smaller scud-type systems. To build an ICBM that works at all requires a great level of technical sophistication, ICBM research was the basis for starting the space program, and any missile advanced enough to accurately target someone on the other side of the world could easily launch satellites and people into space. The US has already proven that they’re more than willing to blast a nation back into the Stone Age if they perceive them to even be remotely a threat, or have weapons capable of harming their interests.
Terrorists simply wouldn’t bother attacking that way. It would be far easier to exploit a hole in the current US security setup to get a WMD in. Of course, such an action would require acquiring a WMD in the first place, and despite what they show in James Bond films, one doesn’t simply hijack a jet bomber and crash it, then steal the weapons. Austin Powers demonstrated how ridiculous that motif is.
Lastly, most of the planned missile sites are pointed at Russia…erm, sorry, the official line is the Middle East. They must be talking about the upper Middle East though, because last I checked, Poland was a little far from Iran, but very close to Russia.
There are two historical precedents for this type of behaviour, one very well known by our parents’ and grandparents’ generation, and one that was brushed over in the media.
In 1962, the Soviet Union deployed nuclear armed IRBMs in Cuba, a mere 90 miles of the US coastline. This brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, tensions escalated, the US Navy blockaded the country, and Russian forces shot down a U2 spy plane. People thought we were about done as a society, and if it hadn’t have been for some common sense on the part of Kennedy and Khrushchev, realizing that both sides would be obliterated, we almost were. Uncle Sam promised never to invade Cuba, and the bears graciously removed the missile sites. Kennedy also secretly assured the USSR that they would remove their Jupiter missiles sites from Turkey, a quid pro quo deal. Arguably all nuclear missiles are defensive in nature, as the use of one in actual combat heralds the apocalypse with in hours. The United States didn’t take too kindly to the threat.
In the 1980s, a more complex situation existed. The US was preparing a new model of missile, the Pershing II, for deployment in West Germany to counter Soviet SS-20 missiles. These weapons would be close enough to Russia to strike their targets in 4 to 6 minutes, or barely any time at all. Reagan was also trumpeting his 600 ship Navy plan, which involved modernizing and re-commissioning all 4 Iowa class battleships, and building the US Navy to levels that would overwhelm the Soviet counterpart. Finally, Reagan’s greatest military boondoggle, the Strategic Defense Initiative, known as Star Wars, was in full R & D. SDI was the direct ancestor of today’s Missile Defense Shield. The idea was to shield the US from nuclear attack with a network of ground to air missiles, lasers, and space based systems. Sound familiar? The Soviets were scared of these things combined, and for good reason. One of the most obvious reasons for there still not have been a nuclear war since the 1950s is that both sides would be mutually annihilated in the battle. Mutually Assured Destruction, known for the past 30 or 40 years as MAD, was the common stance policy in the 1980s when Reagan kicked off his military buildup. If one side could successfully defend themselves from nuclear attack, much like a kid hopped up on too much caffeine could in the 1980s at the arcade playing Missile Defense, then nuclear war came one step closer to a reality, because in theory, you could “win”.
That is why the Russian supposedly panicked in November of 1983, when the Able Archer exercise simulated the lead up to nuclear war, involving western political leaders and the military. They thought it could be real, or a ruse that would lead to a sneak strike – with the latest American bluster, it was believed the Americans thought they could win a limited nuclear war.
The missile signing deal today brings us one step closer to the brink. What if the Russians decide to strike before 2012, in order not to lose their nuclear advantage? No one will be left to complain that it wasn’t the right choice. With the ongoing conflict in Georgia, in which Russia announced that they are withdrawing, but tanks have been seen still rolling deeper into the country, and Bush’s continuing war in Iraq, it almost seems like the intro to Fallout was bang on the money – World War III will be fought over oil and uranium, as we squabble over who gets the last bit. Funny to think that more that roughly 18 years after the end of the Cold War, tensions between East and West are beginning to build again, although this time we aren’t in a conflict of ideologies, we’re in a race to see who can build the biggest, baddest sphere of influence with the most resources. Détente indeed.
The United States has claimed that these missiles are purely defensive, and are intended to guard the US from a nuclear attack from terrorists or a rogue nation. This is a transparent, bald faced lie. At best, it is yet another example of the Military Industrial complex sucking money from US citizens. At worst, it is a move towards more global control and empire building. Rogue nations don’t have ICBM arsenals, they have IRBMs and smaller scud-type systems. To build an ICBM that works at all requires a great level of technical sophistication, ICBM research was the basis for starting the space program, and any missile advanced enough to accurately target someone on the other side of the world could easily launch satellites and people into space. The US has already proven that they’re more than willing to blast a nation back into the Stone Age if they perceive them to even be remotely a threat, or have weapons capable of harming their interests.
Terrorists simply wouldn’t bother attacking that way. It would be far easier to exploit a hole in the current US security setup to get a WMD in. Of course, such an action would require acquiring a WMD in the first place, and despite what they show in James Bond films, one doesn’t simply hijack a jet bomber and crash it, then steal the weapons. Austin Powers demonstrated how ridiculous that motif is.
Lastly, most of the planned missile sites are pointed at Russia…erm, sorry, the official line is the Middle East. They must be talking about the upper Middle East though, because last I checked, Poland was a little far from Iran, but very close to Russia.
There are two historical precedents for this type of behaviour, one very well known by our parents’ and grandparents’ generation, and one that was brushed over in the media.
In 1962, the Soviet Union deployed nuclear armed IRBMs in Cuba, a mere 90 miles of the US coastline. This brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, tensions escalated, the US Navy blockaded the country, and Russian forces shot down a U2 spy plane. People thought we were about done as a society, and if it hadn’t have been for some common sense on the part of Kennedy and Khrushchev, realizing that both sides would be obliterated, we almost were. Uncle Sam promised never to invade Cuba, and the bears graciously removed the missile sites. Kennedy also secretly assured the USSR that they would remove their Jupiter missiles sites from Turkey, a quid pro quo deal. Arguably all nuclear missiles are defensive in nature, as the use of one in actual combat heralds the apocalypse with in hours. The United States didn’t take too kindly to the threat.
In the 1980s, a more complex situation existed. The US was preparing a new model of missile, the Pershing II, for deployment in West Germany to counter Soviet SS-20 missiles. These weapons would be close enough to Russia to strike their targets in 4 to 6 minutes, or barely any time at all. Reagan was also trumpeting his 600 ship Navy plan, which involved modernizing and re-commissioning all 4 Iowa class battleships, and building the US Navy to levels that would overwhelm the Soviet counterpart. Finally, Reagan’s greatest military boondoggle, the Strategic Defense Initiative, known as Star Wars, was in full R & D. SDI was the direct ancestor of today’s Missile Defense Shield. The idea was to shield the US from nuclear attack with a network of ground to air missiles, lasers, and space based systems. Sound familiar? The Soviets were scared of these things combined, and for good reason. One of the most obvious reasons for there still not have been a nuclear war since the 1950s is that both sides would be mutually annihilated in the battle. Mutually Assured Destruction, known for the past 30 or 40 years as MAD, was the common stance policy in the 1980s when Reagan kicked off his military buildup. If one side could successfully defend themselves from nuclear attack, much like a kid hopped up on too much caffeine could in the 1980s at the arcade playing Missile Defense, then nuclear war came one step closer to a reality, because in theory, you could “win”.
That is why the Russian supposedly panicked in November of 1983, when the Able Archer exercise simulated the lead up to nuclear war, involving western political leaders and the military. They thought it could be real, or a ruse that would lead to a sneak strike – with the latest American bluster, it was believed the Americans thought they could win a limited nuclear war.
The missile signing deal today brings us one step closer to the brink. What if the Russians decide to strike before 2012, in order not to lose their nuclear advantage? No one will be left to complain that it wasn’t the right choice. With the ongoing conflict in Georgia, in which Russia announced that they are withdrawing, but tanks have been seen still rolling deeper into the country, and Bush’s continuing war in Iraq, it almost seems like the intro to Fallout was bang on the money – World War III will be fought over oil and uranium, as we squabble over who gets the last bit. Funny to think that more that roughly 18 years after the end of the Cold War, tensions between East and West are beginning to build again, although this time we aren’t in a conflict of ideologies, we’re in a race to see who can build the biggest, baddest sphere of influence with the most resources. Détente indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment