A WEAPON THAT CAN STRIKE ANYWHERE ON EARTH WITHIN 30 MINUTES

[Jeffersons Ghost]

The Next Generation Of Star Wars

Call it a reusable space vehicle. Call it a space plane. But whatever you do, just don’t call it a space weapon or call it an echo from the distant past.

That’s the message from the Air Force after last week’s launch of its X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, which can stay on orbit up to 270 days. The Air Force won’t say what, exactly, the robotic space plane will be doing there, how long it will linger this time, or even how much it costs. But the military is already in the process of building a second aircraft, which will fly next year.

Officially the Air Force has described the X-37B, which is lofted into orbit by a rocket and then can land like an aircraft on a runway, as a test vehicle. As for the secrecy surrounding it, Gary Payton, the deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space programs, says simply that the aircraft’s experimental payloads are classified “like in many of our space launches.”

The launch of the X-37B comes at a busy time for the Pentagon’s extraterrestrial ambitions, and the space plane’s debut nearly overshadowed another military program that was tested that same day: a hypersonic test vehicle built by Lockheed Martin, which was launched on a Minotaur IV rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. That test could lead to a weapon that can strike anywhere on Earth within 30 minutes — an ideal option for taking out a terrorist leader like Osama bin Laden.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/weapon_that_can_strike_anywhere_Auv6ww5sNb4q0mCtLtIO4H#ixzz0mFIh2ZAu

Cold War: A Brief History
Reagan's Star Wars

On March 23, 1983, President Reagan proposed the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), an ambitious project that would construct a space-based anti-missile system. This program was immediately dubbed "Star Wars."


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/weapon_that_can_strike_anywhere_Auv6ww5sNb4q0mCtLtIO4H#ixzz0mFI2O0Fy

[Dogmudgeon]

1. We HAD OBL at Tora Bora. Bush and Rumsfeld dithered, and he got away.

Space planes can't beat good old HumInt (Human Intelligence), something that has been in short supply.

--d!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. ...

I appreciate the combining of intelligence disciplines. Here's a point of interest SIGINT is a category of intelligence that includes transmissions associated with communications, radars, and weapons systems used by our adversaries. It complements other forms of intelligence that are the responsibility of other U.S. agencies in the Intelligence Community. For example, Human Intelligence (HUMINT) is primarily the responsibility of the Central Intelligence Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency, and Imagery Intelligence (IMINT) belongs to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Together, all of these different - yet complementary - disciplines give our Nation's leaders a greater understanding of the intentions of our enemies.

http://www.nsa.gov/sigint/index.shtml

[alfredo]

4. SIGNIT was the ASA (Army Security Agency). I worked

for them from 65 to 69. Drank a lot of scotch and ouzo in those years.

O5h20

[AndyA]

8. The phrase "Human Intelligence" and the name "Bush" should never appear on the same page.

They couldn't be further opposites of each other. If Bush lost 1% of his remaining brain capacity, he'd die.

[greencharlie]

2. hmmm...

and costs like 100000X as much as a conventional UAV like a Predator drone... cool! How much did that cost?

[MadHound]

5. Money for weapons in space,

But none for humans here on earth. Talk about some fucked up priorities.

[quickesst]

6. Unfortunately....

...if we take the money for defense, and spend it on humanitarian efforts here on earth, we would find ourselves in the position of being a happy, well-fed utopia subject to the whims of those countries who chose to expend their resources and money on what most humanitarians would deem destructive projects. That in itself dictates the necessity of military defenses that would deter these entities. Hopefully, and with much effort, the need will decrease to the point where it is no longer needed. I would hate to be an ant living in an anthill where everything is exactly as it should be, aware, or unaware that some two-hundred pound human being is poised with either his foot, or a gallon of gasoline on the verge of wiping out my utopian existence. Ant's, on the precipice of destruction are probably not aware of the danger. That may be the biggest thing they have going for them over human beings. The dread of the threat. Military defense. A necessary evil. Thanks.
quickesst

[RC]

9. "Military defense. A necessary evil." No it is not.

Those other countries are being intimidated and even threatened by us, U.S.
Their reactions are what we use for our actions. And round and round we go.

[quickesst]

11. Your argument doesn't fly....

...because it's just wrong. If a cop gets behind me, I wish they weren't, and when they turn away down a side-street, or pass on by me, I let out a sigh of relief because I wasn't doing anything "wrong", but if I'm being robbed, I'm glad there is one around. It's a "necessary evil" in that it is a shame we have to have them in society. I would prefer that they were not a part of our society, and that I could walk down the street without fear of being assaulted by a fellow human being. To believe that if the US had never interfered, or done anything immoral toward another nation, and we used all our resources for purely humanitarian reasons, that we would not at some point be a target for destruction or domination by other nations who do is naive at best. The demonization of our nation by Amerians has come to the point where so many forget that if not for this nation, and it's leaders, would we be negotiating with a continent ruled by the likes of Hitler? There are as many, if not more countries who, given past history, are more grateful to this nation than those who are not. Like south-bashing, where the broad blanket is the primary weapon, condemnation of the entire nation is just wrong, and whether I agree with governmental decisions or not, I'm not prepared to risk the lives and futures of my children and grandchildren on it. I don't like it one goddamn bit that we have nukes capable of destroying countries, or the entire planet, but without them, it is my opinion that I wouldn't like the country I'd be living in, and I probably wouldn't be thrilled with the leaders who would be governing my life either. At least every so often, as with the election of Obama, I get a little hope that things may start to change for the better. Thanks.
quickesst

[MadHound]

13. The thing is, we're spending needless money on our military

We spend more money on our military than the next twenty eight countries combined. I think that there is some room there for cutting back on spending yet still retaining a sufficient fighting force to meet our needs.

Furthermore, if we stopped engaging in wars of empire and oil, we wouldn't need to spend so much money on the military. What possible reason was there to waste money on Iraq? Why are we wasting money on an unwinnable war in Afghanistan? Then there is the simple fact that if we stopped going around the world beating up other countries and killing innocents for no good reason we could engender some good will, also leading to less need for military might. In fact if we had given just a few million dollars for rebuilding to the mujahideen in Afghanistan after they fought our proxy war in Afghanistan, bin Laden wouldn't have gone on the warpath and 911 wouldn't have happened. Instead we left them high and dry, refusing to give them even a million bucks to reopen schools in the country.

I fully recognize the need for a military force in this world, I'm not, as you assume, some utopian. But I also recognize that we spend far more than we need on military expenditures. Currently military spending is over half our budget every year. Really now, does that sound right, or even sane to you?

Bring the troops home, cut military spending in half, and use that money to help our fellow human beings both here at home and abroad. Otherwise we're simply going to end our empire Soviet style, spending so much money on the military that we become bankrupt and collapse. That's when things will get really ugly. Is that what you want?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. GOOD THING THEY HAVEN'T DISCOVERED THE LATEST IN ALL CAPS TECHNOLOGY

THEN WE WOULD ALL BE DOOMED.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

10. yep, some things never change... I'm posting a Code Pink anti-war rally later...

Tradition is important to me.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. What if it takes longer than 30 minutes?