THE GIST. But from ***(*).
Despite the SPIN that tries to portray this debate as a rerun of the eighties, for the sake of a few slushfund shakedowns more, with rake-offs from "cost plus percentage" deals from dodgy corporations with attending dodgier "insecurity" industries - THIS IS A VERY DIFFERENT SITUATION.
People playing infowar games for this "campaign" should sort a few facts out - it affects YOU, TOO, it also affects you IN THE NEAR FUTURE - even if your promise of "payment" includes a place in the mythical Doctors escape pod.
ITS THE DECISION THAT DOES THE DAMAGE.
The "signpost" effect - trendsetting.
Prior to a pound getting spent.
All over the world, others in far less safe regions are choosing "defence" strategies.
Treaties WERE working - but the decision to create the POSTCOLDWAR fashion for - a spade is a spade -TERROR WEAPONS is about as stupid as you could possibly get.
THAT WAS TWO "SIDES", THIS IS LOTS.
East versus west was never "detente" - it was a very accelerating arms race we were VERY lucky to get out of. To say "but its the same deck of cards" ie trying to call it a "trident" renewal - is a calculated dishonesty - but also very, very stupid when the game is so VERY different. Is chess chess with this amount of "players"? The "failsafes" - phones from whitehouse to kremlin etc - amongst other things - took 50 YEARS to work out, but came nearer to utter failure than people are EVER GOING TO HEAR ABOUT - OFTEN.
But the "house of cards" world is full of trembler-trigger "cascade" effects that PEOPLE THAT ARE WORKING IN THE LABORATORY NEXT DOOR aint told about.
The "deterrent" against a nation using a nuclear weapon IS - OF COURSE - ALL THE OTHER NATIONS GETTING TOGETHER TO SORT THEM OUT.
Easy. Nukes aint necessary.
The "tech" side of treaties has had a lot of progress - detectors, seismology, LOTS.
The NPT has meant the dam isnt broken - exceptions proof of the rule - but if the existing NWS (nuclear weapon states) welsh on its straightforward deal, ( "we dont get nukes if you get rid of yours as soon as possible" ) then that dam breaks.
The NPT conferences every 5 years have seen SERIOUS strains recently .
But a nuclear weapon world treaty process is far from the myth it once was. Its practical - the world "push" exists for it (South Africa chose against it, Libya too - but without SERIOUS integrity from the "old" nuclear weapon states, with simultaneous strengthening of the deliberate democratic multilateral "institutions" - the rackets might screw the world up as the rackets almost screwed up the peace process in Ulster/Derry.
We mightnt even discover ways to forgive OURSELVES if we choose to put a bloody great flag over "whoops apocalypses" of the worst sorts anybody might imagine, due to a few kickbacks from dodgy USA/UK Engineer corporations ( - sdi = big, sad warbux too, ( worse), but "needs" this idiotic nukes-for-every-little-nation theory as its excuse ).
What a way to go.
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in time. . . .
14.03.2007 19:48
ps - i agree :"tridents replacement" is inaccurate language for what we should all - in actual fact - call THE NEW, POST COLDWAR UNIQUE, IDIOTIC,UNILATERAL BRITISH ESCALATION OF THE WORLDS TERROR WEAPON ADDICTION - or "signpost to terror" - or even "the error weapon" - but we have to get people - journalists most - very fast - to see this is VERY different from the last centuries debate about defence, foreign policy etc.
In fact, if somebody refers to this in "labour factions" language - despite the statements of lots of tories that are speaking out due to the fact that they occupied positions that meant they had to THINK about it, then said journo should have to spend a fortnight in one of those "fallout bunkers" we had advertised to us in the eighties - to have time to collect SERIOUS thoughts about it.
(the 6pm news (r4) yesterday said that the people that opposed this vote were either opposing it due to its cost, or out of principle. Sense is sense, so unless you include a sort of sentimental attachment to sentience as a "principle" a lot of people in the paper trade, broadcast news etc DO need to have a rethink. If somebody has the time could they forward the above to defence, foreign policy, diplomatic plus domestic journalists. . . . perhaps with a polite recommendation)
cheers
a stitch? saves. . . . lots?