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Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: The Nuclear Defense [sic]
Message-ID: <7448@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 29-Dec-86 18:52:36 EST
Article-I.D.: utzoo.7448
Posted: Mon Dec 29 18:52:36 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 29-Dec-86 18:52:36 EST
References: <271@van-bc.UUCP>, <739@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 21

> >... The problem is we don't want to spend
> >enormous amounts of money putting a large army into Europe. The result
> >is the use of the Nuclear defense. 
> 
>      Endanger the future of life on the planet for cost-effectiveness.
> Sounds just like the military mentality.

Actually it's the political mentality.  This decision was made by, and
continues to be backed by, elected politicians.  Not that the military
has been opposed to the idea, at least in the nuclear-weapons nations,
but they're being blamed for something that wasn't really their fault.
(Well, with a few exceptions.  The USAF Strategic Air Command is not
entirely blameless in this mess...)  The current situation is not the
result of destruction-crazed generals who were only interested in bigger
and more devastating weapons; it is much more the result of reelection-
crazed politicians who were only interested in cheaper ways to get the
same apparent effectiveness in defence, at a time when big defence budgets
were very unpopular and tended to cost votes.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,decvax,pyramid}!utzoo!henry