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Pastimes : THE SLIGHTLY MODERATED BOXING RING -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (3040)	3/15/2002 9:44:20 PM
From: thames_sider	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

Have the British ever deliberately made themselves vulnerable to appease the rest of the world? Has any major power throughout history done this ... Well, the British (and one other major power, not sure which) voluntarily gave up substantial chemical and bio weapons stocks. I think the US claimed that it had but refused to allow verification, while the USSR stayed silent... Plus, of course, there's the volunatary departure from empire. Well, half of it anyway. Its unlikely that the US will use nukes unless someone uses weapons of mass destruction against us. That's the point. The US HAD pledged not to use nukes against non-nuke states (unless they were allied to and fighting alongside a nuclear power) - this promise is now being withdrawn. IOW, the US stance is now - on paper - that it will use nuclear weapons as it chooses... I understand your point on the military $ going to replacements for munitions... apparently Boeing have one plant working flat-out for the next six months converting bombs with guidance kits... not cheap :-( (and arguably not the most constructive way of spending tax funds ever devised...) I can see that the countries in the ME might see it as hypocrisy, but its not really a logical train of thought. I don't see any of them being overly concerned about their neighbors welfare. Very true, they're poor role models. But it doesn't stop them making propaganda from any Western country displaying less than perfect morals... and ultimately, we can't justify our own poor behaviour by pointing out how appalling these ME plutocracies are, that's not the point. We rank ourselves higher, we claim superior civilisation, we need to show it and act on it - always. And if our enemies cheat, that's the burden we have. Game theory says that the honest will ultimately prevail over te cheaters <g>