Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site mnetor.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcsri!utcs!mnetor!fred From: fred@mnetor.UUCP Newsgroups: can.politics Subject: Re: Canadian participation in Star Wars. Message-ID: <906@mnetor.UUCP> Date: Fri, 31-May-85 09:21:21 EDT Article-I.D.: mnetor.906 Posted: Fri May 31 09:21:21 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 31-May-85 10:42:25 EDT References: <893@mnetor.UUCP> <5642@utzoo.UUCP> <896@mnetor.UUCP> <5645@utzoo.UUCP> Reply-To: fred@mnetor.UUCP (Fred Williams) Organization: Computer X (CANADA) Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada Lines: 60 Summary: In article <5645@utzoo.UUCP> henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) writes: >> >Planes and trucks we *know* how to defend against. Not necessarily easy, >> >mind you, but easier than ICBMs. >> >> WHAT?!?! If we know how to defend against these, How come so >> much dope gets smuggled into the country? ... > >The resources invested in dope smuggling are probably an order of magnitude >larger than those invested in stopping it. It's no surprise that a lot >gets through, given that imbalance. Don't mistake this for a fundamental >inability to reduce the success rate drastically. > >> >Possible, but very hard to keep completely secret. Hard to do in bulk -- >When I said "hard to keep secret", I meant who's doing it as well as the >fact that someone is. No way could this be hidden if hundreds of bombs >are involved. If for no other reason than that the number of organizations >in the world that are capable of building hundreds of nuclear bombs is >*very* small. Remember, we are talking about lots of bombs, not just one >or two. Smuggling those bombs, and arming them when an "attack order" >seems imminent -- nobody in his right mind leaves explosives of any kind, >let alone nuclear weapons, ready to explode when you don't want them >exploding! -- will require hundreds of people. No way can that many >people keep a secret that big; some of them will blab, and probably a few >of them will be planted spies. > Hundreds of bombs are not necessary. If one were going to explode hundreds of bombs, one might as well do it on their own territory. It would shortly get to the rest of the world anyway! A couple of dozen should be sufficient, or at least the most one could expend while still maintaining a situation where life might be worth living afterwards. Yes, I know there are probably more military targets than that, but lets not go totally insane, or have we already? Lots of people can keep a secret that big, though. Remember D-day? Also leaving chemical explosives around for a while may cause them to deteriorate, but nuclear devices or the kind we are discussing should store quite well. The fissionable material is chemically only metal, and hydrogen and such may need replenishing or whatever, but mostly a status check once a month would be all that is necessary. Smuggling things across the border into the U.S. is not an expensive proposition, merely illegal. With such a long border and so few people defending it,(per mile), it would be a very simple matter. The Soviet Union would be more difficult, but they aren't planning a Star Wars defence system . . . yet. Just a thought, this may already have been done. Have a nice day! Cheers, Fred Williams. >As for whether the nation would start a war over it... Shipping nuclear >weapons into a country is a nuclear attack in the making. Remember, there >is no way for the defender to know that those bombs aren't going to be >exploded at once. If other means of nuclear-weapon delivery have been >rendered impotent by defences -- and if not, why bother smuggling? -- >then there is no risk of immediate devastating retaliation for starting >a war. >-- > Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology > {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry