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From: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Dangerous Military Myth
Message-ID: <1823@dciem.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 26-Mar-86 18:33:11 EST
Article-I.D.: dciem.1823
Posted: Wed Mar 26 18:33:11 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 1-Apr-86 13:24:30 EST
References: <312@drutx.UUCP> <391@ihnet.UUCP> <2175@watdcsu.UUCP>
Reply-To: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor)
Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada
Lines: 33
Summary: 


>If only 5% of Russian missiles can get through SDI, they need to
>increase their missiles by a factor 20.  Or do they, really?
>
>Couldn't they merely double their missiles, and launch the extra
>missiles simultaneously to attack the SDI's orbitting hardware
>directly?  It's a relatively small number of targets, so 5% of those
>missiles might very well be enough to destroy, or at least cripple,
>SDI.  Then, perhaps 2 minutes later, they could launch a "traditional"
>first strike against ground-based targets...
>-- 
>David Canzi             "Offending with substance since 1985"

Why should they need to increase their numbers at all?  5% is far more
than enough to wipe the US (and us as well) off the map, and probably
far more than enough to cause mass starvation around the world by
its environmental effects and its effects on communication networks.
They could probably halve their number of missiles in response to a
95% SDI, and still have plenty.

The world would never know the difference, anyway.  Our civilization
depends so critically on continuous supplies of raw and processed
resources that even a minor disruption ( say, destroy O'Hare and
Atlanta airports and a few main railway junctions) could kill an
awful lot of people and disrupt the economy probably worse than
the Great Depression did.  You don't need 50% or even 5% dead initially
to find you no longer have the country you thought you had.  A less
developed country could probably stand a lot more damage.
-- 

Martin Taylor
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