Hey kids, the Nuclear Arms Race is back on!

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ibd com>
Date: November 17, 2004 10:12:22 AM EST
To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>, Dave Farber 
<dave () farber net>
Subject: Hey kids, the Nuclear Arms Race is back on!

As you may remember from April of 2003, our Pres restarted it:

Administration moves ahead on nuclear `bunker busters'
By Dan Stober Mercury News Posted on Tue, Apr. 22, 2003
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/5695249.htm

Demonstrating a significant shift in America's nuclear strategy,
the Bush administration intends to produce -- not just research
-- a thermonuclear bunker-busting bomb to destroy hardened,
deeply buried targets, the Pentagon has acknowledged for the
first time.

Well, now Putin has joined and we've got an Arms race again!:

Russia developing new nuclear missile
http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2004/11/17/missile/index.html

Nov. 17, 2004  |  MOSCOW (AP) -- President Vladimir Putin said
Wednesday that Russia is developing a new form of nuclear
missile unlike those held by other countries, news agencies
reported.


Speaking at a meeting of the Armed Forces' leadership, Putin
reportedly said that Russia is researching and successfully
testing new nuclear missile systems.

"I am sure that ... they will be put in service within the next
few years and, what is more, they will be developments of the
kind that other nuclear powers do not and will not have," Putin
was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Putin reportedly said: "International terrorism is one of the
major threats for Russia. We understand as soon as we ignore
such components of our defense as a nuclear and missile shield,
other threats may occur."

No details were immediately available, but Defense Minister
Sergei Ivanov said earlier this month that Russia expected to
test-fire a mobile version of its Topol-M ballistic missile this
year and that production of the new weapon could be commissioned
in 2005.

News reports have also said Russia is believed to be developing
a next-generation heavy nuclear missile that could carry up to
10 nuclear warheads weighing a total of 4.4 tons, compared with
the Topol-M's 1.32-ton combat payload.

Topol-Ms have been deployed in silos since 1998. The missiles
have a range of about 6,000 miles and reportedly can maneuver in
ways that are difficult to detect.

Earlier this year, a senior Defense Ministry official was quoted
as telling news agencies that Russia had developed a weapon that
could make the United States' proposed missile-defense system
useless. Details were not given, but military analysts said the
claimed new weapon could be a hypersonic cruise missile or
maneuverable ballistic missile warheads.

------

Don't you just feel more secure?

--
Robert J. Berger - Internet Bandwidth Development, LLC.
Voice: 408-882-4755 eFax: +1-408-490-2868
http://www.ibd.com


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