Today: Iraq

[kandrathe]

I agree it is as feasible as any moon base to make it an armed encampment. I think it is impractical and unneccesary to use the moon as a weapons platform targeting Earth. The threat of nuclear annihilation in less than 15 minutes is the current reality of stealthy sub launched weapons. The expense of trying to lift all that weight to the moon, the difficulty in setting it up, protecting it from being used against us, the vulnerability of the missiles in transit, and many other reasons just makes it seem extremely impractical. And, the current world political climate doesn't really call for the heavy hammer of nuclear weapons.

Don't say it will never happen.

I feel pretty comfortable saying it won't happen in our lifetimes.

I have a much more optimistic prognosis for the world than ray guns from the moon keeping the vassles in line. What the masses of the world are coming to realize as evidenced by protests at G5 summits, and other international economic forums, is that there is vast inequity currently in who controls the reigns of production. In the US, we worry about cheap labor eroding away all of our jobs (including those that require advanced degrees). In other nations, people feel that their resources are being stripped away to manufacture products which they themselves cannot afford, only to entertain the worlds elite (mostly in the US and Europe). I feel most of our current problems (terrorism, gulf wars, central africa) are either a squabble over controlling resources, or in response to this inequity.