Re: ABC's Depleted Uranium Smuggling Article

[maury <maury@webtexas.com>]

Hi Gerry,



I must defer to your greater knowledge of HP and related matters, but

respectfully disagree with your philosophical conclusions. This whole area

of safeguarding information remains an interminable realm of disagreement in

our free

society. My use of Debka as an example was just that -- happening to pick a

convenient current example was simply

a convenience over the vast recorded history of the absurd attempts by our

own govt. to hide embarrassing information

by invoking "national security". And I don't think either of

us will achieve and lasting solution.



I could but will not even argue avoiding discussion of

classified information on any open forum, but to avoid free discussion of

so-called sensitive, but unclassified, information has no sound basis. I do

not mean to be presumptuous, but assume that you properly have been

concerned through a

long and valuable career with so-called worst case contingencies. Outside of

the national security arena,

however, it bears a remarkable resemblance to the  Precautionary Principle

so prevalent in politics -- these notions contravene the essence of a "free"

society and the essence of scientific progress. It also presumes some

inherent superiority of western brains over middle eastern brains. Thus far,

we

have remained relatively safe from middle eastern endeavors, but I doubt

that superior brains are the main reason. I believe one of the principle

reasons is in our emphasis on individual liberty. To me this means treat

classified information as it

should be handled. Beyond that, no ....



In any case, to each his own. But I am frightened by any assumptions that

those in the Middle East who would kill us

are somehow intellectually inferior to us.



Sincerely,

Maury Siskel



=============================

Gerry Blackwood wrote:



> Brian Keele wrote:

>

> "The following link and snippet from the associated

> article are offered to any who are concerned that

> Radsafe or other such venues might reveal deadly

> secrets to terrorists. Those who read this Debka

> article will find an intriguing account of the ideas

> being used to carry out and to frustrate terrorist

> suicide bombings. Amazing ....  Yes, 'all things are

> possible' but surely some are less possible than

> others." --snipped ---

>

> I have to agree with Brian here. Debka is not a

> scientific website or list geared toward radiation

> science. While Debka is a "washed" news site, and which

> is suspect in terms of how it derives its news. While,

> talking specifics with regards to detection

> capabilities is not something that should be done in an

> open source list, especially while not many people on

> this list are screened or do the lists administrators

> known why and who most are here or who are just

> monitoring the list. All one has to do to join this

> list is send in an e-mail. I have to muse. I monitor

> several lists. One in particular which deals with

> transportation security requires the requester to

> identify themselves as to who they are and why they

> wish to join the list. Most of what this list generates

> is daily transportation security news articles. Nothing

> in comparison to Radsafe.

>

> Radsafe, does far more in radiation and nuclear

> scientific related items and discussions. Heck why not

> just tell anyone who send in a request to join how to

> defeat a detector. We are sometimes are own worse enemy.

>

> Homeland security starts at home, meaning right here.

>

> Gerry Blackwood Ph.D

>

> On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 18:39:16 -0600, Brian Keele wrote:

> > Can we please not post detection capabilities of

> portal

> > monitors to the internet.  Terrorists or adversaries

> > ....

> >  --snipped ---

> >

> >

> > The following link and snippet from the associated

> > article

> > are offered to any who are concerned that Radsafe or

> > other such venues might reveal deadly secrets to

> > terrorists.

> > Those who read this Debka article will find an

> > intriguing

> > account of the ideas being used to carry out and to

> > frustrate

> > terrorist suicide bombings. Amazing ....  Yes, 'all

> > things are

> > possible' but surely some are less possible than

> others.

> >

> > There are well educated, highly dedicated people among

> > terrorist

> > groups as well as among their opponents on our

> > side.  These folks work full time to achieve their

> ends

> > and

> > the likelihood that an afternoon of thought might

> > achieve

> > some masterful stroke seems hardly worth worrying

> about.

> > As with all areas of human endeavor, ideas are a dime

> a

> > dozen; the work and tenacity to implement ideas are

> not

> > easily found -- in fact, those qualities are rare.

> >

> > If you have ideas about measures and counter-measures,

> > (I think) they should be shared widely. Just make sure

> > they

> > are shared here as well as 'there'. These are partial

> > reasons why

> > liberty works and closed societies fail.

> >

> > May all of you have a fulfilling new year,

> >

> > Maury&Dog         maury@webtexas.com

> > _________

> > It is an equal opportunity world; all have the

> > opportunity to

> > die for whatever they believe in.

> >

> > ========================

> > http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=752

> >

> >

> > "Assassinations Integral to al Qaeda’s Terror Agenda

> >

> > DEBKAfile Updates DEBKA-Net-Weekly 139

> >

> > December 28, 2003, 7:47 PM (GMT+02:00)

> >

> >   Twice lucky

> >

> > Al Qaeda’s determined assassination attempts on

> > Pakistani president

> > Pervez Musharraf on December 14 and again on

> > the 25th bring to mind an ominous sequence that

> preceded

> > the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on New

> York

> > and Washington. Two days earlier, on September 9, al

> > Qaeda assassins murdered Ahmad Shah Massoud,

> > semi-legendary leader of the Northern Alliance in

> > Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden and his chief lieutenant,

> > Dr Ayman

> > Zawahiri, sent a group of suicide bombers to pose

> > as journalists and kill Massoud while pretending to

> > interview

> > him. A bomb hidden in either a belt or a television

> > camera detonated

> > and killed the opposition leader, famous for his

> > role in the campaign to drive the Red Army out of the

> > country in the late 1980s and with a good chance of

> > ousting

> > the Taliban-al Qaeda regime.

> >

> > The Afghan hero’s assassination turned out to have

> been

> > a pre-emptive

> > tactic of al Qaeda’s for wiping out America’s

> > chief ally in Afghanistan and so undercutting the Bush

> > administration’s retaliatory resources in advance of

> its

> > horrendous airborne suicide strikes in the United

> > States.

> >

> > In December 2003, Osama bin Laden looked as though he

> > was repeating his pre-9/11 ploy against President

> > Musharraf – except that this time, he did not pull it

> > off.

> > Western nations under threat fortified themselves with

> > preventive measures to fend off a major terror strike

> in

> > the holiday season, while at the same time forearming

> > the

> > Pakistani president with the latest protective

> gadgetry.

> > This episode has important applications also for

> > Israel’s

> > defenses against terror.

> >

> > Sunday, December 28, Pakistani information minister,

> > Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, identified two of the suicide

> > bombers who failed to murder Musharraf as belonging to

> > Kashmiri and

> > Afghan militant groups – the little known

> > Kashmiri Al Jehad and Pakistan’s North Western

> Frontier

> > Province which

> > borders on Afghanistan.

> >

> >        ----- snipped  ----      ... "

> >

> >

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--

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the

freedom to demonstrate.                       Charles M. Province





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