Word: proof
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...supremely foolish to reject any Soviet overtures to limit Star Wars development, as at least some in the Pentagon desire. The problem is that the Administration's contention that space-based defense offers a better avenue to deterrence than mutual assured destruction ignores the scientific consensus that a fool-proof missile defense would be impossible to achieve and prohibitively expensive. Proceeding indiscriminately with Star Wars development only offers the hope of a budget-draining resumption of the arms race in outer space, because, as the history of the nuclear arms race has shown so well, any attempt to gain superiority...
...ugly episode illustrated how terrorism so easily can feed on itself: the hijackers' demand was for the release of 17 fellow terrorists held in Kuwaiti jails. As proof that they were deadly serious, the men killed one American before the answer came; once their ultimatum was rejected, they killed another American. The suspicion still lingers that Iran colluded in the crime or at least did not act swiftly enough...
...President again, this time against Roberto d'Aubuisson, a cashiered army major with a brutish past and some unlovely friends. The whispered threats resumed, but Duarte persevered through a March election and May runoff to capture 54% of the vote. The U.S. proclaimed Duarte's victory proof of El Salvador's progress toward democracy, but the new President cautioned against great expectations. "Are we going to arrive at perfection?" he asked. "It is a satisfying thought, but I think not. We are human...
...should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies." Nowadays public figures are confronted with the problem of telling the truth or lying in a way that never faced Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln. Before congressional committees or television interviewers they face cameras, instant answers are demanded, and the pictorial proof of what is said goes into the files to haunt them. In the Westmoreland trial, McNamara was a reluctant witness; for 13 years previously as head of the World Bank he ducked discussing Viet Nam on the ground that he could not talk about it as an international civil servant...
...collectors and malicious pranksters; one case, for example, involved a cruel joker who falsely spread the rumor that a woman's son had hanged himself. Constitutional experts warn that its use by public figures against the press could erode First Amendment protections by circumventing the rigorous standards of proof for libel. New York Attorney Floyd Abrams believes the verdict will be reversed, but, if not, it could encourage "an end run around constitutional protections for people who want to bring libel suits but know they...