Word: shield
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...Star Wars speech last spring, Ronald Reagan suggested that instead of deterring nuclear attack exclusively by threatening nuclear retaliation, the U.S. should build a kind of electronic shield to "intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reach our own soil." Last week that grandiose sci-fi vision moved closer to becoming U.S. policy. Reagan and his National Security Council approved in principle a fiveyear, $21 billion plan to begin more rapidly developing an arsenal of space weapons, in particular orbiting "ray guns" that would fire intense beams of energy at enemy missiles. Said Edward Teller, the father...
...explained, for example, that even if America could develop a laser weapon to attack missiles, the Soviets could counter by developing a protective shield--illustrating what he described as "a development that could only further the arms race...
Some terrorist strategies may indeed defy countermeasures. But although murder is a constant worry in Lebanon, precautions can be taken. Mats of steel spikes block the road to the Lebanese presidential palace, while huge stones and chunks of concrete form an inelegant but effective shield around the French embassy. In a sad irony, the Marines recently helped build two rows of heavily reinforced steel guardrails around the British embassy, where U.S. diplomats are temporarily housed...
...film's most indelible images remains that of Glenn in orbit, his helmet's shield reflecting the moons light and covering what little hair Ed Harris's Glenn possesses. As he literally looks around the world, he reminds one of the infant at the end of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a child on the verge of discovery. The Right Stuff takes us along for this ride and Ed Harris almost makes us believe that charm is all the Right Stuff you need...
...root of the problem. It sticks out like a sore thumb and is obviously the reason for the President's eagerness to accomodate the authors of "build-down". Just as painfully obvious is Congress duplicity in cooking up "build-down"--it will serve as a shield when they approve the giant missile...