From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 13:50:55 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Net and Terrorism.
Message-ID: <ae0077da07021004d4c7@[205.199.118.202]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 12:14 AM 7/4/96, snow wrote:

>     Military troops can best be protected by 3 seperate methods:

>     2) When they _are_ exposed, let them fight the fuck back. Rules of
>        engagment are simple. When fired on, shoot to kill. If the shot
>        comes from a building, take out the building. If from a crowd,
                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Colonel, the mission was accomplished. Apparently the sniper was firing
from the 34th floor, so we simply took out the building. There was minor
collateral damage, of course."

Such overreaction to terrorist events is often precisely what a terrorist
wants, as I've explained a couple of times.


>> You are essentially making my point, that the biggest danger of the current
>> responses to terrorism is that nations will turn to national terrorism and
>> police state tactics.
>
>        I missed that in your original post.

Well, go back and look for it. The clear point of my post was that the U.S.
should not adopt police state measures so as to reduce terrorism.


>> >A third option is quite simply to buy as much of it as possible.
>> No, wouldn't work. As with the "War on (Some) Drugs," all this does is
>> raise the price a bit, actually making it a more tempting market for many
>> to get into.
>
>        If the US were to offer Russia $3 billion (or whatever)
>in a one time take it or leave it for their entire chemical weapon stock,
>it might get the soviet shit off the market. The nuclear stuff is a little
>easier to store (I think) and it would be a harder sell.

As with "buying out" the coca crop in Peru, the poppy crop in Turkey, the
marijuana crop in the dozens of countries, etc., their motto is, obviously
enough, "we'll make more."

Again, the Sarin attack in Tokyo had nothing to do with former U.S.S.R. CBW
weapons. Chemical and biological agents are cheap to make, especially in
the quanties needed to kill only a few thousand people, and in the
non-battlefield delivery environment.

>        I agree tho' that it isn't possible to buy out the market.

Then why do you float ideas such as buying out the Soviet arsenal if you
think it isn't possible?

--Tim May

Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Licensed Ontologist         | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."