Archived: Should the U.S. build a missile defense shield?

    Reviews of this issue
    11/26/2006 10:08:12 AM

    moved under US military

    11/20/2006 3:23:41 PM

    Great.

    11/19/2006 10:33:55 PM

    fine by me

    6/21/2006 12:18:36 AM

    issue revision:

    Should the US build a missile defense shield?
    Is the defense missile shield worth spending billions of dollars to create?

    4/4/2006 11:53:03 AM

    Agree with Esperanto's suggestion: "Should the US build a missile defense shield?"

    Simple, to the point, debatable. I say we move forward with this version.

    3/1/2006 1:18:10 PM

    Hm. bias. Lots of things cost money, but we don't build that fact into every question. Cost isn't necessarily a zero-sum thing, but that's beside the point. That said, I think I'm for simply, "Should the US build a missile defense shield" or whatever we want to call it.

    1/21/2006 3:51:56 PM

    Ya, the only issue I see in this question is some bias in saying, "billions of dollars" - some people might read this phrasing as leading. I mean, it's sort of hard to explain without adding the inflection, but something like, "oh, they had to bring up that it would cost so much money." So maybe just, "Should the defense missle shield be created?" so that cost is not a factor, merely whether or not it is a good idea. Then again, cost is part of the question, because, is it worth all this money to create? So my circular logic has brought me full circle. But there's still that sense of bias when I read it...

    I guess the question now is, do you want the question to be about the money, or simply whether or not it is a good idea?

    Maybe the money HAS to be part of it, since it would detract from other government programs (and to some, be worth the sacrifice).

    Ultimately, I think including the money issue is too complex, but maybe that could be raised as a sub-question.

    So, if someone answers "yes" to "Should the defense missle shield be created?" there could be check boxes that read, "for the interest of national security", etc. If someone answers "no", a check box option could be, "it would cost too much and detract from other programs."

    1/15/2006 10:08:30 PM

    How about, "Would the potential benefits of a "Star Wars" missile defense system justify the cost of developing it?"

    1/8/2006 6:52:28 PM

    Just wanted to get this going as an issue.  I'm sure in '08 it will come up.  If we can re-phrase it the right way, there can be a great debate from both sides about it's effect on our budget deficit, whether it can ever work, whether it hurts our relations with other countries, or if it will ever get to the point where we truly need it.