May 9th 2001
This was in the Times this week. Now we all know that George 'Dubya' Bush is the
king of delegation. Never has a president delegated so much to so many - whilst only
working a 4 hour day himself! But his choice of advisor in this particular example should be of
very real concern to anyone with half a brain. After all, this NMD business could
lead to Cold War II or even World War III......
|
TUESDAY MAY 08 2001 |
|
Pentagon listens to the missile music |
|
FROM DAMIAN WHITWORTH IN WASHINGTON |
|
WORRIED about President Bush’s plans for national missile defence? Sceptical of claims that the technology exists to build a shield? Never fear, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, the ponytailed former guitarist with Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, has been advising the Pentagon on the project, and he says it rocks. Baxter, who played with the bands in their 1970s heyday, has been revealed as an unlikely expert on NMD. The self-taught Baxter, 51, wrote a paper on missile defence and passed it to the Republican Congresswoman Dana Rohrabacher. "Next thing I know, I’m advising members of Congress and the Ballistic Missile Defence Organisation," he told The Washington Post. The experts say his transition from strumming on the Doobie Brothers’ What A Fool Believes to analysing battle management command and control is no joke. "Jeff is amazingly astute when it comes to this sort of thing," said Lieutenant-Colonel Rick Lehner, of the Ballistic Missile Defence Organisation. "He knows far more than I do and I’ve been in the Air Force 21 years." |