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StarHeart.US/War_Space.html Weapons in Space
Arms race in outer space? by Karl Grossman, March 18, 2001, Philadelphia Inquirer The United States is seeking to make space a new arena of war. This is in violation of the intent of the basic international law on space, the Outer Space Treaty (OST) of 1967. The OST, ratified by most of the world's nations, sets aside space for "peaceful purposes." But the U.S. administration and military have other ideas. "In the coming period the United States will conduct operations to, from, in and through space in support of its national interests both on the Earth and in space," declares the recently released report of the "Space Commission" chaired by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Stressing that it is "possible to project power through and from space in response to events anywhere in the world," the report declares that "missions initiated from Earth or space . . . would give the United States a much stronger deterrent and, in a conflict, an extraordinary military advantage." The 13-member panel, formally called the Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization, recommends a transition of the U.S. Space Command, which now coordinates U.S. space military activities, into a "Space Corps," a separate military entity like the Marine Corps. The report follows up a series of military reports that call for the United States to "control space" and from it to "dominate" the Earth below. These include the "Vision for 2020" report of the Space Command, its cover depicting a laser weapon shooting a beam from space zapping a target below. Vision for 2020 then proclaims the Space Command's mission - "dominating the space dimension of military operations to protect U.S. interests and investment." Vision for 2020 compares U.S. military plans for space to how centuries ago "nations built navies to protect and enhance their commercial interests," how the empires of Europe ruled the waves and thus the world. The Space Command's Long Range Plan says, "Space power in the 21st century looks similar to previous military revolutions, such as aircraft-carrier warfare and Blitzkrieg." A Space Command logo: "Master of Space." Far more than words are involved. About $6 billion a year - plus funds in the "black" or secret budget - have in recent years been going to U.S. space military programs.The Alpha High-Energy Laser, a TRW space weapon, last year was test-fired for the 22d time. The Space-Based Laser, a joint TRW, Lockheed Martin and Boeing project, got the go-ahead last year. Its "lifecycle cost" is between $20 billion and $30 billion. In December, the Pentagon chose Stennis Space Center in Mississippi as its development site - and that was under the Clinton administration. In President Bush, we have an administration far more gung-ho for "Star Wars." And although U.S. citizens may not be familiar with the full extent of what is going on, the nations of the world are. Because of the U.S. plans, there was a United Nation vote in November on a resolution for "Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space." It sought to "reaffirm" the OST, specifically its provision that space be kept for peaceful purposes. More than 160 nations voted yes. We abstained. It was a Philadelphian, Craig Eisendrath, who as a young foreign service officer at the State Department in the 1960s, was instrumental in drafting the OST. "We sought to deweaponize space before it got weaponized," he explains. Our leadership may think this country can control space and dominate the Earth below, but other nations will not sit back and accept that. They will respond in kind. There will be an arms race and inevitably war in space. Our friend and neighbor Canada is leading a U.N. initiative (strongly backed by Russia and China) to strengthen the OST with a ban on all weapons in space. (The treaty now bans nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.) Space could be kept for peace and mechanisms put in place to assure compliance. But our country opposes Canada's effort. "If the U.S. is allowed to move the arms race into space, there will be no return," says Bruce Gagnon, coordinator to the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power In Space (www.space4peace.org). "We have this one chance, this one moment in history, to stop the weaponization of space from happening." There's only a narrow window to prevent the heavens from becoming a war zone. ---- Karl Grossman, professor of journalism at the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury, wrote the forthcoming book "Weapons in Space" and the TV documentary "Star Wars Returns."
Arming the Heavens Opinion, March 18, 2001, San Francisco Chronicle "IF THE U.S. is to avoid a 'Space Pearl Harbor' it needs to take seriously the possibility of an attack on U.S. space systems." You might think this is the opening of a science fiction novel. But these words appear in a federal government document. Specifically, this is the conclusion reached by the Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization, which presented its long-awaited recommendations to Congress on Jan. 11, 2001. Chaired by Donald H. Rumsfeld -- before President Bush appointed him secretary of defense -- the commission seeks to protect American military and surveillance satellites from future attacks. To thwart such aggression, the commissioners recommend that the United States develop a space-based "military capability" to defend its space "assets." Just as Rumsfeld delivered this report to Congress, President Bush decided to suspend all further military expenditures and asked the new secretary of defense to conduct a complete review of the armed services, including their strategies and weapons. Although no one knows what Rumsfeld will ultimately conclude, he has already provided us with a disturbing vision of how he imagines America's military future. America will prepare to fight in space. The U.S. will control space to maintain strategic dominance on Earth. If adopted, the Rumsfeld report could ignite an arms race that would make the proliferation of nuclear bombs seem almost quaint. In Rumsfeld's view, space is the next arena of warfare. While politicians debate whether the United States should build a defensive national missile defense, the Rumsfeld commission regards a ground-based missile defense as the first step in deploying space-based weaponry, which could become an offensive threat. His is not an isolated view. In a recent issue of the New Republic, Senior Editor Lawrence Kaplan suggests we drop all pretenses and admit that "missile defense is about preserving America's ability to wield power abroad. It's not about defense. It's about offense. And that's exactly why we need it." U.S. weaponry is obsolete, says Rumsfeld. The next president must "have the option to deploy weapons in space to deter threats and, if necessary, defend against attacks on U.S. interests." The Rumsfeld report proposes a full-scale effort to prepare for space warfare. It recommends, for example, that the president declare space a national security priority, that a Space Advisory Group report directly to the president and that the Air Force create "a Space Corps" that will eventually morph into "a military department for space." With these steps, the report concludes, the United States will gain "the capability to use space as an integral part of its ability to manage crises, deter conflict, and if deterrence fails, to prevail in conflict." The resolve to build a space-based military is hardly new. Much of the commission's report is, in fact, a tamer and toned-down version of documents already published by the U.S. Space Command, which the Pentagon established in 1985 to "help institutionalize the use of space." These documents, readily accessible on the Web site of the U.S. Space Command (www.spacecom.af.mil/usspace), reveal a more ominous vision of space- based warfare. The cover of one document, called "Vision for 2020," depicts a laser weapon shooting a beam down from space, zapping a target below. Beneath this sci-fi image crawl the words: "U.S. Space Command -- dominating the space dimension of military operations to protect U.S. interests and investments." "Vision for 2020" emphasizes how the global economy will widen the gulf between "the haves" and the "have-nots." By deploying space-based weaponry and surveillance, however, the United States will have the ability "to control space" and from space, "to dominate" the Earth below. U.S. military leaders are blunt in describing their plans for space warfare. "It's politically sensitive, but it's going to happen," Gen. Joseph Ashy, former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Space Command, told Aviation Week & Space Technology in 1996. "Space is the ultimate 'high ground,' " reported "Guardians of the High Frontier," a 1997 U.S. Air Force Space Command report. "Tomorrow's Air Force will likely dominate the air and space around the world," declares "Almanac 2000," recently published by the U.S. Space Command. All this, remember, was before George W. Bush became president. Yet candidate Bush never hid his enthusiasm for Star Wars. On the campaign trail, he repeatedly proposed that the United States leapfrog over the next generation of weapons -- still meant for fighting the Cold War -- and proceed directly to high-tech weapons. By choosing Donald Rumsfeld, Bush appointed a man whom the Washington Post has called the "leading proponent not only of national missile defenses, but also of U.S. efforts to take control of outer space." Spending billions of tax dollars to deploy space-based weaponry is a serious matter, though most Americans seem unaware of an idea that appears to be gaining currency -- including the cash -- within government. Last year, for example, a multimillion-dollar contract was signed for a "Space-Based Laser Readiness Demonstrator." The militarization of space would violate international law. In 1967, the U. S.-initiated Outer Space Treaty banned all nations from deploying weapons in space. Last year, 163 nations voted to reaffirm that U.N. agreement. Three nations abstained and refused to support the resolution: The United States, Israel and Micronesia. So, is Donald Rumsfeld's "strategic review" a charade? Have the decisions already been made? Some experts and activists think so. An editorial in the Economist recently argued that "the long-promised transformation of the American defense system from a Cold War fighting force to the high-tech -army of the future" is finally going to take place. The Center for Defense Information has criticized the "concerted effort in the administration" to push ahead with the militarization of space. Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, says, "We have this one chance, this one moment in history, to stop the weaponization of space from happening." If he is right, the American people face an urgent need to become informed about our government's future military plans. Look up at the heavens. Imagine laser or nuclear weapons orbiting in space. Then decide whether space-based warfare will make you feel any safer here on Earth.
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