D 13.05.07
Fra Global
Network <globalnet@mindspring.com>
U.S.
SPACE FIRST STRIKE PROGRAM WELL UNDERWAY
In the
House of Representatives last week Democratic Party Congress members lead the
way to approve money for Star Wars research and development programs in the fiscal
year 2008 budget.
Rejecting
the recommendations of a sub-committee, Representatives Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)
and John Larson (D-CT) restored $150 million to Pentagon boost phase missile
defense programs, $48 million for future missile defense systems, including
space sensors, $12 million more for sea-based sensors and language to allow
$160 million for a highly controversial European missile defense site.
Joyfully
cheering these moves to ensure continuation of space weapons research and
development programs, a pro-space warfare organization called Missile Defense
Advocacy Alliance (MDAA) reported in an email that, "This shift of
priorities from last week's initial Strategic Subcommittee's markup shows a
bipartisan movement accepted by a Democratic Majority to put forward systems to
address future threats and to continue to invest into our countries most
advanced boost phase missile defense system, the Air Borne Laser. "
The MDAA is
a very active proponent of space weapons technology development and is led by
Riki Ellison, a former professional football player with the San Francisco
49ers. Ellison is particularly excited about the development of sea-based Aegis
destroyers mounted with theatre missile defense systems that will be deployed
in the Asian-Pacific region to surround China.
The
Pentagon recently announced they would soon begin to build a missile defense
base on Guam, a U.S. military colony now undergoing major expansion with new
runways for advanced bombers, new deployments of cruise missiles, and 8,000 new
troops relocated from Japan. Activists in Guam have been undertaking major
organizing efforts to get the U.S. out of their nation - the U.S. military now
controls more than 1/3 of the island.
Activists
in Poland and the Czech Republic have also been very busy of late protesting
the U.S. plan to put 10 missile defense interceptors in Poland and a new Star
Wars radar facility in the Czech Republic. The Pentagon is saying these
facilities would be used to protect Europe and the U.S. from a nuclear attack
by Iran - which has no nuclear weapons today. But the truth is these bases,
along with others planned in Georgia and Azerbaijan, will be used to tighten
the military noose around Russia's neck as NATO and the U.S. military surround
her.
Following
an International Conference against the Militarization of Europe last week in
Prague, a statement was released by the participants. It said, in part, that
"We voice our protest against the plans of the Bush administration to
install a 'national missile defense system' for the U.S. on the territory of
the Czech Republic and Poland . Most people in the Czech Republic and Poland,
as well as in the rest of Europe, reject plans to host this system. We reject
the official reasons given for the NMD project as mere pretexts."
"The
realisation of the U.S. plan will not lead to enhanced security. On the
contrary - it will lead to new dangers and insecurities."
"Although
it is described as 'defensive', in reality it will allow the United States to
attack other countries without fear of retaliation. It will also put 'host'
countries on the front line in future U.S. wars."
Disguised
as "missile defense" the Pentagon's Star Wars program is all about
offense and global control and domination. The planned deployments in Europe
are just one more piece in the military space architecture that would give the
U.S. "full spectrum dominance." Last October the Bush administration
released its new National Space Policy that essentially gave the Pentagon a
green light to move ahead with deployments of space war-fighting technologies.
The Air
Force Space Command's Strategic Master Plan: FY06 and Beyond says, "Air
Force Space Command will deploy a new generation of responsive space access,
prompt global strike, and space superiority capabilities.....Our vision calls
for prompt global strike space systems with the capability to directly apply
force from or through space against terrestrial targets."
Russia and
China understand that they are now viewed as the "enemy". A recent
poll showed that 74% of the people in Russia have a "negative view of the
U.S. missile defense system." On May 9 Russian President Vladimir Putin
made a statement at a Victory Day parade on Red Square that left little doubt
he was criticizing the United States for ''disrespect for human life, claims to
global exclusiveness and dictate, just as it was in the time of the Third
Reich.''
Following
Putin's speech Sergei Markov, of the Moscow-based Institute for Political
Research, expanded on the theme when he said, ''After the Cold War ended, the
United States has initiated a new arms race,'' fueling nuclear ambitions of
many nations worldwide.
''If a
nation doesn't have nuclear weapons, it risks being bombed like Yugoslavia or
Iraq,'' he said. ''And if it does have nuclear weapons like North Korea, it
faces no such threat.''
Russia
knows that U.S. deployments of missile defense systems are not intended to
knock out Iranian nukes. Instead they are part of a U.S. first strike system
now under development that is being supported by both Republican and Democrat
party members of Congress.
In a recent
article Conn Hallinan, an analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus, writes
"Anti-ballistic missile systems (ABM) have a dark secret: They are not
supposed to stop all-out missile attacks, just mop up the few retaliatory enemy
missiles that manage to survive a first strike. First strikes - called
'counterpoint' attacks in bloodless vocabulary of nuclear war - are a central
component in U.S. nuclear doctrine."
"If
you are sitting in Moscow or Beijing and adding up the ABMs, the new warheads,
and the growing ring of bases on your borders, you have little choice but to
react. Imagine the U.S. response if the Russians and the Chinese were to deploy
similar systems in Canada, Mexico and Cuba."
A new arms
race is well underway with the U.S., once again, leading the pack. The
aggressive first strike space domination program stands to benefit the weapons
industry and global corporations who are now moving to extract diminishing
supplies of oil and other precious resources around the world. The cost will be
further expansion of a militarized society in the U.S., cutbacks in social
spending worldwide, and more instability for the people of the world.
One key way
to prevent this new arms race is to call upon the U.S. Congress to convert the
growing military industrial complex to peaceful and environmentally sustainable
production.
Republicans
and Democrats now support the expansion of the U.S. military empire. Both
parties must be challenged to give up dreams of American exceptionalism and
global dominance. In order to make this happen the peace movement worldwide
must challenge the growing corporate domination of our governments.
--
Bruce K.
Gagnon
Coordinator
Global
Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick,
ME 04011
(207)
443-9502
http://www.space4peace.org
globalnet@mindspring.com
http://space4peace.blogspot.com
(our blog)
(videresendt