THE AGENDA BEHIND STAR WARS IS THE COLONIZATION OF SPACE.
Our rejection would give strong support to missile defense critics in the
The Final Frontier
There's More than Meets the Eye to the Controversial US Star Wars Scheme
by John Valleau � January 15, 2001 in the Toronto Globe & Mail�
Incoming U.S. president George W. Bush and his nominee as secretary of state,
Colin Powell, are strong supporters of the National Missile Defense project
-- basically a scaled-down version of the "Star Wars" scheme that was
proposed, and discredited, in the Reagan years. The purpose of the project is
claimed to be the ability to intercept, in space, a small number of missiles
launched against the United States. But the controversial plan may be more
sinister than we could imagine, and Canada must make every effort to stop it.
The missile defense proposal poses a giant conundrum, because the costs,
financial and strategic, appear much greater than any benefits to the United
States.
If, as its proponents say, the system would be capable only of intercepting a
few attacking missiles, the scheme offers no defense from an assault by any
serious antagonist. The costs, on the other hand, are massive, not only in
consuming billions of dollars by itself, but in fuelling a new arms race.
Russia and China both interpret the U.S. plan as part of the development of a
nuclear "first-strike" capability. They, therefore, make it clear that, if it
goes ahead, they will feel obliged to modernize their arsenals. This would
mean an end to nuclear disarmament.
So why would the United States contemplate accepting these risks for such
meager and dubious benefits? What can be driving the the missile defense
project?
The answer may lie in a little-known plan for the United State to dominate
and colonize outer space. This sounds absurd and paranoid, but it is all laid
out in the mission statements of the United States Space Command. The basic
document, Vision for 2020, is already five years old. (This, and the later
Long Range Plan fleshing out the "vision," are publicly available on the Web,
at http://www.spacecom.af.mil/usspace. Copies can be found also on the
Project Ploughshares Web site, http://www.ploughshares.ca. The Space Command
describes its role as "dominating the space dimension of military operations
to protect U.S. interests and investment [and] integrating Space Forces into
war-fighting capabilities across the full spectrum of conflict."
This is a clear plan to militarize space with U.S. weapons, and to seek the
ability to "deny others the use of space." The report is adorned with
pictures of targets on Earth being zapped by such weapons. All this, while
the United States is a signatory of the Outer Space Treaty, which aims at
preventing the weaponization of outer space.
The connection to colonialism is also pretty explicit: "As sea commerce
advanced in the 18th and 19th centuries, nations built navies to project
power and protect and enhance their commercial interests. Similarly, during
the westward expansion of the continental United States, military outposts
and the cavalry emerged to protect our wagon trains, settlements and
railroads. . . . The emergence of space power follows . . . these models."
It is, at first, hard to believe that this horrifying plan is really U.S.
policy, but there has been no repudiation of the published intentions by the
U.S. administration, and the Space Command continues to be handsomely
financed.
How does this explain the missile defense proposal? First of all, the Space
Command is the responsible agency directing the defense project, and the
"vision" makes it clear that it foresees that "NMD will evolve into a mix of
ground and space sensors and weapons." So the limited missile defense that
has been discussed publicly is not at all what is actually in mind.
Then, to put the Space Command plans in place, the United States will have to
abrogate, or ignore, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and probably the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as well, while violating at least the spirit
of the Outer Space Treaty and the Environmental Modification Techniques
protocol.
The nations of the world would never accept the colonial status implied by
this U.S. plan, but -- and this is where the missile defense scheme comes in
-- they might be persuaded to accept the dismemberment of these treaties, if
they only see the missile defences as a relatively benign, small-scale
defense system, as it is portrayed.
What is Canada's responsibility in the face of this? The United States has
not yet made a firm decision to proceed with deployment of its missile
defenses. Statements by Mr. Bush imply his approval, but there remains some
considerable internal resistance, and the United States remains somewhat
sensitive to the international reactions.
Russia and China have given sharp warning of their response to any deployed
missile defenses -- rearmament. The nations of Europe have also expressed
their opposition in forthright terms. But Canada has yet to speak. Lloyd
Axworthy, when minister of Foreign Affairs, did make a statement giving
strong reasons for opposing it, and Prime Minister Jean Chr�tien, in his
recent joint statement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, appears to
concur that the U.S.-Russian Anti-Ballistic-Missile treaty must be paramount.
But Canada must speak out clearly. The United States is desperately seeking
to legitimize the scheme by gaining its acceptance by a respected nation, and
is hoping we might play that role. Furthermore, Canada cannot remain neutral,
because, if it is silent, it risks being involved, willy-nilly, through its
membership in NORAD.
So it is urgent that the Canadian government speak out now, opposing the
missile defense project. We have nothing to gain from the plan and a lot to
lose: the hope of abolishing nuclear weapons, the hope of an outer space
without weapons, the respect of the international community.
U.S., and it could well help to turn the tide. John Valleau is a professor
emeritus at the University of Toronto, in the chemical-physics theory group
of the Chemistry Department. He is also a member of the board and of the
executive of Science Copyright � 2001 Globe Interactive
http://www.newsmakingnews.com/#THE%20AGENDA%20BEHIND%20STAR%20WARS%20IS%20THE%
20COLONIZATION%20OF%20SPACE.
