LIBERATION OF SPACE! NOT SATISFIED WITH 'LIBERATING' AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ
AND SOON IRAN, THE BUSH NUTTY NEOCONS NOW WANT TO LIBERATE, CONTROL AND
DOMINATE ALL OF SPACE! / PENTAGON EYENG WEAPONS IN SPACE / BUDGET SEEKS
MILLIONS TO TEST NEW KILLER 'FIRST STRIKE' TECHNOLOGIES! –
by Bryan Bender, Boston Globe Staff Writer, Published on Wednesday,
March 15, 2006 by the Boston Globe
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is asking Congress for hundreds of millions
of dollars to test weapons in space, marking the biggest step toward
creating a space battlefield since President Reagan's long-defunct
''star wars" project during the Cold War, according to federal budget
documents.
The Defense Department's budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning
Oct. 1 includes money for a variety of tests on offensive and defensive
weapons, including a missile launched at a small satellite in orbit,
testing a small space vehicle that could disperse weapons while
traveling at 20 times the speed of sound, and determining whether
high-powered ground-based lasers can effectively destroy enemy
satellites.
The military says that its aerospace technology, which has advanced
exponentially during the last two decades, is worth the nine-figure
investment because it will have civilian applications as well, such as
refueling or retrieving disabled satellites. But arms-control
specialists fear the tests will push the military closer to basing
weapons in space than during Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative in
the mid-1980s -- without a public debate of the potential consequences.
''Some of these things are going to be put up and tested and that is
where you have the potential to cross the line" into creating actual
space-based weapons systems, said Theresa Hitchens, director of the
Center for Defense Information in Washington and coauthor of a new
analysis on space weapons spending.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association,
warned that any U.S. move to position weapons in space ''will lead
countries to pursue countermeasures. Before we cross that threshold, the
United States should explore with other countries some guidelines or
limits on what is deployed in space."
The big-budget projects are spread across the Defense Department, but
most are under the purview of the Missile Defense Agency, which oversees
the development of a national missile shield, a system heavily dependent
on space-based hardware. The shield could also be used to destroy those
missiles or strike back at the adversaries who fired them.
The descriptions included in the budget request mark only what is
publicly known about the military's space warfare plans. Specialists
believe the classified portion of the $439 billion budget, blacked out
for national security reasons, almost certainly includes other
space-related programs.
Rick Lehner, an agency spokesman, said there are no plans to base
weapons in space, noting that out of $48 billion planned for missile
defense over the next five years, just $570 million will fund
space-related activities.
''We just want to do some experiments" on weapons technology in space,
he said.
Under President Bush, the White House has emphasized what's known as
''space dominance" -- the notion that the United States must command
space to defend the nation, a strategy that gained traction under
Reagan. The military already has reconnaissance and communications
satellites, but the Pentagon says weapons systems in space can protect
commercial satellites as well.
In 2004, the Air Force published a paper outlining a long-term vision
for space weapons, including an air-launched antisatellite missile, a
ground-based laser aimed at low-earth orbit satellites, and a
''hypervelocity" weapon that could strike targets from space.
The paper stated that it is essential for the United States to deny its
adversaries strategic access to space; success ''will require [the] full
spectrum, sea, air, and space-based offensive counterspace systems" that
the military can muster. The Pentagon has always examined space as a
possible battleground, but the budget request marks a transition from
laboratory theory to reality. And the Bush administration has sought to
keep the military's options open despite international opposition to
weapons in space.
Indeed, for the first time ever, the United States voted last fall to
block a UN resolution calling for a ban on weapons in space. In the
past, the US delegation abstained from voting on similar measures.
''There is a very strong desire among most states to get a negotiation
going," said Peggy Mason, Canada's former UN ambassador for disarmament.
But the UN Conference on Disarmament operates according to consensus and
the United States has stymied talks on the issue, Mason said.
Arms-control advocates believe the space projects in the defense budget,
which is under congressional review, explains the opposition. According
to a joint analysis by defense specialists at the Henry L. Stimson
Center and the Center for Defense Information, several of these space
programs, if brought to fruition, will create ''facts in orbit" --
weapons in space before a public debate is complete.
One $207 million project by the Missile Defense Agency features
experiments on micro-satellites, including using one as a target for
missiles. This experiment ''is particularly troublesome," according to
the joint report, ''as it would be a de-facto antisatellite test."
The defense budget doesn't have a timetable for that test, but a Missile
Defense Agency spokesman said the test is merely intended to study the
missile during flight.
In another program, called Advanced Weapons Technology, the Air Force
wants to spend $51 million for a series of space-oriented experiments,
according to budget documents. A project description says the Air Force
would test a variety of powerful laser beams ''for applications
including antisatellite weapons."
A Missile Defense Agency project set to begin in 2008, the Space-Based
Interceptor Test Bed, would launch up to five satellites capable of
shooting down missiles, according to budget documents.
''A space layer helps protect the United States and our allies against
asymmetric threats designed to exploit coverage and engagement gaps in
our terrestrial defenses," the agency says in its budget proposal,
referring to the interceptor test.
''We believe that a mix of terrestrial and space-basing offers the most
effective global defense against ballistic missiles."
The agency also has asked Congress for $220 million for ''Multiple Kill
Vehicles," a program that experts say could be proposed as a space-based
missile interceptor.
Meanwhile, the Air Force wants $33 million for the Hypersonic Technology
Vehicle, envisioned as space vehicle capable of delivering a military
payload anywhere on earth within an hour, according to an official
project description.
Philip Coyle, who served as the Pentagon's top weapons tester from 1994
to 2001, said in an interview that he sees ''new emphasis on space
weapons" even though ''there is no threat in space to justify a new arms
race in space."
''U.S. missile defense is the first wave in which the United States
could introduce attack weapons in space, that is, weapons with strike
capability," he said. ''Once you've got space-based interceptors up
there, they can just as well be used for offense as defense."
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