{"id":7929,"date":"2010-10-25T00:00:10","date_gmt":"2010-10-24T22:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=7929"},"modified":"2010-10-20T17:23:36","modified_gmt":"2010-10-20T15:23:36","slug":"the-weaponization-of-space-corporate-driven-military-unleashes-pre-emptive-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2010\/10\/the-weaponization-of-space-corporate-driven-military-unleashes-pre-emptive-wars\/","title":{"rendered":"The Weaponization of Space: Corporate Driven Military Unleashes Pre-emptive Wars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe have about 50% of the world\u2019s wealth but only 6% of its population.This disparity is particularly great as between ourselves and the people of Asia. In this situation we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security. To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives. We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and world benefactor.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This was a policy formulation by George Keenan, US State Department senior Planning Officer in\u00a0 1948 and later US Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1950-1964 and author of the US Policy on Containment of the USSR in the Cold War upto 1991.<\/p>\n

First a brief examination of the backdrop of the political power relations at play today and their impact on forces that are propelling the inductions of weapons in Space\u00a0 that\u00a0 are likely to lead to an arms race in space akin to a cold war in a hitherto \u2018sanctuary of peace\u2019 and consequently to a situation of \u2018Mutually Assured Destruction\u2019 ( MAD ), of the planet.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s historical experience has taught us, that superiority in weapon systems, was the cutting edge of the strategy of the imperial powers of fracturing the unity of societies sought to be colonized . Of\u00a0 course we are all too familiar with how and why atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to dominate, intimidate, induce fear and threaten other nations, in the intervening years, until parity was established. \u00a0People have seen the results of the ruinous cold war and an unmatched arms race. There has been no peace dividend as propaganda would have us believe. In fact the cold war continues with \u2018new enemies\u2019 added as the \u2018axis of evil\u2019 and an all pervasive war on terror to terrorise\u00a0 the people of the world to maintain the obscene profits of the \u2018war corporations\u2019.\u00a0 The present reality is that to maintain the superiority in weapon systems the Pentagon\u00a0 spends not just $ 700 billion , but the United States \u00a0over 1400 billion dollars on the entire security establishment or three times that of the rest of the countries put together . With this preamble let us go back to the international power play.<\/p>\n

With the political capitulation of the Soviet Union, acquiesced by long time agents Mikhail Gorbachev , General Secretary of the CPSU and Boris Yeltsin , President of the Russian Federation\u00a0 , in total disregard of the Referendum held of the constituents of\u00a0 the USSR to continue as a Union of the Soviet Socialists Republic, arrangements\u00a0 were complete to effect a transition to a \u2018unipolar\u2019 world\u00a0 with the US as the unchecked\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Hegemon\u2019 and the formal implementation of policies\u00a0 and doctrines which had been announced after the end of World War II.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0 project for the New American Century (PNAC), was finalised by a small financial and political elite , the Bilderberg group , led by Rockefellers and Rotschilds . This had as its sub-texts , a number of doctrines on the pattern of the well-known\u00a0 Monroe doctrine for Latin America , \u00a0US Presidential Doctrine 59 and the Carter and Clinton doctrines\u00a0 (The Clinton Doctrine amplified\u00a0 \u201c the US has the right to undertake unilateral use of force to protect key markets and resources\u201d ) , declaring the Middle-\u00a0 East as an area of vital interest to the US , followed successively by the doctrines of Pre-emptive war , Unlimited War , Theatre level delegation of authority to military commanders to use of\u00a0 micro-nukes\u00a0 (upto 20 KT weapons , three times the Hiroshima bomb ) under US doctrine on\u00a0\u00a0 Nuclear Weapons 2007 , for use on \u2018targets that can withstand\u00a0 non-nuclear attacks — tunnels , underground sites , and in retaliation for military , biological, chemical weapons or in the event of SURPRISING MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS (against the US ) of an unspecified nature. George W Bush has called\u00a0 \u2018micro-nukes , conventional ordnance\u2019. The ostensible justification for such a doctrine was that \u2013\u201cIn the name of Peace , freedom , democracy and civilized values we shall wage wars\u201d (Paul H Nitze in NSC 68 ) . In sum , Imperial doctrines all . The Imperial Doctrine as articulated by Obama, President of the United States in his Nobel Prize for Peace acceptance speech said, \u201cThe instruments of war have a role in preserving the peace \u2026.The US RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ACT UNILATERALLY, IF NECESSARY, and to launch wars\u00a0 whose purpose extends beyond self-defense or the defense of one nation against the aggressor \u2026.Peace was no longer peace , but rather a permanent\u00a0 war that extends well beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan to disorderly regions and diffused enemies\u201d. He called this \u2018Global Security\u2019.<\/p>\n

All this was official US military policy propelled weaponisation , even though at the end of his term as US President Dwight D Eisenhower becoming\u00a0 momentarily sentimental ,\u00a0 on the military- industrial complex which posed a grave threat to the people of the United States apart from the targeted \u00a0of other nations , said in a speech while relinquishing office \u2026 \u201cI hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can , as only one who has seen its brutality , its futility, its stupidity \u2026..every gun that is made , every warship\u00a0 launched , every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed\u00a0 , those who are cold and not clothed .\u201d<\/p>\n

The stark reality that is now being seen throughout the world \u00a0,with successive wars of aggression and brutal bombing of small and , therefore , vulnerable countries for the seizure of resources and strategic areas, is that the UN Charter and the noble Declaration of Human Rights exists only in name despite the evocative words, \u201cWe the people of the United Nations determined to save generations from the scourge of war , believing in the equal rights of men and women and nations , large and small , to establish justice and promote social progress from the obligations from treaties and other sources of International Law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The small financial elite , which is the oligarchy of political societies referred to ironically as democracies; the bankers, financial companies, big oil companies, giant GM Agribusinesses, drug and food companies and seed monopolies seeking to control the world\u2019s food and energy , to dominate nations and people across the globe in all continents , have effectively privatized public assets and commons and , therefore , diminished and emasculated democracy with the ulterior intent of depopulating the world . It is the policies of this oligarchy which determine priorities of national budgetary allocations on weapon systems and their expansion into Space\u00a0 to target the planet earth , and for use in the oceans , the seabed , and as earlier stated into Space . However all these areas of our small and vulnerable planet , \u00a0the earth , the oceans , the atmosphere and space are intertwined and interconnected.<\/p>\n

As we see the world order today , the material conditions of the people from one continent to the other\u00a0 , the direct consequences of colonialism\u00a0 , breeding predatory wars for resources and markets , and conflicts within nations and interse between nations\u00a0 , to further consolidate an extremely exploitative , parasitical and colonial regime to crush the \u2018untermenschens\u2019 or \u00a0sub-humans, which is the expression for the ordinary people of the this planet, to condemn millions with a predetermined policy to malnutrition , hunger, disease and death , as never before at any time in world history . In India , Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru had described these conditions as the \u201cterror of hunger and unemployment\u201d, thinking they were inherent characteristics of those times in colonial India and would be eradicated when freedom was won !<\/p>\n

To encapsulate, the very character of accumulation of surplus under a system of Capitalism , its extreme parasitical characteristic of sucking the blood and fruits of toil of the worker and whole colonies, nurtures policies that\u00a0 create satanic weapon systems to establish hegemony and dominance . Human progress in science and technology , instead of being\u00a0 harnessed for the benefit of civilization is being used to innovate and invent , no matter what the cost to national budgets , weapon systems robotic in their capacity to kill and maim large numbers of people , increasingly the civilian population . This is being witnessed , to give one example with the drone technology\u00a0 with its remote control ,\u00a0 in advance\u00a0 of \u00a0\u00a0later versions\u00a0 to be deployed in Space.\u00a0 This process is accelerating\u00a0 \u00a0even as people are losing control over military budgets even as they\u00a0 have no control over their political systems . The nature of this weaponization\u00a0 is intended to destroy the human habitat and environment and has dangerous implications for the genetic future of mankind, in the nature of \u00a0GM and terminator seeds of the Agribusiness companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cColonialism is a constant , necessary condition for capitalist growth . Without colonies , Capital accumulation would grind to a halt ,\u201d said Rosa Luxemburg , a member of the Social Democratic Party in pre-Nazi Germany. We are now living in the era of Neo-colonialism disguised as\u00a0 Globalisation minus the foreign flag and armies, with the MNCs weaving the web of the Transnational Capitalist Class across our polity and economy.<\/p>\n

We must understand the reality of our present lawless world, where corporate driven military might unleashes pre-emptive wars, invasions and occupations and the UN system stands paralyzed , its Charter disregarded\u00a0 , the Treaties and conventions signed and ratified , flouted at every step . It is necessary for us to focus on the stark truth that those treaties and conventions do not protect humanity from the forces that want to dominate and exploit the resources of the world using every weapon system and all mediums\u00a0 –be they land , sea , the seabed or space and if the world system does not create a\u00a0 balance very soon\u00a0 than even from military bases that may be established on the earth\u2019s planetary system.\u00a0Vladimir Putin, then President and now the\u00a0 Prime Minister of Russia, speaking at the European Security Conference in Munich on 10th February 2007, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unipolar\u00a0 world refers to a world in which there is one master, one center of authority, one center of force, one centre of decision making. At the end of the day this is pernicious not only for those\u00a0 within the system , but also for the Sovereign himself from within ; what is more important is that the model itself is flawed because as its basis there is and can be no moral foundation for modern civilization ( and even less for democracy ).<\/p>\n

We are seeing a greater and greater disdain for the basic principles of international law. We are witnessing an almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations , force that is plunging the world into an abyss of permament conflicts . I am convinced that we have reached that decisive moment when we must seriously\u00a0 think about the architecture of global security.\u201d<\/p>\n

We have to move heaven and earth , the might of humanity to dismantle that decision making ruling elite in the \u2018joint corporate \u2013military board rooms ,\u2019 be they located underground in the Strategic Command in Nebraska \u00a0or at multi-locations in Wall Street , the City ( London ) or Tel a Viv .<\/p>\n

The unlimited quest for establishing monopoly over the planet\u00a0 earth\u2019s resources and markets , has led the world to witness unending wars , sometimes referred to as \u2018long wars\u2019 , if that phrase makes it seem less destructive , and the unending pursuit of weapon platforms , for attaining\u00a0 \u2018full spectrum dominance\u2019 and the \u2018Strategic Defense Initiative\u2019 (SDI ) or the Star Wars initiated by the \u2018free market\u2019 of the Reagan administration and Thatcherism , accelerating the death and destruction that we have witnessed , all across the globe be it in Angola , Congo, Somalia, Afghanistan , Iraq , Palestine , Central and Latin America\u00a0 \u00a0, Yugoslavia , Lebanon , Gaza and earlier in Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia among other countries with the\u00a0 UN Security Council in some cases acquiescing and even assisting .<\/p>\n

Technologies for war gallop as they are the best\u00a0 funded and are often justified by that omnibus phrase\u00a0 \u2018National Security.\u2019 There are the platforms and\u00a0 the war-heads , the former are becoming more and more versatile with land, sea air and space versions . The war-heads have numerous variants\u00a0 – Depleted Uranium , micro-nukes , phosphorous , napalm\u00a0 , cluster , bunker busters , powerful lasers and beam particle rays , the latter specially for space applications .<\/p>\n

A \u2018Permanent War\u2019 system nurtured by a permanent \u2018War Economy\u2019 , fed by the predatory practices of Big banks and the MNCs has led to the establishment of the National Security State which in turn advances the private interest of the financial oligarchy . The three golden rules , therefore , are US \/ NATO global military presence , global projection of military power and the use of that force in one conflict or the other to threaten the \u2018lesser people\u2019 of the world\u00a0 with \u2018Full Spectrum dominance\u2019\u00a0 –including in Space. The Ruling Class is actually an alliance of the \u2018Transnational Capitalist Class( TCC) which delivers to itself profit, power and privilege through policy control and weaponisation.<\/p>\n

The new strategy making centers are where the \u2018Board\u2019 comprises of the CEOs of the biggest corporations and the Theatre Commanders , the targets listed , prioritized and war plans finalized , then translated into National\u00a0 Security\u00a0 Strategy Documents (NSSDs) , Presidential doctrines \/ declarations , threats and sanctions . For example , it is on record that the Nuclear Weapons Targetting Plan \/list was jointly prepared by top business executives and the military top brass at the Offut Air Base of the US Strategic Command in 2002 ( cited by Prof Michel Chossudovsky ).\u00a0 This takes into account; first the \u2018Reconstruction\u2019\u00a0 (or business) plan and then the \u2018Destruction plan\u2019, or what is listed to be destroyed so that it may once again be reconstructed through contracts from public treasuries.<\/p>\n

The \u2018US Space Command\u2019s Vision 2020, is but an expression of this reality. For reasons of serving this charade, of the US \/NATO —serving the country , defending the Constitution\u00a0 ( this \u201cgoddamned piece of paper\u201d as George W Bush used to say ) and the people ; the military continues to wear the government issued insignia badges on their helmets and uniforms . The agenda is set by the financial oligarchy\u00a0 , the military is co \u2013 opted as an implementing partner. In any case \u2018private military companies\u2019\u00a0 ( PMCs ) are in their direct chain of command and have the advantage of free functioning\u00a0 outside the US Military Law Manual . Both have the mandate to support the criminal enterprises of loot and plunder.<\/p>\n

Relevant for understanding the first decades of the 21st Century , the rhetoric in the Space Command\u2019s vision reads , \u201c Based on unequalled\u00a0 US power and influence\u00a0 ( based on fiat dollars and debt financing by China , Japan etc ) that favours human freedom ( eg. Operation Iraqi Freedom ) and extends peace by\u00a0 encouraging free and open societies in every continent\u00a0 ( read free enterprise and free markets ) , make the world safe for democracy , develop capabilities that enable dominance and more aggressive intentions\u201d . The \u201cGrand Strategy\u201d is to \u2018remake\u2019 the world on the basis of US ( read Super Capitalism \/ TCC ) unassailability , eroding international security and human security , across the world .\u00a0 \u201c The\u00a0 weaponisation of space project\u00a0 is the cutting edge of the process , now in motion . However the success of the alliance of the people\u00a0 against the project , holds the promise not only to sustain the \u2018sanctuary of peace\u2019 but also progress towards disarmament and peace here on earth\u201d writes Wade L Huntley .<\/p>\n

US Space Command Vision <\/strong><\/p>\n

Encouraged by Donald Rumsfeld\u2019s \u2018Space Commision 2000\u2019 which embraced the \u2018myth of a Space Pearl Harbour\u2019 \u00a0\u00a0and basing itself on the dubious interpretation that there is no blanket prohibition in International law\u00a0 on placing or using weapons in Space , the Space Commision Report also contained the revealing warning that the \u201cUS\u00a0 must be cautious of agreements intended for one purpose that when added \u00a0to a large of treaties or conventions \/ regulations may have unintended consequences of restricting future activities in space.\u201d\u00a0 The US Space Command\u2019s Vision Document\u00a0 calls for dominating the Space dimension of military operations to protect US interests\u00a0 and investments . Vision 2020 is for dominating ( dominanace ) of Earth from Space . Its operational concepts are ;<\/p>\n

Control of Space.
\nGlobal engagement.
\nFull forces integration via information , surveillance , reconnaissance ( ISR ) .
\nGlobal partnerships \/ alliances.<\/p>\n

The US Space Command Vision 2020 document pursues the idea of a Global Area Strike\u00a0 system , of which a key element could be ground based high energy laser capability\u00a0 which bounces off space based mirrors , the placement of Directed Energy Weapons ( DEW ) and Kinetic Energy Weapons (KEW), soft kill jammers. The 4 yearly Quadrennial\u00a0 Defense Reviews, periodical NSSDs\u00a0 and Nuclear Posture Reviews , the latest of April 2010 , are useful reference points for a detailed analysis of clues as to intentions and plans .<\/p>\n

Far more important than any description of the types of weapons and weapon platforms planned for induction in Space , is that the Vision Document emphasizes\u00a0 \u201cthe role of Space IN MANAGING THE GLOBAL ECONOMY \u2026..The\u00a0 Globalisation ( read neo \u2013imperialism \/ colonialism ) of the world economy will also continue causing a widening gap between the \u2018haves\u2019 and the \u2018have-nots\u2019\u2026. The view is that by controlling Space and Earth below , the US ( meaning the TCC\u00a0 ) will be able to keep the\u00a0 \u2018Have-nots\u2019 in line.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US Space Command\u00a0 is perceptively\u00a0 seen by Bill Sulzman , Director , Citizens for Peace in Space, who observes —\u201cThe Space Command is readying itself to be the \u2018Enforcement Arm\u2019 for the Global Economy and Polity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Space Command Vision indicates US and global , financial\u00a0 interests being involved in helping set \u2018Space Military Doctrine.\u2019 The Space Command\u2019s\u00a0 \u2018Long Range Plan\u2019\u00a0 begins by stressing that involvement —-spelt out it involves 75 corporations beginning with Aerojet , Boeing , Lockheed \u2013Martin , Rand , Raytheon , Sparta Corp, TRW to Vista\u00a0 technologies , to hundreds of MNCs in Europe and Japan that it will enhance with contracts and protect their control of resources and markets .<\/p>\n

The growth and influence of\u00a0 Financial businesses and MNCs will blur Security agreements as well as monitor and shape world events and the overall global security architecture, Asia\u00a0 included .<\/p>\n

As early as 1996 , General Joseph Ashy , CinC\u00a0 US Space Command told \u2018Aviation Week\u00a0 & Space Technology\u2019 \u2026.\u00a0 \u201cIts politically sensitive \u2026but its going to happen \u2026some people do not want to hear this\u00a0 , but absolutely we are going to fight in Space , we\u2019re getting to fight from space and we\u2019re going to fight into space.\u201d<\/p>\n

One analysis rightly concludes\u00a0 \u201cthat the US ( TCC ) is gearing up for the unilateral (military ) control of Space which over arches Planet Earth , all occupants and its entire contents — with that\u00a0 vantage position it could overpower every opponent .\u201d In chasing profits they boast of \u2018blowing up the world,\u2019 if necessary . However, there is many a slip, as the saying goes, between the cup and the slip . Post 2007 with the gathering financial implosion and indebtedness and loss of manufacturing capacity\u00a0 of the US system gathering visible momentum , the end game may turn out differently!<\/p>\n

According to some think tanks , only a few\u00a0 years ago , they declared that \u2026.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cOther nations lack the money and \/ or technology to compete with \u00a0the US in the developing of space age weapons , \u00a0Friedman is quoted for instance ,\u2026..that China and Russia were passing blips.\u201d In fact\u00a0 China \u00a0, and to a lesser extent Russia , are the bankrupt US Treasury\u2019s\u00a0 creditors \u2026.China has been indirectly financing\u00a0\u00a0 the Corporate wars in Afghanistan and Iraq\u2026the US global military presence and the US Space Command\u2019s\u00a0 growing dreams . But illusions can be dangerous\u00a0 by sparking off an uncontrolled\u00a0\u00a0 arms Race in Space with its attendant risks and unexpected consequences that may blow up planet earth, notwithstanding the fact that the US economy is in terminal decline while its\u00a0 corporate warriors of the Transnational capitalist class profit and retain their wealth and riches in diverse financial securities , albeit toxic ones like Derivatives , CDOs \u00a0and CDSs and other commercial paper in a huge ponzi web of deceit. We are indeed as the Chinese\u00a0 say living in interesting times.<\/p>\n

As US Space Command\u2019s drives\u00a0 ahead with \u00a0building\u00a0 Space WMD systems\u00a0 and synergizing with Ballistic Missile Defense , National Missile Defense and Anti-Satellite ( ASAT ) weapon\u00a0\u00a0 sysytems , China and Russia will enter with defensively oriented systems and if China does , India will follow and Pakistan too . The whole game is counter \u2013productive\u00a0 and result in more \u2018Mutually Assured Destruction\u2019 ( MAD ) as with nuclear weapons \u2026.but not in the minds of the Transnational capitalist class which loves the Midas touch .<\/p>\n

The \u2018Outer Space Treaty 1967 , was signed and sealed by the US , Soviet Union , China and India among others . The Outer Space treaty is a legally binding instrument . however it has a caveat ,which by omission \u00a0permits the \u2018passive military use of space .\u2019 The Prime Ministers \u00a0of Canada and Russia at the Millenium Summit in September 2000 and again in a meeting in December 2000 promised to work in close cooperation\u00a0 to prevent an arms race in Space.<\/p>\n

In a well reasoned paper presented to a Conference on Disarmament in Space , held in Moscow in 2001 , Dr Rebecca Johnson , Executive Director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy called for a step by step\u00a0 \u2018Ottawa Process\u2019 and referred to a constructive working paper tabled by France at the Conference on Disarmament ( CD ) in Geneva. Dr Rebecca Johnson\u00a0 also suggested that a number of American companies with interests in Telecom , Navigation and Entertainment industries have a stake in keeping\u00a0 Space peaceful . She made another relevant\u00a0 observation that\u00a0 \u2018Demilitarisation of Space is linked to \u2018Demilitarisation of International Relations.\u2019\u00a0 Recalling Srilanka\u2019s contribution to a proposed moratorium on testing ASAT weapons and for a discussion on a \u2018Rules of the Road\u2019 for Space in an attempt to pre-empt weaponisation of Space; the Srilankan ambassador to the CD , Geneva , Jayantha Dhanapala , as early as 1985, emphasized with rare foresight that \u201cpreventing an arms race in outer space is an easier task than attempting to control and decelerate such a race after it has begun… therefore, the urgency, to prohibit through multi-lateral negotiations the stationing of weapons in space designed to damage , destroy or interfere with any country\u2019s space craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would be ideal if the BMD and NMD projects are also halted , if not on the realization of their practical futility , then simply because the coming \u2018Greatest Depression\u2019 must lead to a major review and recall on grounds of financial non-feasibility alone.<\/p>\n

An eminent thinker and analyst in the global network for preservation of the space sanctuary has spoken thus : \u201c It wont do much good to anti-war people to demand an end to the war in Iraq, Afghanistan , nuclear war , weaponisation of Space \u2026.unless they ( we ) mobilize the millions to demand the end of the underlying system , profit is all the human being nothing, that has now produced quasi-permanent\u00a0 war , conflict, violence, tension and sectarian strife\u00a0 (death squads and PMC personnel masquerading as Special Operation Groups with\u00a0 remote control\u00a0 drone bombers outside the control of any democratic institution of the State\u00a0 system \/ apparatus .)\u201d<\/p>\n

We are threatened with the destruction and decimation of peoples and nations the world over , including the destruction of the life-sustaining resources of mother earth .<\/p>\n

Earlier Russia and India\u00a0 declared a shared fundamental position on \u2018 No Weaponisation of Space\u2019 in their joint statement in New Delhi by the two Prime Ministers on 25th January\u00a02007 ( However under pressure for not lagging behind too much\u00a0 India announced a Joint\u00a0 Space Command in March 2008 ( to consolidate its ISR capability ).<\/p>\n

Negotiations on a Treaty to \u00a0prohibit\u00a0 Weapons and War in Space would have three components as proposed by Dr Rebecca Johnson:<\/p>\n

Ban on deployment and use of\u00a0 weapons\u00a0 in space thereby extending and strengthening the 1967 Outer Space Treaty so that directed energy and kinetic energy\u00a0 weapons are also banned along with \u201cNO deployment\u201d for any future offensive innovations with such a potential.<\/p>\n

Banning the testing, deployment and use of ASAT weapons , whether\u00a0 earth based or space-based.<\/p>\n

Establishing\u00a0 \u00a0a code of conduct for peace supporting , non-offensive and non-aggressive uses of force ( as also a short term breather and restraint on ASAT).<\/p>\n

We are familiar with what science and technology enabled then . Now it has the potential to enable Space Powers to wage war, nay blow up planet earth or coerce and blackmail other countries to melt and allow one single economic and political ideology of the market and private enterprise , despite the financial bankruptcy it imposes on more than one country of the world termed as \u201cSovereign Debt\u201d !<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has gone on record that such moves on the chessboard\u00a0 \u201cwill disturb the existing military balance in the world.\u201d On\u00a0 6th September\u00a0 2007, Russia placed a draft Resolution before the UN General assembly for banning the deployment of weapons in Outer Space titled\u00a0 \u2018Transparency and Confidence Building Measures in Outer space Activities.\u2019 An earlier proposal by Russia on similar lines was placed in the \u00a0United Nations in 2002. The\u00a0 proposal also incorporates the convening of a conference to jointly pursue , after looking into various issues and preparing and negotiating a draft treaty text to prohibit weapons in space , in a manner , to enhance the 1967 Treaty with reference to current realities to prevent weaponisation of Space. \u00a0China has also joined\u00a0 Russia in demanding that the US observe the Treaty and not place any weapons in Space.<\/p>\n

Either the Transnational Capitalist Class alliance self-destructs compelled by the conscious mobilisation of the working people, in solidarity across the continents , those who oppose war\u00a0 and stand solidly together in a counterforce on the side of humanity or we go further downhill the slope of lower depths, into an abyss. For every \u00a0person there are always two choices in life: to accept things as they are or\u00a0 to accept the responsibility to bring about change —from a war economy to a political economy of peace to share, to preserve our environment and to belong to the commons in which every being has an equal stake for our minimum needs.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 globalresearch.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First a brief examination of the backdrop of the political power relations at play today and their impact on forces that are propelling the inductions of weapons in Space that are likely to lead to an arms race in space akin to a cold war in a hitherto \u2018sanctuary of peace\u2019 and consequently to a situation of \u2018Mutually Assured Destruction\u2019 ( MAD ), of the planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-militarism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7929\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}