China explodes its weather satellite “to bring USA to table to eliminate all weapons in space” ?or will the space arms race begin? Stratcom to allow satellite spying on U.S. citizens via our military satellites. Star Wars biggest moneymaking/boondoggle industrial project in Earth’s history.

Lately, we have been monsterizing China, while sinking into the quicksand war/occupation of Iraq. For the energies and expense of our Iraq debacle are detracting from where we should be paying attention, as the world moves on through this new millennium. China, Russia, India, Brasil, Venezuela are making steps to improve themselves as we throw our money and our death brigades into the black hole of the current administration’s Middle East policy – – which our Bush/Cheney government is deepening daily.

So we rail at China for having the nerve to develop anti-satellite weaponry, Which we are doing hypocritically at the same time, yet our media refuses to report on the extent of our space weapons that we are developing. Have you seen anything on television about the Rods from God, or the re-useable FALCON Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle [HCV]? The latter is to be “capable of delivering 12,000 pounds of payload at a distance of 9,000 nautical miles from the continental United States in less than two hours.”* It should be able to travel faster than the speed of sound, “while providing aircraft-like operability and mission-recall capability,” according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [DARPA]. “The HCV would be launched into space on a rocket, fly on its own to a target, deliver its payload and return to Earth. In the short term, a small launch rocket is being developed as part of FALCON [which actually is an acronym for ‘Force Application and Launch From CONUS, = somehow to ‘FALCON’]. It eventually would be able to boost the hypersonic vehicle into space. But in the interim, it will be used to launch small satellites within 48 hours’ notice at a cost of less than $5 million a shot.”* Sound cheap? Well, it still is in the contemplative stage. Just wait until it goes further along the trail to production and cost overruns…

In his Nov. 12 2007 Washington Post article on Space ‘Defense’ Funding, Walter Pincus noted that conferees involved in this funding “added $100 million above the Bush administration’s request for nearly $200 million to accelerate “space situational awareness.” That is code for protecting U.S. satellites in space and being able to attack the enemy’s satellites.”*

Since China destroyed one of its own aging satellites in January of 2007, the U.S.is playing the poor pitiful susceptible potential victim hanging onto the hope that its sitting duck satellites may not be destroyed when China changes from ‘testing’ its weaponry, to using such for real.

We have the most, the majority of, satellites out there, 450, compared to a
bit less in total for all the rest of the countries established on planet Earth combined.
President Bush arrogantly has declared that the USA needs to keep its
“freedom of action in space,” “while ignoring calls for a global
prohibition”** on space weapons testing. Although the USA has the most to
lose if satellite communications are impaired, “Theresa Hitchens,
director of the Center For Defense Information [CDI], and other critics have
accused the Bush administration of conducting secret research on advanced
anti-satellite weapons using lasers, which are considered a far speedier
and more destructive way of destroying satellites than the cruder weapons
of two decades ago.”**

Have you ever heard the term ‘counterspace’ or ‘counterspace systems’ or
what’s worse, ‘offensive counterspace systems?’ As a citizen of the nation
with the biggest ‘defense’ budget in the world, you should know that of
the possible $459 billion in the offing for 2008, $53 million are in
line to fund counterspace systems “that would warn of impending threats
to U.S. satellites, destroy or defend against attackers, and interrupt enemy
satellites.”*

Bear in mind that we were the principal agents in drawing up the Outer Space
Treaty of 1967, ratified by 98 nations, which originally resulted from fear
of Soviet domination of the Earth, after the USSR launched its Sputnik as the
first satellite to orbit the planet, back in 1957. We wanted to keep all weapons
out of space, so the Earth would not be destroyed, and the Soviet Union
would not conquer us, and rule us in their totalitarian communist way.

Now that we are the most powerful country on Earth, and are most proficient in
space technology, we have decided that we don’t want to abide by the Outer
Space Treaty we championed. No, we want to maintain control of space,
and deny others access to space if we deem to do so. We can use space to
protect our investments in other countries; realize it is the fourth medium
of warfare – besides air, sea, and ground – – to wage our wars from. Like
guiding bombs and planes and troops utilizing our satellite technology, as we
already have done with Afghanistan and Iraq, fighting various battles. Plus
spying.

Be aware that China, Russia and Canada have been pushing for the USA to abandon
its unilateral attempt to gain full spectrum dominance of space, via developing
space weapons, which will start up an arms race in space.

As far as the anti-satellite blasting ‘test’ that China performed in January
of 2007, arms control experts, besides being troubled about the potential for
developing the space arms race, also ponder if the test “alternatively, [could
be] a diplomatic push by Beijing to force the Bush administration into
negotiations on a weapons ban in space.

“It could be a shot across the bow,” Theresa Hitchens suggests. “For several
years, the Russians and Chinese have been trying to push a treaty to ban
space weapons. The concept of exhibiting a hard-power capability to bring somebody
to the negotiating table is a classic cold war technique. “**

Grandmother of the anti-nuclear movement, Australian physician Helen Caldicott,
and Craig Eisendrath, in their 2007 book ‘War in Heaven: The Arms Race in Outer
Space,”stress that the first deployment of weapons [in space] will set off a
multi-trillion-dollar arms race, risk littering orbital space with enough debris
to make it unusable for any civilian purpose, and possibly trigger a nuclear war.’***

This is not an idle possibility, the idea of a nuclear war started by space
weapons. Because, as idiotic as it might sound, with rockets often exploding
on take-off or thereafter at about a one in ten rate, nuclear space fanatics
actually want to re-try convincing our military leaders, NASA, and science-short
politicians like George Bush to develop nuclear powered rockets, and anything else
nuclear to increase the thrust and satisfaction of greed that insensible politicians
can put their signatures to. Remember, besides weapons being our number one
industrial export, the whole Star Wars boondoogle of subsidies and research and development,
plus production, etc., is expected by the aerospace industry to be the greatest
industrial project moneywise in the history of mankind and planet Earth.

As far as space debris goes, there are greater than 110,000 pieces of manmade
space junk out there, more than 18,400 of these being greater than 4 inches
in diameter.*##*

With typical impact velocities of 20,000 miles per hour, even a bolt
or nut can do significant damage to the fuselage of the space shuttle, or
the shell of one of the hundreds of satellites orbiting the Earth.

In an article in the Fall 2007 edition of Catalyst magazine, published by
the Union of Concerned Scientists, here is what author Laura Grego told
told us relative to China destroying one of ‘its defunct weather
satellites’ with an anti-satellite weapon [ASAT]: ‘The force of the
collision completely fragmented the Chinese satellite into orbital debris.
Because this collision occurred at high altitude (around 525 miles above
Earth) where there is little atmospheric drag to slow down debris, much
of the debris will remain in orbit for decades, during which time it
will spread out into a shell encasing Earth.

Future testing or use of such ASAT weapons by any country would significantly
increase the debris population. The satellite destroyed in the Chinese
ASAT test was modestly sized (about one ton); the destruction of a single
large satellite, which can be as large as a school bus and weigh up
to 10 tons, could by itself double the amount of dangerous debris
currently at altitudes near Earth. As debris accumulates, all satellites – –
not just the intended targets – – would experience a resulting higher
risk of collision. In time, this could make it difficult to use space
for the purposes to which it is uniquely suited.’*** And these are not
just military.

Telecommunications, your dish television, your telephones; navigation, for
ships, for your GPS car technology; business and finance, including inventory
management at various locations for your larger companies, to instanteous
approval of your credit card for a purchase practically anywhere
on Earth; weather and climate evaluation, current and to map trends; safety,
including detecting forest fires, oil spills, the efficacy of environmental
clean-ups, catastrophic events and rescues; aiding economic development and
education; astrophysics, for example, using satellite-based telescopes to
understand phenomena like ‘pulsars and black holes that are best or only
observable at electromagnetic frequencies accessable from space…[to
providing] images of celestial objects without the blurring effect of
Earth’s atmosphere.’***

Though our satellites and space itself hold so much promise for
mankind if these are utilized in a peaceful manner, we must be
aware, and worry about the ominously empowered Stratcom, centered in
the heartland of our country, near Omaha, Nebraska. Among many
new responsibilities given to this rather under-reported agency:

“starting this year, STRATCOM’s satellites will be allowed to keep an eye
not only on foreign foes but on you and me as well. This spring, the
government for the first time granted the Department of Homeland Security
and other domestic law-enforcement agencies access to real-time, high-resolution
images and data from military intelligence satellites as they pass over America’s
cities and countryside.

Indeed, after her conference talk, Brig. Gen. Jennifer Napper, deputy commander
for STRATCOM’s Global Network Operations told reporters, “The FBI and CIA are
in our operations center 24/7.” What are they doing there? No one on the outside
can be sure.

In its article on the newly permitted domestic spying from space, the Wall Street
Journal says of intelligence satellites, “The full capabilities of these systems
are unknown outside the intelligence community, because they are among the most
closely held secrets in government.””*##*

Isn’t that great? As we out-Soviet the Soviets, in the spirit of murderous Joseph
Stalin and the KGB, and now Vladimir Putin [ex-prominent-KGB intelligence
employee], we are smothering our own selves in police state suppression, spying
on our own citizens, hampering our own democracy, in violation of our constitution,
and all the warnings of our forefathers from Jefferson to Lincoln to Nader.

Of course, at a recent Strategic Space and Defense trade show and arms bazaar
in Omaha an “industry sponsor” called StratCom “a laboratory for the future of warfare.”

Having foregone all semblance of its purportedly “defensive” role, StratCom today
serves as the command center for offensively waging the administration’s international
“War on Terror” with conventional as well as nuclear weapons, in addition to being given
the responsibility “to launch a first-strike against any perceived threat to America’s
national security anywhere on the planet within two hours.” Tim Rinne of Nebraskans for
Peace tells us.

He further reveals that “StratCom’s long-range plans call for securing space
exclusively for the U.S. and its approved allies. This strategic goal is already fixed,
and will go on regardless of which party controls Congress or whether a Democrat or a
Republican Congress occupies the Oval Office. StratCom is fast becoming a law unto
itself.”

This is most important to know, since the Bush administration has
padded StratCom “in quick succession” with control of U.S. Space Command,
so-called “Missile Defense,” “combating Weapons of Mass Destruction” plus
“Full-Spectrum Global Strike.” And do NOT forget that included here is
Space Command’s “C-4ISR” missions, which are Command, Control, Computers,
Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. All back
there in cornhusker land, Omaha, Nebraska, where Mr. Rinne warns us “the
next war…will be planned, launched and co-ordinated.”****

Does this sound believable? Check the website footnoted below as
**** to get much more information on this agonizingly troubling story.

As far as President Putin of Russia, in his current role, being angered by
the U.S. deployment of interceptors in Poland, and the X-band radar in
the Czech republic, you probably have not heard enough of the details to
understand why the anger exists. Besides the whole so-called ‘Missile Defense’
malarky being a ridiculous money-making ploy for the aerospace industry, and
you of us who invest in mutual funds and stocks involving that industry, Putin
has suggested that if the USA was not really aiming to monitor Russia, why not
put the radar further south in the existing Qabala early warning station in
Azerbaijan??

Theoretically, as mentioned in the cover story of the Defense Monitor, July/
August 2007, then ‘the proposed missile defenses can “defend” all of Europe,
including Southeast Europe. The Poland/Czech Republic arrangement cannot
cover all of Europe. Also, radar at the Azerbaijan site would not be able
to see Russian missile launches going over the pole towards America, which
means that it could not be used to defend America from Russia.’*^*

As far as real estate arrangements go, and you might want to know about this,
‘the current arrangement with Russia at the Qabala radar station in Azerbaijan
is a 10 year lease which expires in 2012, but with an option for renewal.’*^*
Did Putin intend to manage the site, if his suggestion had been accepted?

There were also concerns for Iran, which borders Azerbaijan, re Putin’s proposal.

So, Vladimir Putin’s proposal was not accepted. From the USA’s viewpoint,
if it had been ‘it probably would have derailed the establishment of U.S.
missile defenses in Eastern Europe beyond the time remaining for the Bush
administration, saving U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. It has
taken the Missile Defense Agency [MDA] two years of efforts with Poland and
the Czech Republic to obtain their cooperation, and yet questions still
remain with only 18 months left in the Bush administration…[which] wants
to get concrete poured before its term is up.’*^*

Those proposed missile ‘defense’ sites in Poland and the Czech Republic,
by the way, ‘would essentially be sovereign U.S. territory, like an
embassy.’*^* Recall all those protests in these countries during the
past year. Are you getting the picture? Build up that missile ‘defense’
network in as many places as possible. More established U.S. presence
in as many places as possible, more spying that our country would
be capable of doing, more areas we must defend and expend taxpayer
monies upon, more dollars for the Star Wars industries and the debacle
they care little about, in comparison to potential profits; a debacle
that could threaten Mother Earth’s sanctity and survival as a life-hospitable
planet.

Plus, the whole sham cannot really protect any country from the reality
of the launch of a few missiles, tho we are talking about thousands of
Russian and American missiles, should some hair-triggered event
trigger the end of our civilization. For if any country launches a
missile, they will launch also 25-50 decoys per missile. Neither the
missile nor the decoys can be detected differentially yet by our
technology, so each of both these entities would have to be
destroyed to hit the real missile. Unfortutately, the interceptors
do not always hit their target, so it might take say three interceptors
to be launched per decoy/real missile.

Just for one missile then, you will need at least 78 interceptors to destroy
what COULD be that one real missile. We are assuming the low number, 25
decoys, plus the one real missile in this instance. Guess how many
interceptors will be deployed in Poland, thanks to our MDA arrange-ifiers:
ten! That will not be sufficient, my fellow Americans. That is ridiculous,
but the media you hear and see refuses to tell you any of this basic baloney.

OK, what if Iran launches one missile though??

Think about that, folks…one missile? They would get an overwhelming
response from our military missile manning network that would devastate
their land. They would hardly be that foolish, as would any nation, to
start an attack with just one, or even a few, missiles.

Back here in the USA we still have only have about 40 interceptors
deployed, most of them in Alaska.

And the success rate of intercepts is less than fifty percent, but not
in scenarios based on reality. All the decoys are not launched at the same
time, in a pre-known manner, as our testers have been doing. Nor would
Iran or North Korea use just one or two missiles without ANY decoys
or other countermeasures, as our MDA has feebly proposed in their
dumbing down scripting of what would happen.

We know all about decoys and countermeasures surrounding our missile
launches very well. We have used these in a variably deployable time frame,
in a variable manner, when developing our missile technology, as
have all nations that have missiles in their armamentarium. Though, you
might want to know that even today, 95% of all missiles belong to the
USA and Russia.

We need space for peace. 163 nations signed the ‘Prevention of an
Arms Race In Space’ resolution at the United Nations on November 20th,
2000. Only the USA and Israel, and the USA-dependent Micronesia islands,
abstained from the voting. Right now, we are a power-hungry nation,
with more power than any other nation by far. Our corporations, especially
our so-profitable aerospace corporations, are leading us by the nose-ring
to hallucinatory heights that can only lead us and the rest of planet Earth
to selfish destruction. We have become gamingly immune to death, thanks
to our media and our hawkwinged leaders.

China is going forward, on many many fronts, threatening our nation’s
economic and political supremacy, or so we seem to think. Can’t we
cut our addiction to arms and war, so our civilization can continue
in a golden age, blessed by the better facets of our miraculous
technological advances? Can’t we co-operate with our fellow human
beings to improve our feelings of well-being and unity, instead
of raping the planet of its natural resources, ‘needing’ to establish
military and missile ‘defense’ bases all around and above the globe
to protect our investments? While we endanger the Earthly commons
that all nations and people should be sharing??

This is a silly time, when we could behaving much more intelligently
to secure our wealth of culture, worldly goods and resources,
and peaceful interweavings of all forms of life. Let us hope things
may change. But the debate about whatever we talk about must
not be controlled by misleading media or deceptive politicians and
corporate greed.

P.S. Here are some specific weapons/devices the World Policy Institute
and other sources report are ‘under planning or development in the
murkier parts of the [USA] military-industrial budget:

Micro-satellites that could stalk and destroy satellites of other nations;

The Evolutionary Air and Space Global Laser Engagement (EAGLE) project, a
series of orbiting mirrors to direct beams from ground- or air-based lasers
at targets in space;

The ground-based Kinetic Energy Anti-Satellite Weapon, which could shoot
down satellites with missiles, along with the Kinetic Energy Interceptor,
a missile-defense system that could double as an anti-satellite weapon;

Hypervelocity Rod Bundles, or “Rods from God,” 20-foot-long, one-foot-diameter
tungsten poles (existing only on paper at this point) that would be hurled
from low-Earth orbit at 25,000 miles per hour to pulverize “hardened”
targets in enemy territory.’*##* [Mentioned in paragraph 2 of this webpost.]

As Stan Cox wrote in his ‘Real-Life Star Wars: The Militarization of Space,’
Alternet article of November 2007: ‘Such specifics were scarce at [last
month’s annual Strategic Space and Defense Conference in Omaha, Nebraska] but
the audience knew how to peer between the speakers’ euphemisms and
understand what was being discussed when, for example, Global Strike
deputy commander Rear Adm. James Caldwell said his mission was to “deliver
global effects, both kinetic and non-kinetic,” or when Air Force Col.
Kevin McLaughlin, as if giving a medical lecture, spoke of the “timely
application of space power.”‘*##*

One final unfunny bunch of words I regret to share with you now, from
the end of Cox’s article:

‘And in Omaha, Gen. Kehler stressed STRATCOM’s distrust of treaties
symbolically: “Boundaries drawn by us will be viewed by the enemy
as seams to exploit.”‘

OK, now this is the paragraph that really is puzzling and sad: ‘Other
American space hawks have derided international efforts to promote peace and
harmony in the heavens as a type of “lawfare,” defining it straight-facedly
as “a strategy of using or misusing law as a substitute for traditional
military means to achieve military objectives.”‘*##*

Lawfare. You just can’t do dat. Blow em to bits. Bring it on! But
none of that ‘lawfare.’ Although ‘tort reform,’ well, now THAT is another
story. Protect those corporations and mega-institutions via laws
limiting their liability, when workers or customers get killed or maimed.
Yes, tort reform is what George Bush used as his major campaign issue
to re-win the governorship of Texas before he ran for president. But,
none of that lawfare now. Not today. Not when a State Department official
recently explained “Arms control is not a viable solution for space.”*##*

November 30,2007
Copyright Conrad Miller M.D.

* ‘Space Defense Program Gets Extra Funding,’ by Walter Pincus, Nov. 12, 2007,
NY Times.

** ‘China Tests Anti-Satellite Weapon, Unnerving U.S.’ By WILLIAM J. BROAD
and DAVID E. SANGER, Jan. 18, 2007, NY Times.

*** ‘The Space Age at 50,’ by Laura Grego, Catalyst magazine, published by
the Union of Concerned Scientists, Fall 2007 edition, pages 5-7 and 12.

*##* ‘Real-Life Star Wars: The Militarization of Space,’ By Stan Cox,
AlterNet, http://www.alternet.org/audits/67699/?page=4

**** See http://www.space4peace.org newsletters 2006 and 2007

*^* ‘U.S. Missile Defenses in Europe: The Putin Alternative,’ by Hon. Philip
E. Coyle, III, Senior Advisor, Center for Defense Information [CDI], Volume
XXXVI, Number 4, July/August 2007, The Defense Monitor, pages 1-3.

Please check the above references and sites for more information, images, charts, relating to the issues discussed in this webpost.

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