Space War: United States Against The World
In December of 2001 the George W. Bush administration announced that it would withdraw the United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, with Bush stating, "we no longer live in the Cold War world for which the ABM Treaty was designed."
Six months later it formally did so and at the same time "the Pentagon [was] set to break ground...at Fort Greely, Alaska, on the previously prohibited construction of six underground silos for missile interceptors." [28]
An Indian analyst said that "The U.S. withdrawal in 2001 from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty has raised concerns, especially among the Russians and the Chinese, about its intentions in space.
"Ballistic missile defence systems, whether ground-based, airborne or space-based, can also potentially target satellites.
"[T]he U.S. abrogated the ABM Treaty and there was a lot of emphasis on space control, on limiting [space] access to others, which were totally in contravention of the spirit of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967." [29]
The same pattern of arbitrariness and recklessness has been pursued by Washington in relation to the weaponization of space.
Russia and China have for years introduced resolutions in the United Nations calling for the prohibition of weapons in space and against the use of space for military purposes. The US has just as consistently opposed their efforts.
Last September Russia renewed its call to preserve outer space as a zone of peace. After a meeting with Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov urged European nations to join efforts to avoid an extraterrestrial arms race, saying, "It is high time to discuss the problem, and it is crucial that countries with the ability to contribute to its solution take part in the negotiations, especially European nations."-
The report from which the above emanated offered this perspective: "Along with the US missile shield program and the idea of a blitzkrieg, an outer space arms race is among the major destabilizing factors for global security." [30]
A Russian analytical news site reported at the same time that the danger of space war was potentially catastrophic and was being pursued without regard to its consequences:
"[T]he true reason behind the American plans for global anti-ballistic missile defense and space militarization [is that the] United States believes that over the next two to three decades, it can beat the others (Russia and China) in these spheres and gain a decisive strategic military advantage.
"A frightening Cold-War-type arms race to counter the U.S. missile defense systems and militarization of space is about to take off in earnest....This arms race is perhaps as dangerous as the Cold War one. This time, however, the trigger is in the hands of only one party "" the U.S. establishment.
"Unfortunately, the signs are that the United States is already pulling the trigger." [31]
The above echoed comparable concerns voiced by Chinese military experts three months before. In a book published by the government's China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, two armed forces experts stated that "Strategic confrontation in outer space is difficult to avoid. The development of outer space forces shows signs that a space arms race to seize the commanding heights is emerging.
"Dominated by the idea of absolute domination of outer space, a major power is making a big fuss about space domination, creating rivals and provoking confrontation."- [32]
In a stark warning last October, veteran Russian journalist Valentin Zorin said that "The new arms race will be incomplete without plans for the weaponization of outer space" and "U.S. attempts to turn outer space into a third field of combat operations may prove as dangerous as the American decision to use a nuclear device on August, 1945." [33]
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