Controlling Space to Enforce the Global Economy
"Control" and "dominate" are two words that are used repeatedly in U.S.
military documents, as in "the United States is seeking to control space and
dominate the Earth below."
A recent report of the Space Commission, chaired by Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld notes: "In the coming period, the U.S. will conduct operations to,
from, in and through space in support of its national interests both on the
Earth and in space."
We first heard about US dominance of the heavens under Reagan in 1983 when
his "Star Wars" program was needed "to fend off the evil empire." Now,
though, the public media keep a prescribed silence, government publications
are straightforward and clear about why the US needs to develop space-based
weaponry.
The U.S. Space Command, set up by the Pentagon in 1985 and centered in
Colorado Springs, has published A Vision for 2020, which describes the Space
Command as: "dominating the space dimension of military operations to
protect US interests and investment." It also notes that "the globalization
of the world economy will continue with a widening between haves and
have-nots." The mission of the Space Command is to keep the "have-nots" in
line from space.
According to Vision for 2020, centuries ago "nations built navies to protect
and enhance their commercial interests." The United States, it says, will
remain a global power and exert global leadership. "Widespread
communications will highlight disparities in resources and quality of life,
contributing to unrest in developing countries. The global economy will
continue to become more interdependent. Economic alliances, as well as the
growth and influence of multi-national corporations, will blur security
agreements. The gap between "have" and "have-not" nations will widen,
creating regional unrest. "One of the long-acknowledged and
commonly-understood advantages of space-based platforms is that there are no
restrictions or country clearances needed before overflying a nation from
space."
As Bill Sulzman, director of Citizens for Peace In Space, put it at the
international conference last year of the Global Network Against Weapons and
Nuclear Power In Space, the U.S. Space Command seeks to become "the
enforcement arm for the global economy."
Existing and planned global and regional trade agreements --- drafted by
single-minded trade lawyers with the purpose of securing transnational
rights for corporations at the expense of citizens and governments, and with
the intent of entrenching privatization, deregulation, and a flawed and
failing system of unfettered "global capitalism" enforced with an iron fist
are inimical to grass roots democracy
U.S. citizens are not aware of our country's broad military plans for space
because of the PR spin of the new Star Wars pitch (it's about protecting
against a "Space Pearl Harbor," as the Rumsfeld Commission puts it).
But other nations of the world do understand. That's why, at the United
Nations last November 20, a resolution was introduced on which 163 nations
voted yes for Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space. It reaffirmed the
Outer Space Treaty of 1967,the basic international law on space, and,
specifically, its provision that space be set aside for peaceful purposes.
The United States abstained.
Working closely with the U.S. military in achieving the goal of becoming the
master of space are major aerospace corporations. Indeed, the Long Range
Plan of the U.S. Space Command starts out by explaining how that has been
the #1 priority, investing nearly 20 man-years to make it a reality. "The
development and production process, by design, involved hundreds of people
including about 75 corporations."
It was Clinton's Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force for Space Keith
Hall who said: "With regard to space dominance, we have it, we like it, and
we're going to keep it."
The Bush/Cheney administration is intimately linked to the aerospace
companies. Cheney was a member of the TRW board; his wife, Lynn, is a member
of the Lockheed Martin board, and is tied to the ultra right-wing "think
tanks" that, with the U.S. military, have been promoting Star Wars.
The report by the Rumsfeld Space Commission says the U.S. president should
have the option to deploy weapons in space. It emphasizes that it is
possible to project power through and from space in response to events
anywhere in the world. Unlike weapons from aircraft, land forces or ships,
space missions initiated from earth or space could be carried out with
little transit, information or weather delay. Having this capability would
give the U.S. a much stronger deterrent, and, in a conflict, an
extraordinary military advantage. It proposes the U.S. Space Command become
the nucleus of a U.S. Space Corps, to be like the Marine Corps and possibly
"transition" to a fully separate Space Force or "Space Department" on par
with the Army, Navy and Air Force several years hence.
Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) introduced the legislation that established the
Rumsfeld Space Commission. In a recent interview he said, "It is our
manifest destiny. You know we went from the East Coast to the West Coast of
the United States of America settling the continent, and they call that
manifest destiny, and the next continent if you will, the next frontier, is
space and it goes on forever."
In their book, "The Future of War: Power, Technology and American World
Dominance in the 2lst Century," think-tankers George and Meredith Friedman,
conclude: "Just as by the year 1500 it was apparent that the European
experience of power would be its domination of the global seas, it does not
take much to see that the American experience of power will rest on the
domination of space...Just as Europe expanded war and its power to the
global oceans, the United States is expanding war and its power into space.
Just as Europe shaped the world for half a millennium, so too the United
States will shape the world for at least that length of time. For better or
worse, America has seized hold of the future of war, and with it, for a
time, the future of humanity."
The rest of the world will not sit back and accept U.S. "world dominance"
from space. If the U.S. moves ahead on its program of astro-imperialism,
deploying weapons in space, other nations, China and Russia right off, will
meet the U.S. in kind. There will be an arms race, and, inevitably, war in
space. As First Secretary of China"s UN delegation, Wang Xiaoyu, has
declared: "Outer space is the common heritage of human beings. It should be
used entirely for peaceful purposes and for the economic, scientific, and
cultural development of all countries as well as the well-being of mankind.
It must not be weaponized and become another arena of the arms race." "Space
domination," he stated, "is a hegemonic concept. Its essence is monopoly of
space and denial of others access to it." If the U.S. pushes ahead, "other
countries would in response launch their own" space military programs, China
vowed.
The weapons the U.S. military wants to deploy in space, especially lasers,
will need large amounts of power. And nuclear energy is seen by the U.S.
military as the natural power source for them. As "New World Vistas: Air And
Space Power For The 2lst Century," a U.S. Air Force board report, states:
"In the next two decades, new technologies will allow the fielding of
space-based weapons of devastating effectiveness, to be used to deliver
energy and mass as force projection in tactical and strategic conflict.
These advances will enable lasers with reasonable mass and cost to effect
very many kills." But "power limitations impose restrictions" on such-based
weapons systems, making them "relatively unfeasible. A natural technology to
enable high power," it goes on, "is nuclear power in space."
The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 is a visionary document. It is a pact to keep
war out of space. The U.S., incidentally, was a leader in getting it
enacted. It is now signed by most nations of the world. Based on the
Antarctic Treaty, it calls for the "exploration and use of outer space [to]
the benefit and in the interests of all countries," and prohibits the
"placement in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or
any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction." For nearly four decades, it
has kept space war-free.
What a legacy to leave our children and their children at the dawn of this
new millennium. If the U.S. succeeds in trashing the Outer Space Treaty and
makes space a new place for war, no one will profit save Boeing, Lockheed
Martin, Raytheon and TRW.
Source: Karl Grossman, Professor of journalism at the State University of
New York/College at Old Westbury, is a charter member of the Commission on
Disarmament Education, Conflict Resolution and Peace of the International
Association of University Presidents.
Back to Peace Talk Index, Summer, 2001