Saying No to Space War Madness
by Rosalie Paul
Bruce Gagnon wants to raise awareness of what NASA and the U.S. Space
Command are doing to ensure U.S. dominance of the heavens. He speaks all
over the world to help audiences understand the need to say "NO" to space
war madness. Gagnon, of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power
in Space addressed a group at the Peace and Justice Center on August 19.
When asked if he is speaking to the choir, he said, "Yes, the choir talks
about National Missile Defense and Theater Missile Defense but they don't
really know the words to the song. We can't have a meaningful service till
the choir really knows the words!"
So it's up to us to become really familiar with U.S. plans for controlling
the world from outer space.
During the Second World War, the Germans built a concentration camp called
Dora where thousands of Jews and Gypsies were used as slave labor to
construct the original rockets, designed by people like Werner Von Braun.
After the war, the rocket scientists were brought to the U.S. where they
were hired to teach American scientists all they knew. The Nazi scientists
rose through the ranks and became our most honored and renowned leaders in
the field.
That was the origin of NASA which, despite popular belief, has always been
controlled by the military and has always had the goal of protecting U.S.
economic interests by ruling the space between the Earth and the Moon. Even
as early as the 1950's it was known that whoever controls that space will
control all egress from our planet.
Even those who believe that military dominance is moral leadership and an
acceptable way of using power, must find the plans for militarizing space
insane. To ring our spherical planet with nuclear-powered satellites ready
to blow up the satellites of other nations whose economic interests
infringe on our own, would put the entire planet at risk of a rain of
plutonium dust and radioactive debris. Americans would be no safer than the
Chinese.
A look at the Space Command's booklet called "Vision for 2020" is clear
evidence of the adolescence of the dominant culture. Since the beginning of
recorded history, technological inventiveness has led us from one weapons
system to the next. It has always been cruel and childish, but to continue
in a direction that can destroy us all is utterly unacceptable, particularly
when we begin to see the possibility of using our power to nurture rather
than to dominate. It is up to us to enlarge the choir and to orchestrate
alternatives.
For more information on the U.S. Space Command and the "Vision for 2020" see
the June/Summer issue of PeaceTalk.
Back to Peace Talk Index, Autumn, 2001