Essentially ignored by the American corporate news media are available facts about the militarization and weaponization of space. While space has been used by the US for terrestrial military purposes for years, many experts believe that an arms race in space is around the corner, including the deployment of weapons that can potentially hit spots anywhere on earth as well as target specific satellites.  It’s hard to think of a more serious threat that barely gets noticed. The budgeting and planning of this global threat is largely in the hands of elected US officials.  Unfortunately, despite repeated calls from the world community, the US has long refused to negotiate a new peace treaty for space that would ban all weapons, instead forging ahead with military plans for "full spectrum dominance" and causing China and Russia to step up their efforts towards militarization and weaponization in order to try to catch up. 

In January, 2008, the Obama campaign issued a space policy statement on its website that stated that the candidate wants to keep weapons out of space.  However, despite his anti-weaponization stance, Obama has been mum on the Democratic- and Republican-supported policy that continues to militarize space and seeks absolute control of space in order to maintain hegemony on Earth [Correction: Obama’s website currently proclaims that he favors a worldwide ban on space weapons (10/11/08)]. This military-industry-supported policy puts all nations, including the US, in danger.  On top of it all, seeing as the US has by far the most satellites orbiting the Earth, both civilian/corporate and military, it has by far the most to lose by aggressively pursuing ownership of space. The whole thing looks like sheer lunacy.  Presidential candidates, American citizens and Congress should be discussing space militarization and weaponization.  The issue needs to be on the news media’s agenda.

 

See the "Vision for 2020" US Space Command brochure outlining Clinton era policy, with lots of pretty pictures.  Pure Strangelove.

Also see this  US Air Force space policy brochure, from 2004.

More info online:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7915501/
http://www.space4peace.org/articles/bush_opens_space_to_combat.htm
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/755/1
http://www.nebraskansforpeace.org/articles/reallifestarwars.php

Also recommended: "War In Heaven: The Arms Race in Outer Space," by Helen Caldicott and Craig Eisendrath, The New Press, 2007.

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