European Peace Action forum, 20th September 2008

Space in an integral part of modern war fighting. From the US "missile defence" system, to unmanned aerial vehicles to satellite surveillance to basic communications, modern, high-tech militaries rely on their space capabilities. Introduction by Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator for Global Network Against Nuclear Power and Weapons in Space.

Notes by Bruce Gagnon:

• It is great to be with you today. I bring greetings from Global Network (GN) affiliated groups in the U.S. and around the world. GN is made up of 150 organizations working to prevent a new arms race in space.

• In preparation for endless war George W. Bush has increased military spending by 50% during his time in office - now about $1 trillion a year.

• More than 750 military bases in over 125 countries make up the U.S. empire today.

• The U.S. spends over $30 billion a year on its black budget - secret high-tech space technology development programs that the Congress is not even allowed to know about.

• The Pentagon says that under corporate globalization every country will have a different a role.

• America's will be "Security export" - which means endless war.....

• Directed by space technology.

• U.S. says it won't do international treaties any more.....

• Treaties would restrict the Pentagon's ability to launch first-strike attacks.

• The Space Command planning document "Vision for 2020" says the U.S. must "control and dominate" space and "deny" other countries access to space.

• The U.S. must be the "Master of Space"....

• Because all warfare on planet today is coordinated by space technology.

• When the U.S. launched the "shock and awe" invasion of Iraq in 2003....

• 70% of the weapons used in the opening attack were directed to their targets by military space satellites.

• The military says that whoever controls space will win all the wars on the Earth below.

• In the U.S., in Omaha, Nebraska, is the headquarters of Strategic Command (StratCom).

• Since 9-11 StratCom has new duties, they are now in charge of:

• All nuclear weapons

• National Security Agency satellites - spying on all the people of world

• Control & domination of space - HQ of US Space Command

• All first-strike planning - global strike it is called - including any Iran attack

• The U.S. intends to be the Uber meister of the planet.

• The Pentagon says that Star Wars will be the largest industrial project in the history of the planet.

• To pay for all of this the U.S. aerospace industry plans to defund "social programs".

• The Air Force has begun a public relations program called "Air Force Over All" - a slogan very similar to Germany Uber Alles - calling on the public to support greater military funding for high-tech space programs.

• The Pentagon is talking about the destruction of social progress in the U.S.

• Essentially a return to feudalism - we must say never again to this.

• U.S. is now moving to militarily encircle Russia by deploying missile defense systems in Poland and Czech Republic knowing they would give the U.S. first-strike advantage over Russia.

• Russia has the world's largest deposits of natural gas and large supplies of oil.

• In addition to the six new permanent bases in Afghanistan and a dozen permanent bases in Iraq......

• U.S. is also establishing military bases in Romania, Bulgaria.

• NATO intends to expand into Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia and quite possibly even Georgia.

• This endless quest for superiority is part of the larger gamble that U.S. elites are making with all our futures - that the pursuit of global military dominance will allow them to shore up their slipping economic control for a few decades more.

• Control by force and dominance - by endless war.

• Will they create a new cold war? - We must say never again.

• How does Europe fit into all of this?

• The U.S. wants to spread these "missile defense" programs via NATO throughout Europe.

• In 2013 the European Space Agency (ESA) will activate its own satellite-based space navigation system - Galileo. The new navigation system will consist of 30 satellites in orbit.

• Like all space technology programs Galileo is now costing more than originally estimated.

• At some point the conversation will turn to "Europe must protect" our investment in Galileo. It is vulnerable to attack. Europe must build space weapons systems to protect Galileo.

• And will Galileo be integrated with NATO and used to help direct warfare in Afghanistan or against Russia as NATO is drawn into that conflict?

• Already we see the Vardo radar facility in Norway integrated with the U.S space technology system being directed at Russia.

• In Sweden and Denmark space technology surveillance bases help the U.S. spy on the people of Europe.

• In the U.S. state of Alaska, a "civilian spaceport" was built on Kodiak Island which is famous for bears and fish. The public was told that the military would not use this launch facility. To date no civilian launches have ever happened there. All of them have been military Star Wars tests.

• As the line between civilian and military space technology gets rubbed out, dual-use it's now called, will the spaceport launch site at Kiruna in Sweden begin to launch military related rockets?

• Will Norway's Andøya Rocket Range at some point become a launch facility for NATO "missile defense" as the program gets expanded to include member states throughout Europe?

• The U.S. space radar base at Thule, Greenland is now being upgraded for participation in Star Wars after a US-Denmark agreement was signed. The indigenous Inuit people, who were moved off their land to build the radar, still stand in resistance to this base.

• The Pentagon is saying to European aerospace corporations: "You don't want to get left behind the technological curve do you? Space is where it is at these days. You'd better get your government on-board before it's too late!"

• The European Space Agency (ESA) initiative to increase interaction between European universities, research institutes and industry will lead to further militarization of higher education - including the development of nanotechnology weapons.

• As this trend continues where will the money come from in Europe to pay for this growing militarization of space?

• How do we get out from behind this problem of a new arms race in space?

• The peace movement must create a positive alternative vision for the future. We must create a unifying message that unites the environmental community, the labor unions, along with the peace movement.

• This is a very important step for us to take. We must call for the conversion of global war machine to peaceful production.

• In order to effectively deal with global climate change.....

• Our resources must be used to completely change our industrial societies.

• We must use our public funds to weatherize all of our homes and buildings......

• We must invest more of our public monies in solar, wind, tidal power, and rail systems.

• Research shows that spending money on these alternative technologies rather than weapons creates more jobs.

• Jobs that serve the future generations. Jobs that people can be proud of rather than creating a new arms race in space.

• And finally. we must work together, worldwide, to abolish war just like slavery was once abolished.

• In the end it is a spiritual question.....

• It is about our broken relationship to the Mother Earth.

• The Native Americans talked about the sacred hoop....

• That everything is related - the earth, the animals, the air, the water, the plants, the people.

• It is time to heal our broken spirits....

• We must heal the sacred circle.

 

- Thank you.