Fwd: EO dominance critical to USA

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Begin forwarded message:

From: Bobby Martin <bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com>
Date: January 5, 2014 10:29:18 PM CST
To: bobbygmartin1938.caspers@blogger.com, bobbygmartin1938.casper@blogger.com, bobbygmartin1938.casperx@blogger.com
Subject: EO dominance critical to USA

Weapons in Space

Human beings have long wanted to control the space above planet Earth. Forty nations now operate space satellites. And it is no secret that military weapons designers are planning space-based lasers, and particle-beam weapons that are nuclear-powered. One key U.S. official, General Joseph Ashy, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Space Command, put it bluntly several years ago: "It's politically sensitive, but it's going to happen.... we're going to fight in space. We're going to fight from space and we're going to fight into space.... That's why the U.S. has development programs in directed energy and hit-to-kill mechanisms. We'll expand into these two missions—space control and space force application—because they will become increasingly important. We will engage terrestrial targets someday—ships, airplanes, land targets—from space. We will engage targets in space, from space" ("Waging War in Space," Nation, December 9, 1999).

War in space would also increase the danger of an accidental nuclear exchange, which could lead to the total devastation of modern Western civilization. The article continues with this sobering example: "Is war in space inevitable? The idea of such a war has been around since Sputnik, but for most of the Cold War it remained safely within the realm of science fiction and the carefully proscribed U.S.-Soviet arms race. But a dozen countries now can reach space with satellites—and, therefore, with weapons. China strutted its stuff in January 2007 by shooting down one of its own weather satellites 530 miles above the planet" ("U.S. leads in preparing for war in space," New York Times, March 9, 2008).

U.S. Undersecretary of State Robert G. Joseph made it clear that his nation would act forcibly to defend its space systems: "We reserve the right to defend ourselves against hostile attacks and interference with our space assets. We will, therefore, oppose others who wish to use their military capabilities to impede or deny our access to and use of space. We will seek the best capabilities to protect our space assets by active or passive means" ("Talk of Satellite Defense Raises Fears of Space War," Washington Post, December 17, 2006).

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