Outer space warfare looming, says new report
CND Report, published today, demands ban on space weapons before it's
too late
A
new report published today by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
details alarming plans to place weapons in Outer Space and explains how
UK
support for the
US
"Missile Defence" system is helping the
US
their stated aim of "dominance" and "control" of space.
The report, called
Fighting for Space, was written by the Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament and explains how the US plans to deploy the world's first
working space weapon - the experimental NFIRE - next Summer. The NFIRE
is a test weapon which is being deployed under the guise of Missile
Defence, yet it will supply data on the effectiveness of what the
US calls
"kinetic-kill technology" - a satellite based weapon capable of
attacking other objects in space.
In the report CND
details past cold-war attempts to deploy space weapons but more
disturbingly details plans and proposals for space weapons of the
future. The
US, it explains, is keen to control and
dominate space and to deny others access to space. This, the report
explains, will provoke nuclear proliferation on the Earth and may
provoke a space arms race.
Neil Kingsnorth, the
report's author, explained,
"Hawkish factions within the
US are undoubtedly
fervently chasing their dream of space warfare. We could see the first
space weapon within a year and yet there are no rules whatsoever to
control this. There are rules for guns, bombs, nuclear weapons and even
rules for warfare. This threat is very real and we now need a Treaty to
ban space weapons before the heavens become a battlefield."
The report has been
published as part of a newly launched campaign by CND to highlight the
threat of Missile Defence and space weapons. On top of the report,
lobbying work and education, CND plans to hold a national demonstration
at the
UK's Star Wars base, Fylingdales, on
Saturday September 25th (The first day of Keep Space for
Peace Week). They also plan to walk the 70 miles between the likely next
UK Star Wars base - Menwith Hill - and Fylingdales between Hiroshima and
Nagasaki day (August 6th - 9th) to raise awareness
of the bases and the campaign.
Kate Hudson, Chair of
British CND, said,
"The reality is that Missile Defence is about control in warfare and
control in peacetime. It's about making wars like that in
Iraq easier to start and easier to win. As this report explains, the US
plans to use Missile Defence as an excuse to deploy weapons in space and
it is time that the UK government stood up and said enough is enough. UK
military bases are integral to Missile Defence and we should be stating
loud and clear our opposition to space weapons, space warfare or space
dominance."
The report will be
sent out to key politicians in the
UK and Brussels and made available to
the public.
