WHAT IS MISSILE DEFENCE?

Missile Defence, or “Star Wars” as it's sometimes known, was first dreamt up by President Ronald Reagan’s administration in the 1980's and the version that is currently being developed is a toned down version of the same plan.

The idea is that with a system of satellites in space and radar bases, listening stations and interceptor missiles on the ground across the globe, the United States will be able to find, monitor and shoot down missiles that are fired at their country and allied countries.

Military spying and monitoring stations dotted across the globe, including two in Yorkshire, are key to finding and tracking the missiles as they travel towards their targets. Once the co-ordinates are confirmed US Interceptor missiles would fire at the incoming missiles to blow them out of the sky - sometimes likened to hitting a bullet with a bullet.

Other options for intercepting missiles being considered and developed include the use of Air-borne lasers on Boeing 747s and space-based lasers on satellites.

In June 2002 the USA withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty - a bilateral treaty between the USA and Russia. That withdrawal, which killed the treaty off, allowed the the USA to push full steam ahead with missile defence.

Star Wars is no longer just fiction.

WHY DO THEY ARGUE THAT THEY NEED IT?

The United states argues that the need for a missile defence system stems from their need for protection from "rogue states" - countries like North Korea, Iraq, Iran and Syria. They argue that these countries may one day have the capability to fire nuclear-tipped inter-continental ballistic missiles at the United States and as such they need a shield to protect themselves.

BEHIND THE SPIN

That's the public face of missile defence. However, the truth is, missile defence has less to do with defence and more to do with control. And its consequences are frightening. An arms race, war in and from space, "Full spectrum dominance" and the likelihood of making the UK a bigger target to enemy states are all very real threats posed by the system.

Provoking an arms race
In the eyes of many countries, one big powerful state, with the world's biggest military machine and a shield to protect from limited attack, is not such an attractive proposition.

After all, if that country wanted to attack another state with inter-continental ballistic missiles, it could do so without the target state being able to launch a successful retaliatory response - a missile defence shield would defend against any limited response that could be made from missiles not destroyed in the first strike.

In other words, the country with the shield would have "first strike ability". Lt. Col. Robert Bowman, U.S. Air Force director, called missile defence: "...the missing link to a First Strike."

Put another way, in the words of the New American Century - a powerful right wing lobby group of which Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Jeb Bush are members, "The United States must ... develop and deploy global missile defenses to defend the American homeland and American allies, and to provide a secure basis for U.S. power projection around the world."

Whether this first strike threat is real or just perceived, the response of states such as China, is to threaten to increase their arsenals of nuclear warheads. A missile defence system would be too limited to defend against a vast number of incoming missiles. China has therefore threatened to increase its number of nuclear warheads in order to be able to pierce the shield and redress the military imbalance.

China's neighbours, India, have threatened to respond to such an increase with an increase in their own arsenals, and Pakistan would then follow suit.

So, by appearing to give the USA the final piece in the jigsaw of military power and by supporting the idea of aggresive military escalation, missile defence threatens to provoke nuclear proliferation the world over.

"Full Spectrum Dominance"
This phrase was dreamt up by the US military and means the complete military dominance of land, sea, air, space and information and it is a stated key military aim of the USA. The USA considers the first strike ability created by a missile defence system to be a key element to their achievement of Full Spectrum Dominance. There is another angle too - space.

Weapons in space
Military development of space has increased rapidly over the past few decades to become an essential tool for modern warfare. Already satellite systems provide target information, the ability to monitor enemy movements, secure troop communication systems and weapons guiding. Space, as the United States Space Command put it, is "the fourth medium of warfare".

Space is becoming more and more militarised.The USA wants to make space weaponised too, and missile defence is a big step in that direction.

Missile defence plans include:
- Firing interceptor missiles out of the atmosphere to intercept inter-continental ballistic missiles in space
- Developing lasers on satellites that can not only intercept inter-continental ballistic missiles in space but also fire through the atmosphere on to the Earth
- Developing a system of spying and monitoring satellites in space Missile defence is key to the US's dream of developing space for warfare and so achieving “full spectrum dominance.”

Making the UK a target
"Enemies intent on using weapons of mass destruction would see the need to take on our infrastructure, of which the ballistic missile warning radars [such as Fylingdales in Yorkshire] would be a very important and perhaps the most vulnerable part." - Air Marshal Sir Timothy Garden, former Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff

Despite UK government claims to the contrary, UK involvement in missile defence makes the UK more of a target to our and the USA's aggressors. In much the same way that forces usually knock out a country's air defence's before starting a full-on attack, so as to increase the chances of success, so a state about to attack the USA would want to take out their defences first.

So, if a state wanted to attack the USA with ballistic missiles, they may first move to disable missile defence. The easiest and most effective way to do that would be to disable a key tracking station. With two such stations in Yorkshire and possibly a third in Norfolk that makes the UK a target.

The government scoffs at such a suggestion, arguing that no country has precise enough ballistic missiles to attack a base in the UK. But as September 11th showed there are ways to attack a country without using ballistic missiles. A terrorist attack using a plane or a dirty bomb for example, could disable one of the UK bases, knock out the system, as well as killing or injuring the people living in the surrounding area. Far from protecting the UK, the system makes us a target.

A waste of money
The US is currently spending around $7.4bn per annum on missile defence research and development - money that could be put to much more effective uses. By 2034 missile defence is projected to have cost about $1.2 trillion. Enough money to feed, clothe, educate and house everyone in the world. Despite the large amounts of money invested to date, missile defence is a high risk, as yet unproven project which faces vast technological challenges.

The UK is likely to spend something like £10 billion on the system. That money could be spent in the UK on improving the lives of the people that live here - hospitals, schools, transport, the environment. Alternatively, it could be spent on projects that tackle the root causes of terrorism, so reducing the likelihood of being attacked at all.

THE UK AND STAR WARS

***MENWITH HILL*** Location: 8 miles West of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Officially run by: RAF Practically run by: National Security Agency (NSA) Personnel: approx. 1800 staff, 1400 of which are US Missile Defence link: Ground relay station for the Space Based infrared satellite system

***FYLINGDALES*** Location: Off A159 between Pickering and Whitby, in North York Moors National Park. Officially run by: RAF but data is shared with USA Personnel: 300 Missile Defence link: Ballistic missile early warning radar. Permission for use in the system already granted by UK.

***FELTWELL*** Location: Thetford, Norfolk, Officially run by: RAF Practically run by: US 5th Space Surveillance Squadron - which operates under the US Space Command's 21st Space Wing. Missile Defence link: Unconfirmed but strongly suspected of being another key missile defence base. It is a Deep Space Tracking System & Low Altitude Space Surveillance System.

UK involvement goes further than the use of military bases in the UK. There is a real possibility that missile defence interceptor missiles could be positioned on UK soil, making the UK even more of a target and emphasising the impression that the UK acts as an outpost for US foreign policy. What's more UK corporations are keen to get a slice of the cake and the government cites industrial benefits as a key reason for supporting the programme.

THE ALTERNATIVES

Eliminating Weapons of Mass Destruction is the best defence against ballistic missiles.

Missile Defence is the most costly and high risk strategy for tackling the threat from ballistic missiles. The most effective way to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery is by strengthening international non-proliferation and disarmament agreements, not by developing expensive and technologically questionable missile defence programmes.

According to UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala: "When all is said and done - after all the alternatives of missile defence, arms control, counter-proliferation, deterrence (extended or minimal), and the quixotic pursuit of "full-spectrum dominance" are tried - nothing quite delivers the concrete security benefits that all countries would enjoy from the total elimination of nuclear weapons. This is not simply an ideal, but arguably the most truly realistic of all approaches to international peace and security at the global strategic level."

TAKE ACTION!

! Join the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and receive the regular newsletter detailing ways to take action, as well as supporting the campaign.

! Write to your MP and ask him or her what their stance is on missile defence. Ask them to write to the MOD on your behalf to disapprove of UK involvement and to send you the response.

! Join the regular demonstration at Menwith Hill organised by the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases - outside the main gate every Tuesday evening from 7pm - 9pm ! Stay in touch by visiting the key missile defence websites, listed below

“Any efforts to amend the ABM treaty or to withdraw from the ABM treaty would not only threaten the nuclear disarmament process but would also shatter the basis for nuclear non-prolferation and will give rise to a new arms race, including an arms race in outer space” Sha Zukang, Chinese Foreign Ministry Arms Control Director. . . . The USA withdrew from the ABM treaty in June 2002 . . .

“The growing pressure to deploy national missile defences ... could well lead to a new arms race, setbacks for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and create new incentives for missile proliferation” Kofi Annan, UN General Secretary

“It is in the interest of Germany, Europe and the Alliance to avert a handicapping of the arms control process” Joschka Fisher, German Foreign Minister, on missile defence

“We’re against having a cure that is worse than the disease” Vladimir Putin, Russian President, on missile defence

“US Space Command will have a greatly enhanced role as an active warfighter in the years ahead as the combatant responsible for missile defence” US Space Command document “Vision 2020”

MORE INFORMATION

Yorkshire CND 22 Edmund Street, Bradford, BD5 0BH tel: 01274 730795 fax: 01274 414413 e-mail: , www.yorkshirecnd.org.uk - detailed information & news update service

British American Security Information Council (BASIC) Lafone House 11-13 Leathermarket St. London SE1 3HN Tel: 020 7407 2977 www.basicint.org, - Provides a regular e-mail news service on missile defence

Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases (CAAB) 8 Park Row, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 1HQ, England Tel No. 01943 466405 or 01482 702033, www.caab.org.uk E-mail: - regular detailed information on missile defence & American bases in the UK

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) 162 Holloway Road, London, N7 8DQ tel: 0207 7002393, www.cnduk.org - briefings and overviews of the issues

Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space www.space4peace.org - provides updates and news on space militarisation