Nuclear Proliferation
A shield that can be used for
defence is a shield that can also be used for attack. Many countries are
aware that an effective Missile Defence shield would give the United States
"first strike ability". In other words, the United States would be able
to strike a country, knock out the majority of its Inter-Continental Ballistic
Missiles (ICBMs) and then use the Missile Defence shield to mop up the
limited response that the attacked country could muster with what's left.
This is an ability to strike a country first and defend against retaliation,
and gives the owner of that ability a huge military advantage. Lt Col
Robert Bowman - US Air Force Director - called Missile Defence "The Missing
Link to a first Strike".
Statements by Donald Rumsfeld - US Defence Secretary - back this up. In a document co-written by him for the Project for the New American Century, he states that Missile Defence will "provide a secure basis for US power projection around the world."
Whether this first strike threat is real or just perceived is irrelevant to the threat of proliferation. So long as states perceive a threat they will increase their number of nuclear ballistic missiles in order to ensure that they are capable of piercing the shield and so continuing to threaten the US - this is the best way to redress the imbalance created by an MD shield. In fact, it is not so called "rogue states" that are most likely to do this, although North Korea may do, but larger states such as China. China, probably rightly, sees this shield as being targeted at it, to ensure that it cannot develop to threaten the US' single superpower status. They have therefore threatened to increase their nuclear arsenal. Doing so would lead to a similar action by China's neighbour India, and Pakistan would follow that with its own increase.
Furthermore, the general increase dominance and militarism of the US would likely lead to other states that feel threatened by the country and the system to increase their own arsenals of weapons so as to feel less likely to be attacked.
Full Spectrum Dominance
This term was dreamt up by the US Space Command and means the complete military dominance of the military spectrums. These spectrums are land, sea, air, information and now space. Missile Defence, with its space-based lasers, space-capable ICBM interceptors, space-based kinetic kill technology, ground-based space radars and space surveillance satellites is a massive step not only towards the further development of military uses of space, but is a big step towards the actually placing of weaponry in space. This is a key strategic aim of the US military, despite the fact that it would break the Outer Space Treaty and the fact that most of the world is opposed to the weaponisation of space. Missile Defence is key to the development of space weaponisation and many see Missile Defence as nothing more than an excuse to develop space weapons under the tag of "defence".
What's more, this full spectrum dominance, once achieved, will give the USA the ability to fight wars more easily, more often and with less casualties at home. They will be able to fire independent drones and missiles, fire from space on to the Earth and use the military command and control capabilities created by space use to dominate in war and control in peace. Space Command calls space "the fourth medium of warfare". Missile Defence is key to making this a reality.
Targeting the bases
The Missile Defence front Line bases in Greenland, England, Australia and possible elsewhere would become key targets for those wishing to attack the USA successfully with an ICBM attack. As former UK Assistant Chief of Defence Staff Sir Timothy Garden wrote, "The upgraded … radar sites would become the forward eyes of a defence system. They would therefore become priority targets for any enemy wishing to strike the US with ballistic missiles. An attack on these sites would not necessarily be carried out be ballistic missile."
Corporate interest
The major arms corporations are fuelling the Missile Defence agenda. Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and TRW and the key corporations and together they are enjoying billions of pounds worth of contracts for years to come. TRW even faked interceptor tests in order to state that they were having success, in order to justify continued development funding. It is no surprise that these corporations are all major funders of the republican party.
|
Campaigns 
