Nexus - 1803 - New Times Magazine-pages

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hose who could make it happen: those with an officeon research and development. Jokes aside, it would be a Capitol Hill. This new generation, as it grew stronger "Golden Age" for Lockheed Martin and Boeing. As for and took power, was then tagged with their appropriate hose politicians in each of their pockets, consider the nickname: the "Space Hawks". Some of them took wo current senators of Alabama: Republican Richard power in 1994, a year when the Republicans re-took the — Shelby and Republican Jeff Sessions. Between 2001 and House with their "Contract with America". This so-called 2006, they ranked first and second when it came to Contract called for, among other things, cutting PBS —_ receiving campaign contributions from the likes of Public Broadcasting System] funding severely, but i Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Both are high-ranking also pledged to renew America's commitment to missile | members of defence-funding-related Senate committees. defence. The lovable Newt Gingrich was an architect o And in return for several hundred thousand dollars in his Contract, and he was persuaded by the Washington- campaign contributions, they have approved billions in based Center for Security Policy to include the missile unding for missile defence research in northern defence provision. This right-wing think-tank was a nes Alabama. Huntsville, Alabama, is also called "Rocket of missile defence and space weapons advocates, City"—the city that Wernher von Braun built. The city including Donald Rumsfeld, Bill Bennett and Lockheed claims to have 50 civilian companies working on missile Martin corporate officers. defence, including all the giants, i.e, Lockheed Martin. To grasp fully how this arms race got so hot during the __It was expected that by 2010, over 6,000 missile defence 2000s, you have to understand a very familiar three-way — scientists and researchers would be working in and partnership. Defence contractors, such as Lockheed around Huntsville, a region of 380,000 people. Martin and Boeing, along with Besides the Crisco, also Congress and the Pentagon, all coming out during the early depend on each other ina big, ..the US should some da days of the Bush big way. This relationship has administration were the Space come to an “Eisenhower be able to manoeuvre a Hawks. Before Bush was even fruition". Eisenhower, at the : raced through Washington end of his presidency in 1961, satellite aia a target—on streets so as to be sworn in as made the timeless plea ke the Earth's surface—and quickly as possible in January eware ° the . . 2000, his Space Hawks were "military-industrial complex". then melt It with a future giving birth to “Son of ‘Star And when it comes to missile particle-beam weapon. Wars". That same month, the now-disgraced Donald Lockheed Martin and Boeing Rumsfeld released a report remain the Pentagon's first- which warned that a "Space and second-highest-paid defence contractors Pearl Harbor"? or a colossal space-combat sneak attack respectively, and they want it to remain this way. To do rom an enemy could cripple the nation. This meant that so, they spend millions lobbying Congress trying to he US needed to build space weapons so as to protect convince office-holders that there is a need for such satellites. Rumsfeld's report also stated that the US weapons. Thus they keep billions of dollars flowing ona needed "Power projection in, from and through space".” yearly basis for decades to come. What this means is that the US should some day be able The Pentagon, the US Space Command and the US Air © manoeuvre a satellite over a target—on the Earth's Force also lobby Congress, begging it for their new toys. | surface—and then melt it with a future particle-beam It is this group that is the creative force behind space weapon. At the time, Rumsfeld hadn't even been weapons. This is the group in need of a space plane that — appointed Bush's Secretary of Defense yet, but that was can strike a target anywhere on the globe within one _just days away. hour and be able to fly in and out of the atmosphere at Apparently, Rumsfeld was certain that the enemies of will. But it is the civilian missile defence contractors he free world could wipe out America's 400-plus that need the billions to engineer such a craft. Allowing satellites. Nuclear detonations in Earth's orbits are this money to flow in a deluge to missile defence _ plausible. It is a space-combat-related strategy which contractors are, of course, those members of Congress both Russia and the Chinese have prepped for, but who have the keys to the nation’s safes. It shouldn't — would they ruin the orbits surrounding the Earth for come as a surprise, then, that missile defence centuries to come? Or was Rumsfeld in many an contractors are some of the biggest political campaign aerospace executive's pocket? The Rumsfeld report financiers out there. indeed had major corporate influence: seven of the 13 At the start of the Bush administration, missile | commissioners of the report either were working for the defence contractors broke out buckets of Crisco so as to. —_ aerospace industry or used to work for it. grease their large pipes. George W. Bush was prepared ; to pump billions of extra dollars into missile defence Continued on pag defence, he was dead on. 16 * NEXUS APRIL - MAY 2011 ...the US should some day be able to manoeuvre a satellite over a target—on the Earth's surface—and then melt it with a future particle-beam weapon. Continued on page 79 www.nexusmagazine.com