US to put 'guns in space' - Brief Article

THE MILITARISATION OF SPACE IS SET TO GO AHEAD, DESPITE INTERNATIONAL PROMISES.

In November last year, the UN placed a serious question before its member nations: Should space be militarised? The answer from 138 nations was a resounding 'no.' Space should be 'kept for peaceful purposes,' they agreed. But one lone voice begged to differ. For in the US, the militarisation of space is not only considered a good idea, it has already begun.

'It's politically sensitive, but it's going to happen,' says General Joseph Ashy, former commander-in-chief of the US Space Command. 'Some people don't want to hear this, and it sure isn't in vogue, but -- absolutely -- we're going to fight in space. We're going to fight from space and we're going to fight into space[ldots] We will engage terrestrial targets someday -- ships, airplanes, land targets -- from space[ldots] That's why the United States has development programmes in directed energy and hit-to-kill mechanisms.' And it's not all talk. Last year, the US government signed a multi-million dollar contract for a 'Space-Based Laser Readiness Demonstrator'.

The US militarisation of space is in direct contravention to the Outer Space Treaty it signed in 1967, which bans the use of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction in space. At the UN Conference on Disarmament last March, China pushed for the strengthening of the treaty's terms: to 'negotiate and conclude an international legal instrument banning[ldots] any weapons in outer space'.

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