FW: Rumsfeld: Lost in Space?

["mc.foto" <mc.foto at libero.it>]

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Da: Institute for Public Accuracy <instpa at pacbell.net>
Data: Tue, 08 May 2001 12:45:27 -0700
A: institute at igc.org
Oggetto: Rumsfeld: Lost in Space?

Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa at accuracy.org
___________________________________________________

PM Tuesday, May 8, 2001

Interviews Available:
Rumsfeld: Lost in Space?

This afternoon, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is announcing plans
for a major boost in the importance of space for U.S. military strategy.
The following analysts are available for interviews:

KARL GROSSMAN, kgrossman at hamptons.com, http://www.space4peace.org
Author of the forthcoming "Weapons in Space," Grossman is professor of
journalism at the State University of New York. He has just completed
production of the documentary "Star Wars Returns." He said this afternoon:
"Today's announcement is a major step by the U.S. government in turning the
heavens into a war zone. As the Rumsfeld 'space commission' report recently
said: 'In the coming period, the U.S. will conduct operations to, from, in
and through space in support of its national interests both on earth and in
space.' Now the Bush administration is moving ahead to implement that
scheme -- which will cause an arms race and ultimately war in space. A key
element in the documents on space warfare is the global economy. The U.S.
Space Command's 'Vision for 2020' space military plan -- see
http://www.spacecom.af.mil/usspace -- warns that 'the globalization of the
world economy will continue with a widening between "haves" and
"have-nots."' U.S. 'control of space' is seen as important to suppress
serious challenges to U.S. corporate-dominated globalization."

MICHELLE CIARROCCA, ciarrm01 at newschool.edu,
http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms
Senior research associate at the World Policy Institute and co-author of
"Tangled Web: The Marketing of Missile Defense 1994-2000" and "Nuclear
Missile Deception: Corruption and Conflicts of Interest in the National
Missile Defense Test Program," Ciarrocca said today: "It should be duly
noted that the 'space commission' --
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/space20010111.html -- on which Rumsfeld
served until his appointment as defense secretary, was anything but
objective. In fact, objective assessors need not apply. The panel was
stacked to the gills with industry insiders and corporate executives who
stand to profit from any expansion of military operations in space. No less
than eight companies working on space technology and missile defense
programs for the Pentagon were represented on the panel, including SY
Technology, located in Huntsville, Alabama -- home of the National Missile
Defense program -- and Science Applications International Corporation
(SAIC), which is the integration contractor for the Air Force's Space and
Missile System Center advanced programs. Additionally, three of the most
ideological and conservative think tanks in D.C., some of which receive
funding from defense contractors, were represented on the panel. The
reality is that the report, from which Rumsfeld is pulling many of his
space force ideas, is about shaping congressional opinion to favor even
more money for an already bloated military budget. The report reflects what
is good for industry, not what is good for American security."

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167