Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Trump's Call for a Space Force Deserves Discussion
The president took a break from taking children hostage in his fight with reality over immigration and directed the Pentagon to establish a new branch of service, a space force. This would elevate the Air Force's Space Command to the same status as the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. This bumps up against the 1967 Outer Space Treaty from a legal perspective, and it creates a potential space race with other nations that can increase the threat to US national security. This will require an act of Congress to implement, and one hopes that the idea is given an open-minded debate. It is serious enough without partisan posturing.
The Outer Space Treaty is the short-hand for the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. The agreement. The State Department's website lays out a brief synopsis of its terms: “First, it contains an undertaking not to place in orbit around the Earth, install on the moon or any other celestial body, or otherwise station in outer space, nuclear or any other weapons of mass destruction. Second, it limits the use of the moon and other celestial bodies exclusively to peaceful purposes and expressly prohibits their use for establishing military bases, installation, or fortifications; testing weapons of any kind; or conducting military maneuvers.
The Outer Space Treaty is considered the second nonarmament treaty, the first being the Antarctic Treaty of 1957. However, it is difficult to threaten the nations of the world from the South Pole. It is much easier to do so at 100 miles up. So despite the success of the Antarctic Treaty, the world may have to admit that the Outer Space Treaty is set for revision or renunciation.
The Washington Post noted that John Logsdon, a space policy expert and professor emeritus at George Washington University, and others have argued that the treaty only bans "aggressive" military activity. What the newspaper failed to mention is just how fluid that term is. One nation's aggression is another nation's defensive strike. Moreover, if one can't have bases and if one can't conduct maneuvers, exactly what could military personnel legally do other than what astronauts do right now?
Nevertheless, Professor Logsdon is correct in saying, "I think there's a recognition that space is an area of activity critical to our national security ... and as long as space is part of the Air Force, it's going to take kind of second fiddle to airplanes. The threat is real, and the history of the ability to organize and be effective in space under the Air Force, many people think, is less than optimum."
The Russians and the Chinese has space-faring capacities on par with America's. This journal doesn't believe that Vladimir Putin nor Xi Jinping would refrain from putting military assets in space if they felt it was necessary. Mr. Trump stated, "It is not enough to have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space." That feeds the dictator's paranoia and suggests they will militarize space sooner rather than later, if they have not already.
American dominance in space is almost certainly a forlorn hope of the White House. American astronauts need to hitch a ride to the International Space Station with the Russians. Before one can have a space force, one might need the ability to launch personnel into orbit. Space is expensive if one needs to keep people alive. That is why Voyager I and II are better investments than the ISS. When it comes to bang for the buck, robots win. That brings up the idea of military robots (drones) in space.
The nation needs to have this debate. The world needs to revisit the idea of peaceful uses for space. This journal believes that tighter controls on what goes up are needed simply to prevent an excess of space junk. A better treaty on nonarmament is in order. Time to start the discussion.
© Copyright 2018 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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