The Militarization of Space

Interesting article from the Washington Times on the militarization of space. I'm baffled by people who oppose missle defense and other space militarization efforts. Burying our heads in the sand and pretending the space will not become militarized won't make it so. And on the subject of missle defense especially - since when does protecting oneself get construed as an aggressive action. If military engineers think it's not a technically feasible program right now, that's one thing - I can understand holding off for those reasons. But if it is technically feasible, what the hell are we waiting for?

On the issue of space militarization more broadly, the world certainly isn't waiting for us. It would be suicide to sit on the sidelines here. I'm honestly a little disappointed in the Obama campaign's position, as stated in this article. Obama seems so rational and pragmatic in his approach to Iraq and terrorism - I'm not sure what the disconnect is on space. Granted, Obama will probably move forward on this regardless of what he says on the campaign trail. The question is - how central will it be to his defense policy?

I'm all for demilitarization, cutting nuclear arsenals, etc. We need to come back from the brink of mutually assured destruction, and we need to cultivate diplomatic relations that will obviate the need for war. But that doesn't mean we leave new frontiers undefended or leave the back door wide open at a time when aggressive powers (::cough::CHINA::cough::) are on the rise.

You also need to keep in mind the potential threat of near earth objects. I would rather have a Pentagon that is very comfortable operating in space when these things come whizzing by the Earth, rather than a Pentagon that decided to sit this one out.

As George Washington said: "Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession"... if only that worked for you in western Pennsylvania, George... nevertheless - good advice