[Peace-discuss] militarization of space

[patton paul]

Space militarization looms as threat of 21st century: expert


STOCKHOLM (AFP) - The 20th century added a new dimension to warfare with
the nuclear bomb, and the 21st could well be remembered for bringing the
arms race into space, a French weapons expert said.

"Up until now, space has been militarized in the sense that military
operations have made a lot of use of satellites ... either for
communications, for navigation, for eavesdropping or for surveillance,"
Therese Delpech, the director for strategic affairs at the Atomic Energy
Commission in Paris, told AFP in Stockholm.

"What is completely new," she added, "is what I call the weaponization of
space, which is much more serious, and concerns the possibility in the
(near) future of having weapons in space, or developing weapons that can
destroy satellites in space. This would add another dimension to warfare."

This could be just a decade away, according to Delpech, in Stockholm for
the first meeting of a new Swedish-funded international commission on
weapons of mass destruction, which is headed by former UN chief weapons
inspector Hans Blix.

The independent commission, made up of 15 weapons experts from 15
countries, will over the next two years attempt to find ways of limiting
the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as on ways
of disarming countries that already have such weapons.

While several commissioners emphasized the importance of addressing the
continuing threat of nuclear proliferation, Delpech urged that greater
attention be paid to a whole new generation of threats.

"I truly believe that the 20th century was the age of physics, while the
21st century will be the age of information technology and life sciences.
And that holds the potential for horrifying military applications," she
said, adding that developments in biological weapons gave of particular
concern.

"There are much greater possibilities of dissimulating biological
activities than nuclear activities. That's a real problem. ... The
military applications are absolutely devastating," she said.