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Posted on 02/12/2008 6:51:39 PM PST by JACKRUSSELL
(GENEVA) — The Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, on Tuesday presented a Russian-Chinese draft treaty banning weapons in space to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, an idea that was quickly rejected by the United States.
Russia and China have pushed for years for a treaty to prevent an arms race in space, a threat underlined by China last year after it shot down one of its own aging satellites.
Responding to previous American assertions that there is no arms race in space and therefore no need for a treaty, Mr. Lavrov instead submitted a draft on “prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space, the threat or use of force against outer space objects.”
“Weapons deployment in space by one state will inevitably result in a chain reaction,” Mr. Lavrov warned. “And this in turn is fraught with a new spiral in the arms race, both in space and on the earth.”
The draft treaty aims to fill gaps in existing law, create conditions for further exploration and use of space, and strengthen general security and arms control, Mr. Lavrov said. It is time “to start serious practical work in this field,” he said. The White House responded to the proposal on Tuesday afternoon, saying it opposed any treaty that sought “to prohibit or limit access to or use of space.”
Dana M. Perino, the White House press secretary, said such a treaty would also be impossible to enforce. “Any object orbiting or transiting through space can be a weapon if that object is intentionally placed onto a collision course with another space object,” she said in an e-mail message. “This makes treaty verification impossible.”
Instead, she said, the White House favored “discussions aimed at promoting transparency and confidence-building measures.”
The Russian-Chinese proposal was first circulated last......
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The UN? FM!
No worries, UN. Obama is already promising hope for change to the right path. Your puppet will dance gleefully to your tune.
If the ban on weapons in space makes us safer, then maybe the UN can ban weapons in the air too, and by the stroke of a pen, rid the world of all gunfire too.
I wonder how long that objection will last if McCain gets in?
My guess is that this is an attempt to ban the future deployment of US ballistic missile defenses on the grounds that the missiles they will be fired at pass through space. The USSR was, and Russia is very paranoid about the possibility of their ICBM forces being rendered impotent. China is just tagging along for the anti-American ride.
Any treaty with Russia, China, or any Communists or Muslim Country is a one way street. They merrily violate them all while we dutifully comply. It is one sided disarmament.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! The UN can’t even stop Iran and other rogue nations from developing nuclear weapons - how can they e xpect to do anything worth a darn in space?!?
Someone please explain to me why we are still in the UN, let alone letting them stay here (on Rockefeller donated land mind you).
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BINGO!
>>No worries, UN. Obama is already promising hope for change to the right path. Your puppet will dance gleefully to your tune<<
Yup, the forces of evil are just bidding their time before one of the 2 liberal clowns: Huseein Osama and Hitlery get to the WH.
It’s time for Bush to skull-F those commie bastards before the Dumocrats weaken our country for the next 4 years.
The Chinese have had no problem proliferating nuclear technology when it suited them. The Pakistani and North Korean nuclear programs, and through them the Iranian nuclear program, are the result of deliberate Chinese technology transfers.
Now they are opposed to weapons in space because....they have a sudden commitment to peace?
In fact, they can't match American superiority in space weapons currently, and the price to catch up is too steep. That's the only reason.
Thank you for the ping.
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