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Obama's Proposed Space Weapon Ban Draws Mixed Response
Space.com ^ | Thu Feb 5, 2009 | Turner Brinton

Posted on 02/06/2009 2:05:22 PM PST by presidio9

.S. President Barack Obama's recent pledge to seek a ban on space weapons drew a mixed reaction from experts in the field, with some saying the president might be better off pursuing something more modest and less complex, such as a set of international rules governing space operations.

Arms control advocates nonetheless applauded the statement as a welcome departure from the space policy stance of former President George W. Bush, who rejected the notion of banning or limiting space weapons via treaty arrangements.

"The Bush administration rejected space diplomacy," said Michael Krepon, co-founder of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a think tank here. "We refused to negotiate on any subject that could limit U.S. military options. We have a shift from an administration that was very dismissive of multilateral negotiations [as a whole], to an administration that is open to that possibility if it improves U.S. national security."

Soon after Obama was sworn in Jan. 20, the official White House Web site was updated with a set of policy guidelines including one on restoring U.S. leadership in space. Under the heading "Ensure Freedom of Space," the statement said the White House would seek a ban on weapons that "interfere with military and commercial satellites"; assess possible threats to U.S. space assets and the best military and diplomatic means for countering them; and seek to assure U.S. access to space-based capabilities, in part by "accelerating programs to harden U.S. satellites against attack."

Obama's campaign in 2008 outlined similar goals, saying an Obama administration would oppose putting weapons in space, seek rules of behavior for spacefaring nations and reduce the vulnerability of U.S. space capabilities.

The Bush administration generally opposed international accords that might tie the nation's hands in space. The National Space Policy issued by

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: agenda; bho44; bhodod; bhonasa; bhospace; nationalinsecurity; weakling
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1 posted on 02/06/2009 2:05:23 PM PST by presidio9
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To: presidio9

Has anyone ever seen Obama and Jimma Carter in the same place, at the same time?

Just askin’


2 posted on 02/06/2009 2:06:40 PM PST by MeanWestTexan (Beware Obama's Reichstag fire.)
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To: presidio9

He wants there to be enough room for Chinese space weapons.


3 posted on 02/06/2009 2:06:57 PM PST by randomhero97 ("First you want to kill me, now you want to kiss me. Blow!" - Ash)
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To: presidio9

It’s a freaking soap opera with this guy.
He must expect to be out of office in 6 months- he sure is in a hurry to dismantle America’s defensive options in every arena.


4 posted on 02/06/2009 2:07:31 PM PST by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: presidio9

Obama is working on a Guiness Book of World Records entry for:

Most Stupid Proposals in a Month


5 posted on 02/06/2009 2:08:12 PM PST by Uncle Miltie (This is not an Administration. It is a Sitcom.)
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To: presidio9

It is a decision that will get us all killed! Very dumbass move.


6 posted on 02/06/2009 2:09:17 PM PST by HwyChile
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To: presidio9

Realistically, any treaty will only be binding on the US and by the time we catch someone else in a violation, their answer (from the high ground) will be “so what?”


7 posted on 02/06/2009 2:10:53 PM PST by NonValueAdded (Play the new "rehab" card: apologize for cheating on your taxes)
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To: presidio9

You can’t verify compliance unless China and russia allow a swarm of UN inspectors into their facilities. I know Iran won’t, or they’ll pull the old Saddam trick of saying you can only go here and here, but not there.

Noce going though, you’ll effectively tie our hands on missile defense just when Iran attains nukes and a means to launch them at US cities.


8 posted on 02/06/2009 2:11:16 PM PST by Brett66 (Where government advances, and it advances relentlessly , freedom is imperiled -Janice Rogers Brown)
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To: presidio9

No space weapons BUT not makeing illegal weapons in Detroit, illegal ..


9 posted on 02/06/2009 2:13:15 PM PST by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole....)
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To: HwyChile

Well I live in the 140th largest metropolitan area, likely I’m OK.


10 posted on 02/06/2009 2:13:33 PM PST by Lucius Cornelius Sulla ("men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." -- Edmund Burke)
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To: presidio9

11 posted on 02/06/2009 2:15:31 PM PST by Troll_House_Cookies (Ironically, Chancellor Obama's first re-education camp will be in Alaska.)
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To: presidio9

That SOB! I want my Second Amendment rights preserved, whether on Earth or in outer space! I might live long enough to be able to tote a blaster, and if so I want one! When blasters are outlawed only bounty hunters and Imperial Stormtroopers will have blasters!


12 posted on 02/06/2009 2:16:21 PM PST by Mogwai (Puer abige muscas!)
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To: presidio9
"Michael Krepon, co-founder of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a think tank here."

I wonder how many times this guy has committed treason and gotten away with it becuase RINO's have shirked their duty to prosecute and execute for decades....Instead, now guys like this have "Centers" and "Associations" and the MSM and the universities, and the house, and the senate, and the oval office.

The consequences we have only begun to face are consequences of inaction.

Evil has triumphed because good men did nothing.

13 posted on 02/06/2009 2:24:35 PM PST by SENTINEL (SGT USMC GWI)
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To: presidio9

I’m sure Iran will agree to a treaty. Gee, didn’t they just launch a satellite?


14 posted on 02/06/2009 2:28:28 PM PST by BubbaBasher (I got something the dems can "stimulate")
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To: presidio9

Space weapons have already been deployed.


15 posted on 02/06/2009 2:38:56 PM PST by GingisK
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To: GingisK

Goah. We have a liberal nimrod for President. I’m sure China will agree not to weaponize space. I think I’m going to start selling shares to my liberal friends for an interest I have in a bridge in Brooklyn.


16 posted on 02/06/2009 2:41:40 PM PST by sitkaspruce
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To: presidio9

Makes total sense. Spend a trillion on dumb make work projects and then lay off thousands of people who produce the technology for this worthwhile effort.


17 posted on 02/06/2009 2:53:30 PM PST by yazoo
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To: sitkaspruce
It is difficult to reply to a contentless post. Nevertheless, I used to work in Hunstville. I still have friends there. They have assured me that "Star Wars" was successful and was deployed.

Do an internet search for "space machines", and then follow the links to YouTube movies made by a fellow who video taped very large objects in earth orbit. He originally set out to record the International Space Station, which he did. He also spotted other machine out there that are much larger, but farther out than the ISS.

18 posted on 02/06/2009 2:57:17 PM PST by GingisK
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To: silverleaf

He has also told the Military to cut their budget by at least 10%.


19 posted on 02/06/2009 2:58:09 PM PST by RC2
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To: presidio9

Is this kookburger TRYING to make his the shortest Presidency in history?!


20 posted on 02/06/2009 2:58:18 PM PST by RandallFlagg (Satisfaction was my sin)
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