Is This an Event of the Highest International Urgency?
Is This an Event of the Highest International Urgency? January 19, 2007
Posted by Sebastian Prooth in space, politics, earth, USA, china, government, bbc, GPS, puppet, war, power, United States, speech, policy, argument, countries, speculation, satellite, Baltimore, cnn, doctrine, Soviet Union, kennedy, ben Affleck, attack, USSR, sebrt, missile, Reagan, jack ryan, “the sum of all fears” film, “Cuban missile crisis”, ASAT, “Star wars”, xichang. trackback
When I read the news last night about the missile that was responsible for taking down a Chinese weather satellite I was very concerned. I realized very quickly before reading the BBC and CNN’s reports that it was a significant threat to the West and as far as the media is concerned in America it is China that launched on their own satellite. The BBC continues to maintain and stress that it is unconfirmed that China is responsible as they are not talking. CNN has reported that the missile appears to have been “launched from or near the Xichang Space Center.”
Not only did this action cause the United States and a few other countries to launch full scale diplomatic protests, but when CNN reported on the issue the report contained that “this is viewed as an action taken by China to directly effect the United States”. If my history serves me correctly, President Kennedy said something very similar to the citizens of the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis October of 1962 and it went like this:
It shall be the policy of this Nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union. – President John F. Kennedy
The situation that is unfolding between the governments at the moment is very similar to the state of affairs that was existent during the cold war of the 1960’s. The unexpected Chinese development of surface to space weapons that could destroy the US and other countries surveillance and or GPS satellites, is what would appear to be a direct escalation in what has been a very silent cold war between the United States and China. The role of Russia (then the USSR) has been taken by China.
Remember the Star Wars Project? I am not talking about George Lucas’ adventure a long time ago, I am talking about the project that was being cultivated in the 1980’s which called for weapons to be placed in orbit that were capable of destroying nuclear missiles launched on the United States. It was also talked about that this developed technology should be shared with Russia. Later information proved that sharing this information with the Soviet Union was “unlikely” The reason that was given for sharing the information with the Soviet Union was that if they felt disadvantaged and that their Nuclear deterrent had been neutralized they might choose to attack the Star Wars devices and destroy them. The following is an excerpt from a 1985 magazine article about this very subject:
Possibly the Soviets, faced with the reality or the perception of being at a disadvantage, of losing the deterrent power of their arsenals, might feel compelled to take the dangerous course of destroying the ‘Star Wars’ equipment.
This brings me back to the Cold War. The Cold war that has had a role replacement, the understudy role of China has taken over. It appears at this time that China took the action of destroying their own Satellite. This was not “just to see if they could do it” this was to communicate to the west that they have the power to take such action and to inform positions of power in the west that China has the power to disable one of the most important tools in modern warefare, the orbiting surveillance systems. This is a direct shift in the behaviour of China and has caught the west a little off-guard.
As much as it is likely that China performed this test and this communication is coming from the proverbial mouths of Chinese Government, it is also possible this is coming from sort of puppet power elsewhere in the world, even inside China. To say that a little less cryptically, as China has not officially taken responsibility for launching the missile to destroy their own satellite, it could stand to reason that someone else did.
Cast your minds back a few years to when you saw film “The Sum of All Fears.” Remember that one, Ben Affleck takes on the role of Jack Ryan previously played by Harrison Ford. The story involves the United States and Russia involved in some very heated negotiations that result in all out air strikes up to but omitting the use of Nuclear Weapons. We find out that it is in fact a puppet power, not the Russian Government that started the problems by detonating a nuclear device in Baltimore. The doctrine of this puppet power was get the US and Russia to fight each other rather than to fight them individually himself.
If you consider that it would be in someone’s interest somewhere on this Earth for the US and China to have a serious dispute to would stand to reason that if properly motivated that person might choose to cause damage to world peace and allow the world to blame a non-guilty party. There is of course at this stage no evidence to suggest any validity to these speculations, it is just speculation. There is cause for concern however that the United States and all who stand with it in this diplomatic crisis make sure they are measured and accurate in the assigning of any and all blame. The last thing we need is another war or skirmish especially with an Army as powerful and motivated as China’s.
The world needs to take a deep breath and figure out who has something to gain if indeed it was not China who fired the missile. If they did fire the missile and they come out with a statement with that, then this argument is moot.
The United States needs not use or sanction the use of by publishing such aggressive words though, not yet. Let’s keep the threats to a minimum and make sure we have our facts straight before we do anything we might regret or give our children cause to regret for us in the future.
Comments»
1. Konrad - January 21, 2007
Hi Seb!
Unfortunately the world of politics (especially international politics) is a world of mysteries for the public. We can only guess and speculate what is hidden behind these rackets and launches. However, I wouldn’t be too concerned about this particular issue for now. Remember what happened after nuclear tests by North Korea! Everyone was concerned, media went crazy but after a week everyone forgot about it (including international organizations). I’m not saying that we should disregard such a behavior of some countries but I in my opinion we should distance ourselves to these facts and try to see a broader pictures on the international arena. I don’t think that China will risk any major sanctions or actions of other countries against it since it has too much to lose. For example, the General Secretary of the United Nations is Korean, which it may seem that he would be more than willing to use all his powers (although the UN has not much power as countries individually) in case China becomes the threat in the region and on the international scale. Secondly, China realizes that the US is very nervous and may be unpredictable since it has major problems in Iraq. In this case, the US position is a little weaker on the international arena and they will not allow themselves any more mistakes.
Posted by Sebastian Prooth in space, politics, earth, USA, china, government, bbc, GPS, puppet, war, power, United States, speech, policy, argument, countries, speculation, satellite, Baltimore, cnn, doctrine, Soviet Union, kennedy, ben Affleck, attack, USSR, sebrt, missile, Reagan, jack ryan, “the sum of all fears” film, “Cuban missile crisis”, ASAT, “Star wars”, xichang. trackback
When I read the news last night about the missile that was responsible for taking down a Chinese weather satellite I was very concerned. I realized very quickly before reading the BBC and CNN’s reports that it was a significant threat to the West and as far as the media is concerned in America it is China that launched on their own satellite. The BBC continues to maintain and stress that it is unconfirmed that China is responsible as they are not talking. CNN has reported that the missile appears to have been “launched from or near the Xichang Space Center.”
Not only did this action cause the United States and a few other countries to launch full scale diplomatic protests, but when CNN reported on the issue the report contained that “this is viewed as an action taken by China to directly effect the United States”. If my history serves me correctly, President Kennedy said something very similar to the citizens of the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis October of 1962 and it went like this:
It shall be the policy of this Nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union. – President John F. Kennedy
The situation that is unfolding between the governments at the moment is very similar to the state of affairs that was existent during the cold war of the 1960’s. The unexpected Chinese development of surface to space weapons that could destroy the US and other countries surveillance and or GPS satellites, is what would appear to be a direct escalation in what has been a very silent cold war between the United States and China. The role of Russia (then the USSR) has been taken by China.
Remember the Star Wars Project? I am not talking about George Lucas’ adventure a long time ago, I am talking about the project that was being cultivated in the 1980’s which called for weapons to be placed in orbit that were capable of destroying nuclear missiles launched on the United States. It was also talked about that this developed technology should be shared with Russia. Later information proved that sharing this information with the Soviet Union was “unlikely” The reason that was given for sharing the information with the Soviet Union was that if they felt disadvantaged and that their Nuclear deterrent had been neutralized they might choose to attack the Star Wars devices and destroy them. The following is an excerpt from a 1985 magazine article about this very subject:
Possibly the Soviets, faced with the reality or the perception of being at a disadvantage, of losing the deterrent power of their arsenals, might feel compelled to take the dangerous course of destroying the ‘Star Wars’ equipment.
This brings me back to the Cold War. The Cold war that has had a role replacement, the understudy role of China has taken over. It appears at this time that China took the action of destroying their own Satellite. This was not “just to see if they could do it” this was to communicate to the west that they have the power to take such action and to inform positions of power in the west that China has the power to disable one of the most important tools in modern warefare, the orbiting surveillance systems. This is a direct shift in the behaviour of China and has caught the west a little off-guard.
As much as it is likely that China performed this test and this communication is coming from the proverbial mouths of Chinese Government, it is also possible this is coming from sort of puppet power elsewhere in the world, even inside China. To say that a little less cryptically, as China has not officially taken responsibility for launching the missile to destroy their own satellite, it could stand to reason that someone else did.
Cast your minds back a few years to when you saw film “The Sum of All Fears.” Remember that one, Ben Affleck takes on the role of Jack Ryan previously played by Harrison Ford. The story involves the United States and Russia involved in some very heated negotiations that result in all out air strikes up to but omitting the use of Nuclear Weapons. We find out that it is in fact a puppet power, not the Russian Government that started the problems by detonating a nuclear device in Baltimore. The doctrine of this puppet power was get the US and Russia to fight each other rather than to fight them individually himself.
If you consider that it would be in someone’s interest somewhere on this Earth for the US and China to have a serious dispute to would stand to reason that if properly motivated that person might choose to cause damage to world peace and allow the world to blame a non-guilty party. There is of course at this stage no evidence to suggest any validity to these speculations, it is just speculation. There is cause for concern however that the United States and all who stand with it in this diplomatic crisis make sure they are measured and accurate in the assigning of any and all blame. The last thing we need is another war or skirmish especially with an Army as powerful and motivated as China’s.
The world needs to take a deep breath and figure out who has something to gain if indeed it was not China who fired the missile. If they did fire the missile and they come out with a statement with that, then this argument is moot.
The United States needs not use or sanction the use of by publishing such aggressive words though, not yet. Let’s keep the threats to a minimum and make sure we have our facts straight before we do anything we might regret or give our children cause to regret for us in the future.
Comments»
1. Konrad - January 21, 2007
Hi Seb!
Unfortunately the world of politics (especially international politics) is a world of mysteries for the public. We can only guess and speculate what is hidden behind these rackets and launches. However, I wouldn’t be too concerned about this particular issue for now. Remember what happened after nuclear tests by North Korea! Everyone was concerned, media went crazy but after a week everyone forgot about it (including international organizations). I’m not saying that we should disregard such a behavior of some countries but I in my opinion we should distance ourselves to these facts and try to see a broader pictures on the international arena. I don’t think that China will risk any major sanctions or actions of other countries against it since it has too much to lose. For example, the General Secretary of the United Nations is Korean, which it may seem that he would be more than willing to use all his powers (although the UN has not much power as countries individually) in case China becomes the threat in the region and on the international scale. Secondly, China realizes that the US is very nervous and may be unpredictable since it has major problems in Iraq. In this case, the US position is a little weaker on the international arena and they will not allow themselves any more mistakes.
posted by B at 9:53 PM
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