The Scamming of America: Heavenly Warfare for a Poorer Nation and a More Dangerous World

"The United States is planning to take control of parts of space and develop patrolling military aircraft in orbit as part of a revived Star Wars proposal for an American empire above the ozone layer… Until now, international treaties have forbidden the deployment of weapons in outer space, although a loophole allows the US to use its satellites for military intelligence. The 1967 Space Treaty stated that outer space should be free for exploration and use by all states and would not be subject to national appropriation by occupation or any other means." ~ Sydney Morning Herald

Did I hear "loophole"? As I've said before, if it excels at anything, the Bush administration excels at finding and exploiting loopholes. And that's precisely what it's going to do, if people here and abroad don't start insisting that international law and treaties apply to everyone – even (and especially) superpowers with money to burn.

I watched the original Star Wars for the billionth time last night. Whenever I see those poorly equipped insurgents, fighting their hearts out against a military with more money than King Midas and every gadget imaginable, I always feel a pang of sympathy and awe. They keep trying, with so little in terms of "stuff" on their side…but they are fighting only to defend themselves. They use the Force "only for defense, never for attack," as wise Yoda says.

Trouble is, when I read about the "Son of Star Wars" program that Mr. Bush has in mind for us (a real bargain at just $10 billion dollars per year!), I don't see that loveable rag-tag band of rebels with Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Hans Solo at the helm.

When I first saw Star Wars twenty odd years ago, like others in the audience I saw the rebel force as America's youth: The good guys. Along with the other young people in the audience, I rooted for the good guys, the ones with nothing more than a dilapidated "star cruiser," some teamwork and a lot of faith to see them through.

Only a few years had passed since the end of the futile Vietnam War. We'd grown suspicious of leaders on a mission to "spread democracy" with bombs and napalm. We had seen for ourselves that the people who died for the dreams of reckless old men in armchairs were teenagers and 20-somethings: our friends, our generation, us.

But that was "before the dark times, before the Empire," as Obe Wan said. Ever since the first Gulf War, and then the quick, "decisive" victories over the impoverished people of Afghanistan and Iraq, I no longer see my government's mighty military as anything like the rebels – now it looks more like the Empire's robotic army. Fearless and faceless in their white uniforms, it carries out the Emperor's will.

And now, with plans in the works to control the heavens and to attack as well as defend from outer space, there's no avoiding the fact that America looks more like the Empire than the rebel band. When you take a look at the scary plans of the world's greatest superpower, with oodles of bombs and satellites and Lockheed Martins at its disposal, you may see the Emperor's army, too. The words certainly fit: Dominance. Superiority.

"Look What We Can Do!"

I've met some well-heeled chaps working for defense contractors on planes and even on good ol' Amtrak, my favorite mode of transportation that Mr. Bush and his Republican-controlled Congress have no use for (after all, it reduces highway congestion and exhaust fumes, and carts around a lot of poor folks – where's the profit in that?). What always strikes me about defense contractor employees is their childlike fascination with "what we can do," their eyes shining like my little brother's used to do whenever he got a new Hot Wheels car. They breathlessly tell me about their new laser system, or satellite capability, or biotechnology, or nanosomething.

They've not been told precisely what the Pentagon will do with their inventions, but that's not their concern. They have new toys, and they want to play with them. They're having a blast in the only American industry where money is absolutely no object.

"What we can do," as innovative Nazi scientists and manufacturers demonstrated to an initially skeptical world, is a phrase with no moral or ethical limitations. "What we can do" isn't necessarily immoral, but it's definitely amoral. "What we can do" is strictly a matter of technology and money, both of which the Pentagon and its merry bands will have plenty, as long as the government keeps funding them by robbing the common folk of the unglamorous basics: medical care, clean air and water, job training, public transportation, housing, education, etc.

When I took my mother to the ER recently, it was midnight and packed beyond capacity. Nobody had insurance, and as the stressed nurse said, "this is what happens – it's the only way poor people can get medical care, because we're not allowed to turn them away. But we're overwhelmed like this every night, which means that if you have a life-threatening emergency, you might end up – ." She stopped herself from stating the obvious.

Think we could convince Mr. Bush that millions of sick and dying Americans are a threat to national security, to get just a crumb of that yearly 10 billion diverted to health care?

Didn't think so.

How to Trigger the Second Nuclear Arms Race

When you start floating scary ideas out there, the fear you generate may help you get the war or funding you want, but other people – and other militaries – are going to get (excuse the pun) "up in arms":

Exhibit A: "The danger to America is grave and growing, Bush said. The Iraqi regime has biological and chemical weapons and is building the facilities needed to make more. British officials, he noted, say the Iraqi regime could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as 45 minutes if given the order." (emphasis added)

Exhibit B: "The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the US Air Force share a vision of a new transformational capability that aims to provide a means of delivering a substantial payload from within the continental United States (CONUS) to anywhere on Earth in less than two hours." (emphasis added)

In light of the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive attacks, it's unlikely that any country on earth (except for Britain, perhaps, since Tony Blair has made of it an American colony of sorts) would trust the US to "dominate" space with all manner of weaponry. Other nations will mount a frenzied campaign to catch up.

Back to the Future: The Nuclear Clock Is Ticking

If you're old enough, you no doubt recall the "nuclear clock." News anchors issued dire warnings that the time remaining before mutual nuclear annihilation was less than two hours, or half an hour, and so on. The last warning I heard during the "Cold War" was: "Ladies and Gentlemen, our experts tell us that the nuclear clock is now set at 11:55 pm. Only five minutes, metaphorically, are remaining for life on earth…"

It was a grim and stupid time. Schoolchildren were sick and tired of scooting under their desks to blaring sirens in "self-defense," should we be nuked by the Russians. It was really funny, in a pitiful way, and we knew it. Even a 10-year-old knows that whatever it was that wiped out two large Japanese cities would have no trouble finding kids hiding under little metal desks.

Recently I found an old Civil Defense manual in my parents' attic: "If you are exposed to radiation, be sure to wash your hands and clothing." As I said, a grim and stupid time.

This is precisely what our children and grandchildren have to look forward to, thanks to our hyper-aggressive "national security": The same sword hanging over their heads – dangled by the same enemies who made us hide under our desks! Our descendents will glumly read in their history books, "In the early years of the 21st century, US President George W. Bush popularized what he termed "pre-emptive (or preventive) wars," also known as the "War on Terror." Other nations followed suit when the "Star Wars Missile Defense Program" triggered nuclear war fears across the globe. These events led to the nuclear arms race that now dominates our global economy."

Or What's a Heaven For?

Even in this greedy age of the "ownership society," the question arises: When did space become anyone's personal property? And isn't "space," after all, a poor word for that which people all over the world have seen throughout the ages as sacred and mysterious, celestial home of the Divine? "Space" implies that there's nothing there – it's just a big gaping hole, waiting to be filled with our gadgets, our weapons, our bombs, and of course our debris.

We must stand up for sensible defense, becoming an influential friend to other nations instead of a threatening pariah. Surely we can dream of something wiser than more and more weapons positioned higher and higher! Surely we can spend at least some of the riches we now lavish on nuclear warheads for the education of human heads instead. America's "best and the brightest" who once dreamed of working for nonviolence, international cooperation and service to others often end up, because our government doesn't fund those "unrealistic" things, using their gifts to build a bigger bunker buster.

Contrary to the big promises of politicians who stand to profit from it, "Son of Star Wars," like any other purely military defense system, can't be guaranteed 100% effective. But it can create a lot of fearful, trigger-happy enemies for you and yours.

Let us not be lulled into amoral considerations of "what we can do," seeking instead "what we should do." For verily, our dreams – not our weapons – should exceed our grasp, or what's a Heaven for?

December 6, 2004