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4 December 2004 |
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Statement by Hon. Douglas Roche, Former Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament, to Council of Canadians, Victoria Chapter, Victoria, B.C., December 4, 2004, 1 pm. The Canadian government must not be fooled by U.S. President Bush's assurance that the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system does not imply the weaponization of space. This assurance given to Prime Minister Martin during the President's visit to Canada this week has as much credibility as President Bush's previous assertion that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The website of the Missile Defence Agency contains a clear statement of the intention to eventually include space-based interceptors in its arsenal. This program, currently called the Space-Based Interceptor Test Bed, was granted $10 million by Congress for 2005. More money will be sought in 2006 for additional experiments. By 2008, the U.S. intends to deploy a test bed of space-based kinetic-energy kill vehicles to destroy high- speed collision test targets in space. Despite the President's verbal assurance, space-based missile defence is a real program with a real budget. The plan is for the Missile Defence Agency to orbit three to six interceptors for testing in 2012. Because kinetic-energy kill vehicles designed to intercept missiles could also function as anti-satellite weapons, other countries will feel compelled to develop means to counter these U.S. space weapons. Prime Minister Martin has repeatedly said that Canada would not participate in the weaponization of space. It is impossible for the Canadian government to join the BMD system and still proclaim that it opposes weapons in space. BMD, though starting with ground-based interceptors in Alaska, will evolve into a multi-layered system in space. The U.S. government states: "Over time, [the Missile Defence Agency's] acquisition approach will yield a fully integrated and layered BMDS capable of defeating ballistic missiles of all ranges in all phases of flight." The Canadian government is playing with fire in trying to pretend that the U.S. BMD program will not lead to weapons in space and will not start a new nuclear arms race. The French, Russian and Chinese governments have all told Ottawa that the U.S. program will re-start the nuclear arms race. On November 17, 2004, President Putin, in a speech to top ranking commanders of the Russian armed forces, confirmed that Russia is "carrying out research and missile tests of state-of-the-art nuclear missile systems," and that Russia would "continue to build up firmly and insistently our armed forces, including the nuclear component." The majority of Canadians oppose ballistic missile defence because they understand that it will lead to great insecurity, not more security. It is time for Canada to say no to BMD and start working harder to protect the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which shows the way to the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. Contact: djroche@shaw.ca
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