There are several matters to report on since our last communique. We have included a summary of events at the conclusion of this newsletter. To begin with we want to provide some information on a couple of topics:

Huntsville

Loring Wirbel and I took part in the National Space Organizing Conference and Protest held in Huntsville, Alabama, March 16-18 . About 80 attended the conference and most were able to join either the bannering and protest vigil on Friday outside the gates of the Redstone Arsenal(The Army Space Command’s key research and testing center) or the Sunday protest at the nearby Space & Rocket Center Museum .

We arrived too late to take part in Friday’s protest, but just in time to see the local TV newscast reporting the event. It was astounding to hear the TV anchors and the local District Attorney explain that "these people have a First Amendment right to do this". It was apparently the first time anyone had ever protested at this huge complex which is the economic base of a city of almost 200,000. Bruce Gagnon and others from the Global Network are to be commended for a first rate job of organizing!

The presentations and workshops on Saturday were informative and inspiring. There was an extended time at the beginning to hear something from each person about their own activist history. Veterans for Peace from Minnesota, Alabama and elsewhere provided a dimension not often found at similar gatherings in our area.. Peace activists from the South were prominent but there was a good representation from around the country. A hopeful sign for me was that they all have made the connection between U.S economic domination and U.S. military domination of the planet and outer space and they want to do something about it. Loring and I joined a panel on "Satellites, Spying and Warfighting".

We spent time with Sisters Ardeth Platte (she made an inspiring presentation on Saturday evening) and Carol Gilbert who have received back the Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares banner used in last September’s action here. It had a prominent place in the protests. I pass on their greetings to friends here. They have been making presentations about their action and the issues involved all across the East and Midwest. Chris Ney of The War Resisters League also spoke with us to arrange a special all day workshop on Space for WRL board members as part of their national meeting in mid July in Colorado Springs. Their organization has chosen Space as the focus of their war resisting efforts for the year.

Satellites and Computers

Those of you who have followed our newsletter over the years are familiar with the revolution in warfare that has been brought about by the use of satellites and computers to get the bombs to their targets. The network of war fighting satellites with their computer support facilities is a $15-$20 billion per year business. It has become so important to U.S. power projection in the world that the Pentagon has all but claimed Space as an exclusive U.S. military domain.

Over the past few months another arena of warfare has taken the limelight. Computers have become the target of acts of war and also the means of war. Information war or cyber war as it is sometimes called is really taking off. So we now have war in outer space and war in cyber space!

This is not science fiction or conspiracy theory babble. The object is to kill people and destroy things by causing havoc in another country’s computer system. There was great fear that this could happen in the Y2K crisis. This is the real thing. The Air Combat Command of the United States Air Force is now in charge of planning and carrying out information war for the Air Force. The U.S. Space Command remains in overall command. IW was the feature story in the Feb 26th edition of Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, complete with diagrams, designs, charts, maps and musings about "collateral damage" and legal questions. (Who would declare a Cyber War?)

The week of February 21-25 an Information War conference was held at the Sheraton South Hotel in Colorado Springs. The sessions were all labeled "Secret". But we were able to obtain a sampling of the handouts available to conference goers. God awful stuff:: the Army’s director of information systems is called the digital dominator; a corporate handout on information operations is introduced with the phrase "There are no rules; everyone plays; there’s us and targets... Another publication echoes the phrase "Think Globally... Act Locally" with its own: "Global Strength.. Local Commitment". And finally information warfare is said to provide one with "The Keys to the Kingdom". The day after we got the info, Peter Sprunger-Froese was able to get together what we think is the first information war protest banner. It read "Information War - Words that Kill" Made for some interesting dialogue outside the convention hall.

Here are some upcoming events for Citizens for Peace in Space.

• April 9, 1:30: The Motions hearing for Fr. Carl Kabat’s trial in federal Magistrate Boyd Boland’s courtroom in Denver. Scheduled witnesses include Navy Admiral Eugene Carroll(ret.) of the Center for Defense Information, and Ved Nanda of Denver University Law School. The hearing will probably extend into the following day.

   

• April 11, 11:30 - 1: Bannering at the Space Symposium at the Broadmoor Hotel. Gather at Bijou House at 11 or meet us there outside the convention hall at 11:30.(389-0644 for info)

   

• April 21, 12 noon - Prayer Vigil at Nuclear Missile Silo N-5 in Weld County, Colorado. Leave from the Justice and Peace Office at 7:30 AM to join the caravan from Denver(9am) to the silo. This event has really mushroomed. We now expect upwards of 100 including some from nearby states.

   

• April 29, 7pm - Festival of Hope, First Mennonite Church (9th and Delaware, Denver) in anticipation of Carl Kabat’s trial the next day. There will be a one act play depicting Fr. Kabat’s 1994 action in a clown suit at another missile silo. First Strike Theatre will perform and more.

   

• April 30, 8:30 Fr. Carl Kabat’s trial begins in Denver. Daily car pooling for the trial which could last 2 or 3 days.

   

• May 4-6 International Meeting of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Leeds, England. May 7&8 Abolition 2000 meeting, Saffron-Walden U.K.

   

• May 13 The Human Race Against the Arms Race . See the J&P website at www.pikespeakjustice and peace.org for details

Lastly, Citizens for Peace in Space is a cast of hundreds if not thousands. As our activity increases so do our expenses. We continue to incur expenses related to Carl Kabat's trial and we have taken on added travel commitments. We ask that you help us financially if you can. Many of you have been generous with us through the years. That's what keeps us going. Thanks.

Bill Sulzman
Director
P.O. Box 915
Colorado Springs, CO 80901
Ph 719 389 0644