Project for the New American Century calls for weapons in space

In late September, Graham announced that Canada’s participation in BMD could be decided by the Liberal cabinet. Paul Martin’s subsequent concession of allowing a Parliamentary vote is hollow — he insisted such a vote would be purely "symbolic".

There is no question that the Liberals want to sign on, and Canadians are already starting to mobilize opposition. Demonstrations were held across Canada on October 2, sending a clear message to the government that militarism is not on the public’s agenda.

Less clear but no less real is the connection between BMD and the occupation of Iraq. Missile defence and the war are both part of a larger strategy to reassert global economic hegemony through brute force and intimidation.

The plan was explicitly described in the documents produced by Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a neo-con think-tank.

PNAC’s major report of September 2000 — "Rebuilding America’s Defenses" — emphasizes the need for not only a strong military to keep a "favourable balance of power in Europe, the Middle East and surrounding energy-producing region[s], and East Asia," but also the "safety of the American homeland" which involves the use of missile defence.

The goal: "Develop and deploy global missile defenses to defend the American homeland and American allies, and to provide a secure basis for US power projection around the world."

The report elaborates on the need for BMD by explaining how countries such as North Korea can have a "credible deterrent" with nuclear weapons, despite weak conventional forces, and thus be able to stifle the projection of American power.

A functioning missile defence shield would neutralize the threat of nuclear weapons, thus allow for the use of much stronger conventional American forces to reassert dominance.

This logic shows how a new arms race is in the making.

There can be no doubt that PNAC’s proposals are being taken seriously, which is crucially important to where the Canadian government stands. The Liberals claim that they are not now and will not in the future participate in the weaponization of space.

PNAC and the Bush administration have other plans.

The report is frightfully clear about the weaponization of space. "No system of missile defenses can be fully effective without placing sensors and weapons in space…."

BMD means the weaponization of space. Once again, the Liberals are lying through their teeth.

Missile defence is a crucial component of the larger goal of reversing the trend of weakening American economic power. It is part of the same plan that includes the dominance of the Middle East oil reserves.

Paul Martin and Defence Minister Bill Graham know exactly what they are doing.

We must continue arguing that the Canadian government’s lack of direct participation in Iraq is the exception to the rule.

Canada’s ruling class continues to be at the vanguard of western imperialism, as we’ve seen in Haiti and Afghanistan. Participation in missile defence would be a continuation of the Liberal Party’s imperialist foreign policy, and the only way we can stop it is with a mass movement.