By Adam Hinton
Nuclear arms specialist discusses U.S. international strategic interest at U of L
On Thursday, October 24, nuclear arms specialist John Rhinelander spoke at U of L’s Bigelow Hall on strategic interests of the United States in outer space.
The event, cosponsored by the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution and the Washington D.C.-based Lawyers Alliance for World Security, focused mainly on the U.S. policies involving nuclear weapons and the possibilities of militarizing space.
According to Rhinelander, in 1972 the U.S. signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which banned the development of antiballistic missile systems. This treaty remained solid until the Reagan administration, when Reagan’s Star Wars speech “changed everything.” This, of course, was the speech where Reagan claimed that the U.S. was developing antiballistic missile systems, lasers, and particles beams that would be stationed in outer space. Rhinelander referred to these as “dreams that have not and will not in the near future come true.”
Despite this speech, the U.S. remained a member of the ABM treaty until this June, when the Bush administration made the United States the first country to withdraw from a post-WWII arms treaty. Rhinelander spoke vehemently against this move, calling it the “stupidest damned thing imaginable.”
Rhinelander believes that if the U.S. attempts to develop antiballistic or space warfare technology, other countries will follow suit. What will ensue is a form of a new age cold war, much like the nuclear arms race between the Soviets and the U.S. in the 70s and 80s.
Rhinelander sites the main reason against armament of space in the U.S.’s enormous reliance on the commercial use of space. From GPS to cable TV to long-distance telephone service, countless aspects of daily life revolve around the use of satellites. Even a small space skirmish could be detrimental to our society.
Additionally, Rhinelander sites very practical reasoning against the arming out space. While the U.S. can spend billions upon billions of dollars developing sophisticated weapons systems and satellites, the most dangerous and effective weapon in outer space could prove to be a rocket loaded with gravel. Imagine the ramifications of having several thousand pieces of gravel flying around the earth’s atmosphere at some 18,000 miles per hour. Virtually all orbiting satellites would be completely destroyed.
Rhinelander made several remarks about the outer space deficient Bush administration and warned that without strong presidential leadership against the armament of space, the US could be doing something “very, very foolish.”
