US claims space

[duncan drennan]

I found this quite interesting. A new US statement has pretty much claimed space as their territory,

"The United States will preserve its rights, capabilities, and freedom of action in space; dissuade or deter others from either impeding those rights or developing capabilities intended to do so; take actions necessary to protect its space capabilities; respond to interference; and deny, if necessary, adversaries the use of space capabilities hostile to US national interests," the strategy says.

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I'd just like to know when they are going to realise that the US foreign policy as a whole is flawed. Maybe when they change the way they treat other countries, they'll get less backlash.

Actually makes me think of a Gary Larson comic...shoot first, ask questions later (wish I could find a link to the graphic)

[Dave A]

Read carefully, the intent is to defend their interests. However, it is easily interpreted as claiming a sole right on space. This would be aggravated by someone for whom English is a second language.

[duncan drennan]

I agree, the exact wording is to defend their interests, but I think (just opinion) that the intention is more towards claiming it as part of their territory. There were some interesting reports a while back (pre-bush admin) from Rumsfield and Wolfowizt (think it was them) detailing how US should go about "colonizing" certain territories.

What is imporant is the practical outworking of the policy (which I think will resemble their foreign policy in general), rather than the exact wording.

Just ask Dali Mpofu about pedantics and meaning

[duncan drennan]

From an article on ABC news

"Defense Secretary Rumsfeld says we need to protect against a 'space Pearl Harbor,'" he says. "But we're still the dominant power there."

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The particular words that people use are always interesting to me, because they reveal a lot about how they're thinking. Rumsfeld's feelings (as always) come through strongly in his words.

[Dave A]

When I was chairing WEPMA, probably the biggest challenge was dealing with misunderstandings that arose basically because of how the intent of statements were misinterpreted or assumed. It took some diplomacy sometimes.

A lot of it comes from cultural communication habits. There is a thin line between healthy self-confidence and perceived arrogance, and that line moves around according to the standards of the beholder.

[duncan drennan]

When I was chairing WEPMA, probably the biggest challenge was dealing with misunderstandings that arose basically because of how the intent of statements were misinterpreted or assumed. It took some diplomacy sometimes.

Guilty as charged

I'll back off