Has anyone noticed these creepy new Air Force ads? Space the final battlefield?

[bushmeister0]

http://www.airforce.com/achangingworld/?eref=flash_pentagon

Apparently, the Air Force has some sort of inadequacy issues; the Lord's Air Force is really tired of being the Marine's and Army's bitch all the time.

"Air Dominance!" "Space Dominance!" "Cyberspace Dominance."

Very butch!

The part where they say our national defense is no longer from sea to shining sea, though, but to the shining stars is particularly scary.

Note that Lt. Gen. Edward Anderson, deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command, said a couple years back, regarding the Chinese space program:

"In my view it will not be long before space becomes a battleground. Our military forces ... depend very, very heavily on space capabilities, and so that is a statement of the obvious to our potential threat, whoever that may be. I believe space is the place we will fight in the next 20 years. I think the Chinese are telling us they're there, and I think if we ever wind up in a confrontation again with any one of the major powers who has a space capability we will find space is a battleground."

http://www.omnicenter.org/warpeacecollection/airspacewar.htm#warinspace

Note also that the WaPo reported two years ago, that despite all the international treaties we've signed designating space as off limits for weapons:

"President Bush has signed a new National Space Policy that rejects future arms-control agreements that might limit U.S. flexibility in space and asserts a right to deny access to space to anyone 'hostile to U.S. interests.'"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101701484.html?referrer=email

And by "Hostile to U.S. interests" he means . . . the Chinese.

Not the Russians, naturally, we're going to need them and their 1960's space technology to get our people up the ISS after the Space Jalopy is grounded in ten more flights. It seems our next generation of space craft are having some manufacturing over-runs and won't be ready in time.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/The_COTS_Enigma_999.html

And that $8.1 billion contract with Lockheed Martin for the Orion space craft is right on schedule, right? No?

Btw, isn't the Air Force's catchy new slogan "Above All" actually an exact translation of "über alles" in German?

[defendandprotect]

1. The Moon is the "highest hill" . . . LBJ was talking about that in the 1950's . . .

presumably inspired by the right-wing group he was involved with ---

[OKDem08]

2. This was one aspect of PNAC's goals

from their "Rebuilding America's Defenses" piece that I found so peculiar: space forces.

Obviously, Eisenhower's military industrial complex farewell warning has become manifest.

[lovuian]

3. Rods of God (Bush Star Wars)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MWJw8Wn3jpk

Oh ya in the plans

[1]

4. wow. the first thing i always think when i watch all of them "sexy, future weapons" shows is...

(i know, many of you don't watch these shows. or foxnews. a "head in the sand" approach is one way to go.)

regardless...

wtf would your "sexy, future weapons" do if there were no satellites to control them?

if i were an "axis of evil", i would totally work on knocking out the satellites.

then the tanks and the "future soldiers" and the whatnot would be running around in circles trying to figure out where they are. and how to fire their advanced weapons that can't work without that total dependence they have on "the satellites."



heh. but maybe that's just me.

if the mic could just figure out how stupid and vulnerable their "technological advantages" really are, stop this shit and start taking care of their own citizens...

eh... maybe i'm just a dreamer...

[bushmeister0]

6. We obviously have to knock out their satellites before they get ours.

Of course, the minute we do, all that debris will go flying right into ours, but you know . . . we're still dominant, damn it!

[ColbertWatcher]

5. What!? Space!?

Well, whatever it is, I;m sure it's innocent and will protect us and won't cost an arm and a leg, but if it does will be well worth whatever amount of money we spend and it will all be spent in the open and not just given to hand-picked corporations.

Right?

[soothsayer]

7. The USAF has a 'space command'----sounds like it's right out of buck rogers

When the Chinese land on the moon, watch out! Someone is going to set up weapons on that sucker. Who's going to be first? Us or them?

[jmowreader]

8. Why does it sound like they're gearing up to fight the Martians?

I know this "space, the final battlefield" crap is coded "we need fourteen brazillion dollars to build a new generation of Killer Antisatellite Missiles" but it sure as hell SOUNDS like they're going to install some Pu-236 Explosive Space Modulators so we'll be ready for the expected onslaught of little green men.