A study in contradiction.
There are two issues today that show what a study in contradiction George W. Bush is.
On the one hand, you have W warning North Korea, saying the United States would prevent North Korea from transferring arms to Iran. Although he gave no specifics on how the U.S. might respond in such an event, he said about North Korea "They'd be held to account."
Of course Condi Rice had to get in on the act as well, saying the United States would go to the ends of the earth to defend Japan from North Korea. She commented "..the United States has the will and the capability to meet the full range — and I underscore the full range — of its deterrent and security commitments to Japan." (Read: we'll nuke the hell out of them Koreans).
Now here's where the contradiction comes in. While Bush and Wifey # 2 were busy threatening North Korea, basically telling them they have no right to nuclear ambitions, George W. Bush signed a new National Space Policy that some experts say could lead to arms in space.
From the Washington Post:
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."
The document, the first full revision of overall space policy in 10 years, emphasizes security issues, encourages private enterprise in space, and characterizes the role of U.S. space diplomacy largely in terms of persuading other nations to support U.S. policy.
-snip-
The administration said the policy revisions are not a prelude to introducing weapons systems into Earth orbit. "This policy is not about developing or deploying weapons in space. Period," said a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak on the record.
Nevertheless, Michael Krepon, co-founder of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a nonpartisan think tank that follows the space-weaponry issue, said the policy changes will reinforce international suspicions that the United States may seek to develop, test and deploy space weapons. The concerns are amplified, he said, by the administration's refusal to enter negotiations or even less formal discussions on the subject.
-snip-
The National Space Policy follows other administration statements that appeared to advocate greater military use of space.
In 2004, the Air Force published a Counterspace Operations Doctrine that called for a more active military posture in space and said that protecting U.S. satellites and spacecraft may require "deception, disruption, denial, degradation and destruction." Four years earlier, a congressionally chartered panel led by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld recommended developing space weapons to protect military and civilian satellites.
Bush: U.S. will stop N. Korea nuke moves
Rice says U.S. ready to defend Japan
