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.
"Freedom of action in space is as important to the United States as air power and sea power," the policy asserts in its introduction.
What right does America--or any other nation--have to say who can and who cannot have a space program? And just what would America do if some nation whose interests are contrary to the U.S. launch a missile into space? Shoot it down and potentially start WWIII?
This bothers me. Just a whole lot . . . .