[mobglob-discuss] Canada may host U.S. missiles

[Paul Browning]

Dear all,

Below is a very disturbing development.

It is quick and easy to send a letter to Paul Martin at the ceasefire.ca link.

In Solidarity,

Paul Browning

           

      February 24, 2004

      Dear Friend, 

      During an astonishing television interview on February 22nd, Defence Minister David Pratt refused to rule out the building of U.S. radar stations and missile launchers in Canada. That means that American rocket-like missiles may be stationed on Canadian territory as part of the U.S. missile defence shield.

      This move by the government will completely undermine Canada's international reputation. David Pratt and Paul Martin are willing to throw Canada's 40-year international peacekeeping and disarmament reputation out the window in order to become friends with George W. Bush.

      We need to tell Prime Minister Martin that Canadians do not want U.S. missiles and new radar stations to be placed in Canada. Please visit ceasefire.ca today and send your message directly to the Prime Minister's office opposing this unprecedented development. And please forward this e-mail to ten friends, co-workers and family members.

      Sincerely,
      Steven Staples
      ceasefire.ca  



            Canada may host U.S. missiles
            By JEFF SALLOT
            The Globe and Mail
            Monday, February 23, 2004

            Ottawa - Canada is talking to Washington about the use of Canadian soil for stationing interceptor rocket launchers and radar stations as part of a continental ballistic missile defence program. 

            Defence Minister David Pratt yesterday said Canada is considering making some of its geography in the north available in lieu of a major cash contribution if the federal government decides to join the American program.

            Until now, federal officials have said that Canadian participation in the U.S. program probably would not involve Canadian territory or a cash contribution.

            But in two interviews yesterday, Mr. Pratt refused to rule out this possibility.

            "We'll just have to wait and see" whether the discussions with the Americans could lead the basing of interceptor rocket launchers in Canada, he said on the CTV News program Question Period.

            "We're going to have to see the technical data and what it produces by way of plans for the future," he added. "The Americans haven't talked money with us. But one of the things we have said is in-kind contributions are possible ..... possible use of Canadian territory for radar sites," he later told The Globe and Mail.

            "It's subject to the discussions resulting in some sort of arrangement with the United States on missile defence. It's all very speculative," he said.

            He stressed that negotiations with Washington are still in the early stages, as are U.S. plans for the deployment of various components of the missile defence system. Thus, it is too early to tell whether Canadian territory would actually be needed to make a full-scale system work, he said.

            There are historic precedents, however, for this sort of co-operation in continental defence.

            The United States was allowed to place nuclear-armed surface-to-air Bomarc missiles in northern Quebec and Ontario in the early 1960s to defend against a possible Soviet bomber attack on North America. The weapons were removed after a change of Canadian policy in 1969.

            In the 1980s, the United States and Canada jointly built the North Warning System with radar sites and interceptor jet landing fields situated in the Canadian Arctic to protect against Soviet bombers. The United States put up most of the money and Canada provided the territory. The system is still maintained jointly by Canada and the United States, but it is not put into regular operation.

            The Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney turned down a U.S. invitation to participate in an ambitious Star Wars defence against ballistic missiles because the plan envisioned putting weapons into space.

            The Canadian government still opposes deploying weapons in space, Mr. Pratt said.

            The current American proposal is limited to deployment of weapons on the ground or aboard naval ships, he said.

            The first rudimentary pieces of the system are to go into operation later this year with the basing of interceptor rockets at Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

            The Pentagon said recently it is considering putting some components of the system in an unspecified foreign country to improve the protection of the U.S. homeland "as well as for our allies and friends."

            Washington says the system is needed to protect North America against an accidental launch of a Russian ballistic missile or a missile attack from North Korea.

            Critics say this is an expensive way to defend against these remote possibilities.

            The Pentagon plans to spend $53-billion (U.S.) on missile defence between now and the end of the decade.

            Senior Canadian officials are expected to discuss the state of the negotiations Monday.

            The Globe and Mail
           








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