Russia urges ban on weapons in space

[Joanne98]

Source: UPI


MOSCOW, Feb 7, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Russian officials say a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the United States must include a ban on militarization of space.

The new pact should build on the principles of the first START agreement, and ban space weapons and the deployment of nuclear weapons on land, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told the 45th Munich Security Conference Friday. The current START pact expires Dec. 5.

Russia also supports the United Nations playing a larger security role in the world to encourage international stability and the reduction of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Ivanov said.

The final implementation of the current START pact in 2001 resulted in the removal of nearly 80 percent of all strategic nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia. The former Soviet republics of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine disarmed all of their nuclear weapons under the treaty.


Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/russia-urges-ban-...

[AlphaCentauri]

1. do they want to take down our spy satellites? n/t

[caraher]

4. No. The key word is weapons

They need their recon satellites too. What they want is a ban on weapons, and it is manifestly in our best interests to prevent "weaponization" of space (it's already plenty militarized, of course, with spy satellites, GPS and its variants, etc.).

[Thothmes]

10. At one time, they had almost as many spy satellites as we did.

[RC]

2. Russia's leaders are smarter than ours.

We, the United States really, really need to remove from positions of power in this country those people that think annihilation is the way to lasting peace.
I think my kids and myself have a different idea about annihilation.

[Jack_DeLeon]

3. I think they just want us to stop...

but I'm sure they will continue to develop them in secret.

[Redstone]

5. Uh, there already IS a ban on weapons in space.

Redstone

[caraher]

6. Ban on nuclear weapons, yes

What treaty is in force that bans other weapons? (Or treaties...)

There have been attempts to ban antisatellite weapons, I think some in the context of the ABM treaty, but I'm not aware of anything presently in effect and my quickie Google search yielded nothing.

[bobthedrummer]

8. There are many weapons in space, and more space "explorers" here on Earth eom.

[MicaelS]

7. Which means they already have theirs in place

And want to make sure no one else has the capability.

[bobthedrummer]

9. "I say we nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure..." Ellen Ripley line in "Aliens"

[scrinmaster]

11. They know that anything they try to develop can't compete with what the US can get into space.

This is their only way of staying on an even footing with us.

[caraher]

12. More likely, they don't want to get sucked into a costly arms race

and neither should we. They remember how the Cold War ended for them and are scarcely eager for a repeat performance.

The arms industry here is only too happy to tell us scary stories about the Russky bogeyman to fatten their own wallets. The Russians do many things well and we should not be complacent, but neither should we be paranoid.

[Squatch]

13. Don't they mean "weapooooons innnnnnnnn SPAAAaaaaaaace"

Say the whole headline like that. lol.