I got an e-mail from Mel Hurtig

[canuckforpeace]

He's flogging his new book "Rush to Armegeddon" He claims to have uncovered evidence that the missile defense shield program is intended to be able to deliver first strikes from space. Anyone else ever hear of this? Do you think he's credible? I might post something about this in general discussion depending on your answers. Here's an excerpt from his e-mail...

"While researching this book I found myself, far too many times, shaking my head with shocked disbelief and outright anger at the devastating new information that I uncovered.

I found out that this so-called U.S. missile "defence" system has little or nothing to do with defence -- it's really about establishing a U.S. first-strike-from-space nuclear capability.


And there are numerous official U.S. documents that blatantly back this up by revealing in detail their plans to "dominate space," place deadly lasers and nuclear weapons in space, and “deny others the use of space.”

Yet what shocks me most is trying to come to terms with why both Paul Martin's government and Stephen Harper's Conservatives would want Canada to join George W. Bush's extraordinarily dangerous program.

Remember, today's nuclear weapons are up to 350 times more powerful than the bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

[MrPrax]

1. Yeah I Did as well...

and I wish I could find the unsubscribe button...

I still dread the day I ever signed their online petition over at ceasefire.ca...

No information whatsoever...just 'spam' for donations (to do what with, who knows...lobby I suppose)

Hurtig has become somewhat less respectable over the years since the heady days of publishing the 'Canadian Encyclopedia' back in the 80s...

A relic, like Orchard, Barlow, Suzuki...where's the new blood?

[LeftistGorilla]

2. I like my Mel....

live rather than in email form...

as for missle defence...

Bill Graham recently said we should go along with it because it would appease the Bushies....

:scared:

[iverglas]

3. googling

That's a mailing list I'm not on. Libby Davies is about my only regular unsolicited correspondent ... unfortunately, Svend Robinson's regular mailings are no more. I tried for years to get Barlow's outfit to take me off their damned (snail)mail list, which I had done nothing to ask to be on, to no avail.

Anyhow, I googled for Mel Hurtig and missile defence.

At this site (which others probably know of; I didn't)<*>:
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php?story=20040122005340938
he refers to here:
http://www.ligi.ubc.ca/
so I go ... and look for an article that is not readily visible ... click around a bit ... here we are:

http://www.ligi.ubc.ca/collateral/common/index.cfm?fuseaction=view&pageName=publications&contentID=61§ion=Information&subSection=Publications
(pdf document)

CANADA AND BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENCE REPORT ENDORSED BY:

The Hon. Dr. Lloyd Axworthy
Director & CEO
Liu Institute for Global Issues, UBC

Mr. Gerry Barr
President-CEO
Canadian Council for International Co-operation

Dr. Michael Byers
Professor of Law & Director of Canadian Studies
Duke University

Dr. George Lewis
Associate Director, Security Studies Program
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ms. Peggy Mason
Former Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament
(currently Senior Fellow at The Norman Paterson School of International Relations,
Carleton University)

Professor John Polanyi
Department of Chemistry
University of Toronto

The Hon. Senator Douglas Roche
The Senate of Canada

Ms. Victoria Samson
Research Associate
Center for Defense Information, Washington DC

Dr. Jennifer Allen Simons
Executive Director, Simons Centre for Peace and Disarmament Studies,
Liu Institute for Global Issues, UBC
& President, The Simons Foundation

I'm not gonna try just now, but it looks like it might be worth reading. Even though I've never made a habit of reading things with Peggy Mason's name on them ...


<*> edit ... how embarrassing ;) -- while I was typing, a colleague whose sig line has a link to the site in question posted.

[canuckforpeace]

4. That's a good link, thanks

There seems to be some truth to what Mel is saying...

"U.S. plans and ambitions for BMD extend well beyond the ground based, mid-course interception system to include the possible deployment of weapons in space."