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U.S. Strategic Command Near Omaha:
A Dangerous & Scary Neighbor

John Krejci
NFP State Board Member

If you are one of the thousands of recipients of the Nebraska Report who did not get a chance to hear military space expert Bruce Gagnon and Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton speak at the 2007 Annual Peace Conference October 6 in Omaha, I urge you to keep reading. Gagnon, the coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, demonstrated how StratCom’s new mission to make the U.S. the unchallenged “Master of Space” is arrogant and dangerous. Gumbleton spelled out the moral and human consequences of our addiction to violence and war: “If we don’t end war, it will end us — and perhaps all life on the planet.”

The objective of the United States’ present military policy, Gagnon explained in his remarks, is “full-spectrum dominance.” And the goal is threefold:

1. Control of the earth through conventional weapons


2. Control of the seas and the earth by the Pentagon


3. Domination of space by StratCom.


The domination of space will entail controlling access to space, freedom of operation in space and denying others the use of space. The Air Force’s Space Command’s motto of “Master of Space” leaves no question about the real purpose of U.S. space operations, Gagnon said. Now that the Bush/Cheney Administration has renounced the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, U.S. space policy formally authorizes the Pentagon and StratCom to pursue the development of offensive space weapons.

When China responded to this U.S. policy of space dominance by shooting down one of its own weather satellites last January, the reaction in the U.S., Gagnon said, was telling. Alongside a sense of outrage that the Chinese would even dare to challenge our claim to space, the administration redoubled its efforts to ensure U.S. supremacy in the skies. The president and Congress, who have already doubled the military budget in the past seven years, allocated $11 billion to test space technology, and it is estimated that another $30 billion is available in the “Black Budget” of secret military funding. The aeronautics industry is gleefully speculating that “Star Wars” will be the largest industrial project in the history of the earth.

One practical and frightening consequence of this spending priority, however, is that to fund it will require the dismantling of America’s entire system of entitlement programs: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, social welfare and anti-poverty initiatives. The U.S. is even asking approved allies like Australia and India to cut their social spending to help underwrite this high-tech space venture. Current plans call for permanent bases in Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America — all enabling StratCom to wage global preemptive attacks and space and computer warfare. And in Eastern Europe, the U.S. is seeking to build missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic, though 75 percent of the Czech public opposes such a move, and in their recent presidential election, the Poles just ousted the government that was actively promoting the U.S. proposal. The White House defends these bases as integral to thwarting a missile attack from Iran. Russia, however, sees this as nothing less than a coordinated assault on its security — both to undermine its defensive capability and ultimately gain access to its oil, natural gas and water resources.

The world, Gagnon said — and particularly those of us in Nebraska — has been lulled to sleep by the long-time presence of SAC, now StratCom. The Glenn L. Martin Co. plant in Omaha that built the “Enola Gay” (the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima) was a source of jobs and security during World War II. And for the 40 years of the Cold War, SAC controlled America’s nuclear deterrent. StratCom’s new missions, however, acquired in the aftermath of 9/11, are even more ambitious and frightening: full-spectrum global strike and the authority to attack any place on the face of the earth in one hour with either conventional or nuclear weapons; waging the international “War on Terror” with total disregard for national and international law; and the total domination of space and the capability to wage a world war from space.

Many years ago, when I lived in Bellevue, I used to reflect on the SAC motto posted outside Offutt Air Force Base: “Peace is our profession.” In my mind though, I invariably added, “However, war is our avocation!” Needless to say, few in Nebraska think as we in Nebraskans for Peace do. Gagnon pleaded for us to wake up before it’s too late.

Bishop Gumbleton fleshed out the moral consequences of war for the human race and our planet. He stated unequivocally: “We can end war or war will end us.” He recalled former StratCom commander, General George Lee Butler, who having seen up close the destructive capability of nuclear weapons became a disarmament advocate on his retirement. Gumbleton also cited John F. Kennedy, who, after having been briefed on the result of nuclear warfare, said, “And we call ourselves human beings.” The bishop said the abolition of war is crucial because war acts against the very creative love of God. By war, we destroy what God has made. That is the worst sin. And war kills innocent people.

Quoting the words of Pope John Paul II, Gumbleton said, “Never again war, NO, Never again war.” He said that the hatred generated by war prevents us from becoming full, loving human beings, and called for the abolition of war — all war, even limited war, if we are to save and preserve the planet. The world, he stressed, could hardly survive even another limited war the scale of World War II, which was restricted mostly to the countries of Western Europe. Nuclear and space wars, however, the bishop said, can now involve the whole planet. He alluded to the recent destruction of the Iraqi infrastructure and the death of some 650,000 Iraqi lives in an unjust war. He noted that 70 percent of the armaments in the “Shock and Awe” bombing campaign on Iraq were directed to their targets from space, by StratCom’s Space Command — proving that space warfare is reality, not just a theoretical threat.

In the ‘question and answer’ period that followed, both Gagnon and Gumbleton spoke of practical strategies and tactics needed to bring about a change in U.S. policy, and an effective movement to abolish war.

Afraid of rocking the boat, the “middle-class peace movement,” Gagnon said, has confined itself to “talking and writing.” We’ve unconsciously bought into the “success mythology.” We continue to be safe, cautious, and to even climb the corporate ladder — worrying about car payments and kids. We need, he stated, to look back to the Civil Rights Movement of the ’60s and the Nuclear Freeze Movement of the ’80s and strive to raise the public’s awareness. Lulled to sleep by the familiarity of first SAC, and now StratCom, Nebraskans have gotten too comfortable with it as a neighbor.We have forgotten what its original mission was, and more importantly, how much more frightening StratCom’s mission has become. And it’s no wonder we are complacent: StratCom provides a steady stream of defense dollars for the local economy — to the tune of hundreds of millions a year; it provides lucrative jobs for local residents; and pride and comfort for Nebraska. The local media refuses to cover any anti-StratCom events — the latest example being the “Keep Space for Peace Week” protests over the “Strategic Space and Defense” arms bazaar at Omaha’s Qwest Center.

For over 20 years, Frank Cordaro and the Des Moines Catholic Workers have vigiled and protested at Offutt Air Force Base. They’ve often ‘crossed the line’ and been arrested for their nonviolent civil disobedience (as the bishop himself has). But these actions are rarely covered by the Omaha World-Herald, local radio and TV. Frank has repeatedly complained about the apathy of the local churches, the business community and the citizens of Bellevue and Omaha. Each group continues to sleep peacefully while the world’s most dangerous neighbor busies itself with global domination.

I grew up in Omaha. We took pride in our community because we were the fifth most important target of the Soviet Union during the Cold War! We were important! Attitudes like that and the high comfort level will be hard to change. We Omahans remain comfortable with our old and lucrative Bellevue neighbor. Nebraskans for Peace, however, can’t back away from this even more demanding challenge. We must wake up, address it, begin protesting, educate and change what needs to be changed.