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May 8, 2003
Open Letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien
The Rt. Hon. Jean Chretien, P.C., M.P.
Prime
Minister of Canada
Room 309-S, Centre Block
House of Commons
O t t a w a
Fax 941-6900
Dear Prime
Minister,
You have done the right thing in delaying Canada's decision about
whether or not to participate in the
U.S. ballistic missile defence
program.
I urge you to maintain a wary stance. Do not be taken in by fraudulent
claims
that this is about the defence of North America. It is not. It
is about U.S. military control of space.
It is about space wars of the
future. It is about how the Bush Administration is turning its back on
the emerging
international legal system and trying to dominate the world
with a 21st century military system that leaves other countries
far
behind.
Canada must not go down this road.
It may seem presumptuous of me to offer advice to a prime
minister.
But it is precisely my respect for your high office plus my background
as Canada's former Ambassador for Disarmament
and Chairman of the United
Nations Disarmament Committee that impel me to speak out before it is
too late.
I
have just retuned from 10 days of meetings in Geneva on the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty; it was evident to me how
shocked many, if not
most, nations are at the belligerence of the U.S. Administration toward
efforts to build up international
law for peace and security today.
Although Iraq is a prime example of U.S. stridency, the issues
surrounding the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction go far
beyond that subject. Nations are understandably resentful at the U.S.
for abandoning
the ABM Treaty, rejecting the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty, and developing a new "bunker buster" nuclear weapon.
The
attempted domination of world events today by the U.S. and its
diminishment of the United Nations has become the central
subject. It
is in this light that Canada must view the U.S. missile defence system.
Prime Minister, there
are some who would misinform you that the
ground-based interceptors the U.S. is now building in Alaska are not the
"Star
Wars" of President Ronald Reagan. In fact, the U.S. is now
putting money into research for weapons in space, and
the early stages
of the missile defence system are inextricably linked to space weapons.
A mix of ground and space sensors
and weapons is planned.
A succession of U.S. government statements makes clear that the U.S.
intends to control
space. For example, the U.S. Space Command's "Vision
for 2020" states that the U.S. plans to dominate space with
weapons "to
protect U.S. interests and investment." When a forthcoming space
weapons capability is added to the
present U.S. doctrine of pre-emptive
attack, it is easy to see why nations around the world are seething at a
country
now employing naked power.
It is disingenuous for some in Canada to argue that this is "just an
extended defence
system" and that, even though we participate in it in
some way, that will not alter Canadian opposition to weapons in space.
Once
Canada enters into the missile defence system, no matter how modest
our participation, there will be no turning back from
deeper
involvement. As the system develops, it will be impossible to separate
out, in any meaningful way, ground
and space-based elements. It will be
one package leading to U.S. space dominance.
Entry into missile defence
equals the end of Canadian policy opposing
weapons in space. That is the stark fact the government must face.
Why,
then, should Canada give its assent to missile defence? I can
appreciate the pressures being put on you to do so.
You are told that
the Americans are going to go ahead anyway, and our defence is
continentally tied to the U.S.
To keep NORAD viable, we must join in
with its development in this new field. Canada will lose out on
contracts.
Having "offended" the U.S. by not participating in the Iraq
war, we must now reaffirm out friendship. Like it or
not, Canada's
future is with the U.S.
If these arguments of expediency are accepted, then Canada will be
sacrificing
its prime value of building peace and security through the
development of international law. Canada could make a
tremendous
contribution by leading the way in the development of a global treaty
banning all weapons in space.
China and Russia have collaborated on a
Working Paper for a future legal agreement on space. Why leave this
critical
matter just to them? Why cannot Canada take the lead with a
new "Ottawa Process" leading to a ban on weapons in space?
I
urge you to remember that present U.S. aggressiveness on missile
defence is being driven by the White House, not the scientific
community.
The military-industrial complex has virtual control of the
Administration. This may well change when the American
people, so
traumatized by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, recover
their balance.
Do not, therefore,
throw away Canada's potential to uphold and extend
Canadian values by signing on to a spurious U.S. military plan that
may
erode as conditions change.
By all means, let the Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade keep
holding informal discussions with their counterparts in
Washington. Just do not enter into formal negotiations.
Keep kicking
this can down the road.
With best wishes, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Douglas Roche, O.C.
Senator
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