BY FARIDA IQBAL
From October 4 to 11, anti-nuclear campaigners around the world will be marking Keep Space for Peace Week. The week, an initiative of the Global Network against Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, is an effort to stop the militarisation of space. The main event in Australia will be the October 5-7 national protest at the US spy base at Pine Gap, near Alice Springs.
Officially, Pine Gap is jointly operated by Australian and the US government intelligence agencies. However, Australian politicians are poorly informed about the activities at Pine Gap. Australia contributes $30 million a year towards the installation.
Pine Gap is the largest US military base in Australia. It will be centrally involved in Washington's "Star Wars" Ballistic Missile Defence plan — a network of missiles, satellites and ground stations supposedly designed to "defend" the US by shooting hostile missiles out of the sky with US missiles.
The true goal of the "Star Wars" system is revealed in the Ballistic Missile Defense Organisation's publication, "Visions for 2020", which states that the intent is "the domination of space to protect US interests and investment".
As well as the impending militarisation of space, the military infrastructure at Pine Gap has been used to wage war on Earth. Pine Gap is the ground station used by the US to spy on Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Palestine. It is the most important US military communications base for the Asian region.
Pine Gap is connected to the super-secret international network of spy bases known as Echelon, which can intercept email and phone messages throughout the region.
Email <pinegap@ozpeace.net> for more information about the October 5-7 activities at Pine Gap.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, September 4, 2002.
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