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Obama campaign ad promises deep cuts in defense spending
Several | Various

Posted on 03/06/2008 12:01:43 PM PST by Eye On The Left

This is a matter of national security which should concern every normal American.
These are Barack Obama's own statements below:

"First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning. And as president I will end it.

Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending.

I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.

I will not weaponize space.

I will slow our development of future combat systems.

And I will institute an independent "Defense Priorities Board" to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending.

Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals."

Source: Barack Obama campaign ad:
NOTE: this is the ORIGINAL youtube Obama ad. Not the poor quality copy that is circulating the internet. This one (the good one) is titled "Obama-Caucus4Priorities". Another making the rounds is titled "In 52 Seconds Why Obama Cannot Win the General Election". However, the picture quality is terrible.
Youtube/BarackObamaDotCom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o84PE871BE

You can also find it at this site through a search for "Obama-Caucus4Priorities" (use the lower search feature):
http://www.youtube.com/user/BarackObamadotcom

Article: Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs:
http://missilethreat.com/archives/id.7086/detail.asp

From "45 Goals":

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

http://www.uhuh.com/nwo/communism/comgoals.htm

"I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems"??
Hey Barack, we just shot down a failed satellite travelling thousands of miles an hour!
U.S. Dept of Defense video of shootdown:

2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test:
"The 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test was conducted by China on January 11, 2007. A Chinese weather satellite — the FY-1C polar orbit satellite of the Fengyun series, at an altitude of 865 kilometres (537 mi), with a mass of 750 kg[1] — was destroyed by a kinetic kill vehicle traveling with a speed of 8 km/s in the opposite direction[2] (see Head-on engagement). It was launched with a multistage solid-fuel missile from Xichang Satellite Launch Center or nearby."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Chinese_anti-satellite_missile_test

March 6, 2008
(New) Pentagon Report: China's Growing Military Space Power
By Leonard David
Special Correspondent, SPACE.com
posted: 6 March 2008

GOLDEN, Colorado — A just-released Pentagon report spotlights a growing U.S. military concern that China is developing a multi- dimensional program to limit or prevent the use of space-based assets by its potential adversaries during times of crisis or conflict.

Furthermore, last year's successful test by China of a direct-ascent, anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon to destroy its own defunct weather satellite, the report adds, underscores that country's expansion from the land, air, and sea dimensions of the traditional battlefield into the space and cyber-space domains.

Although China's commercial space program has utility for non- military research, that capability demonstrates space launch and control know-how that have direct military application. Even the Chang'e 1 — the Chinese lunar probe now circling the Moon — is flagged in the report as showcasing China's ability "to conduct complicated space maneuvers — a capability which has broad implications for military counterspace operations."

Hedging against the unknown

Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2008 is an annual report to Congress prepared by the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense.

While drafted by the Department of Defense, the report is the U.S. government's collective and unified view on Chinese military power, said David Sedney, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia in a March 3 Pentagon briefing on the just-issued report. The assessment, he said, has been vetted and cleared across interagency lines, including the White House, the National Security Council, the intelligence community, and other agencies.

The wide-ranging report is founded on the premise that China not only is a rising international economic power in the community of nations, but also is a rising military power with new and emerging capabilities that have global implications.

"The lack of transparency in China's military and security affairs poses risks to stability by increasing the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation. This situation will naturally and understandably lead to hedging against the unknown," the report states.

Counterspace

In the space arena, the report cites the unannounced January 2007 ASAT test as demonstrating the ability of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to attack spacecraft in low-Earth orbit.

"The test raised concern among many nations, and the resulting debris cloud put at risk the assets of all space faring nations, and posed a danger to human space flight," the report says.

"In the counterspace area, the Chinese test of an anti-satellite system, a little over a year ago, was something that really brought home, in a very dramatic way, the capabilities that China has been developing...not that we weren't aware of those developments beforehand," Sedney noted in this week's Pentagon briefing.

"But when you see something actually used, then it certainly attracts your attention. Because you've seen that, not only are they working on it, but they've done it ... they've acquired that capability," Sedney told reporters.

Work in progress

The newly issued assessment by the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense points to other Chinese space developments:

China is developing the Long March 5, an improved heavy-lift rocket that will be able to lift larger reconnaissance satellites into low- earth orbit or communications satellites into geosynchronous orbits by 2012, and is constructing a new satellite launch complex on Hainan Island.

The PLA has developed a variety of kinetic and non-kinetic weapons and jammers to degrade or deny an adversary's ability to use space- based platforms.

China is researching and deploying capabilities intended to disrupt satellite operations or functionality without inflicting physical damage. The PLA is also exploring satellite jammers, kinetic energy weapons, high-powered lasers, high-powered microwave weapons, particle beam weapons, and electromagnetic pulse weapons for counterspace application.

China is deploying advanced imagery, reconnaissance, and Earth resource systems with military applications. Examples include the Ziyuan-2 series, the Yaogan-1 and -2, the Haiyang-1B, the CBERS-1 and -2 satellites, and the Huanjing disaster/environmental monitoring satellite constellation.

China has established dedicated small satellite design and production facilities, and is developing microsatellites — weighing less than 200 pounds (100 kilograms) — for remote sensing, and networks of imagery and radar satellites. These developments could allow for a rapid reconstitution or expansion of China's satellite force in the event of any disruption in coverage, given an adequate supply of boosters. However, Beijing's effort to develop small, rapid-reaction space launch vehicles appears to be currently stalled.

Press reports indicate China will perform its first space walk later this year, and carry out rendezvous and docking in 2009-2012. China's goal is to have a manned space station and conduct a lunar landing, both by 2020.

Citing the requirements of its manned and lunar space programs, China is improving its ability to track and identify satellites - a prerequisite for effective, precise counterspace operations.

Hindering policy makers

In reviewing the just issued report on China, the focus on space has been reinforced, said Theresa Hitchens, Director of the Center for Defense Information (CDI) in Washington, D.C. The organization is active in analyzing various components of U.S. national security, international security and defense policy.

The space focus in the report is not surprising, Hitchens said, given the ASAT test by China in January 2007. "However, some of the focus seems odd. For example, there is a lot of language about [China's] manned space program. That is somewhat baffling because the expert opinion is that a manned space program is a very inefficient and inconvenient way to build up military space capabilities; and much of the work on manned space is simply not transferable," she told SPACE.com.

Hitchens said that while China may be researching high power microwaves and "particle beam" weapons, as noted in the report, "there is no evidence that these capabilities are near-term for anyone, especially the Chinese who are — despite concerns in the U.S. — still several decades behind the United States in space capabilities."

There is a slight aura of "very worst case scenario" in the report, Hitchens concluded, "which actually can hinder policymakers rather than help."

To read the entire publication [29.67MB/pdf], go to:
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/China_Military_Report_08.pdf

Pentagon Report: China's Growing Military Space Power
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/080305-china-2008-report.html

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TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: democrats; election; nobama; obama; sdi
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To: joebuck
It all makes sense when you realize Obama is rooting for the other side.

Yep. There's no other conclusion, given that the Sovi... er, *Russians* just announced a comprehensive update of their strategic nuclear arsenal.

61 posted on 03/06/2008 1:45:36 PM PST by Charles Martel (The Tree of Liberty thirsts.)
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To: Charles Martel
"It all makes sense when you realize Obama is rooting for the other side."

Yep. There's no other conclusion, given that the Sovi... er, *Russians* just announced a comprehensive update of their strategic nuclear arsenal.

It's all in "45 Goals":

45 CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4-45:
http://www.uhuh.com/nwo/communism/comgoals.htm

62 posted on 03/06/2008 1:50:52 PM PST by Eye On The Left
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To: Eye On The Left

It’s really nice of him to send a wake up call to a lot that support him, er...used to support him. He’s for change alright. Let’s leave the country as militarily defensless as we can.


63 posted on 03/06/2008 2:02:33 PM PST by MSRiverdog (The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!)
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To: Obadiah
As another FReeper said, "I love my country more than I hate McCain."

And, I fear what the dims will do more than I fear what McCain will do.

64 posted on 03/06/2008 3:30:15 PM PST by SoldierDad (Proud Dad of a 2nd BCT 10th Mountain Soldier home after 15 months in the Triangle of death)
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To: ilgipper
This Obama novice is a rank amateur idealist with zero understanding of the world we live in.

That will not prevent the sheeple from electing him. Hopeful Change is what they want.

65 posted on 03/06/2008 3:52:17 PM PST by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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To: HereInTheHeartland
Democrats gut our military and Republicans have to spend the money to build it back up.

Even during a time of war, the current Republican administration somehow overlooked that. Take away the funds spent on the war, both the special supplemental funding and the "Take it out of your hide" spending, the budget probably fell as a fraction of GDP from the "Lowest since before WW-II" levels of the Clinton era.

66 posted on 03/06/2008 3:55:16 PM PST by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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To: Brad from Tennessee
The long awaited sequel—JIMMY CARTER PART II

B. Hussein will make Mr. Peanut look like a piker. JC at least had some military experience. He served in the beginnings of the "Nuclear Navy". Like John S. McCain III, he is a graduate of Annapolis. Although JC was in the top 10% of his class, unlike JSM III who was in the bottom few percent. Carter spent 7 years in the Navy, including some time spent in graduate studies in, of all things, nuclear physics.

67 posted on 03/06/2008 4:26:49 PM PST by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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To: RexBeach
Mr. Obama is a child when it comes to the world.

______________________________________________

No, he is not. He is a stone cold communist. He knows exactly what he is doing.

68 posted on 03/06/2008 4:29:45 PM PST by wtc911 ("How you gonna get back down that hill?")
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To: Eye On The Left

Sounds like he’s arranging an American Dunkirk for his Marxist friends.


69 posted on 03/06/2008 4:52:08 PM PST by sergeantdave (Governments hate armed citizens more than armed criminals)
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To: cherry

McCain has so much material to use...but will he use it?
++++++++++++++++++++++
Good question. And, if he uses it will he use it correctly and effectively? I’d like to see more fire from McCain.


70 posted on 03/06/2008 4:54:57 PM PST by Joan Kerrey
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To: scory
If you want peace prepare for war.

si vis pacem para bellum

Source apparently unknown. Often attributed to Vegetius. Epitoma rei militaris. 4th century CE. A similar phrase is attributed to Sun Tzu. The Art of War. 6th century BCE.

George Washington also said something similar, no doubt having read the Latin original.

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace"
--President George Washington, 8 Jan 1790 (First State of the Union address)

71 posted on 03/06/2008 4:58:46 PM PST by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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