US seeks to reassure nations on plan to shoot down satellite

[flashl]

Source: Boston Globe

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is trying to convince foreign countries that the Pentagon's plan to shoot down a dying spy satellite is not a test of a program to kill their orbiting communications and intelligence capabilities.

The State Department has instructed US diplomats around the world to inform their host governments that the operation, which could be conducted as early as next week, is solely to protect people who could be affected by about 1,000 pounds of toxic fuel on the bus-size satellite now hurtling toward earth.

"Our role is to reassure nations around the world as to the nature of what we are tying to do," spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday. "It's an attempt to try to protect populations on the ground."

In a cable sent to all US embassies, diplomats were told to draw a clear distinction between the upcoming attempt and last year's test by China of a missile specifically designed to take out satellites, a maneuver criticized by the United States and other countries.

Boston Globe

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/02/16/us_seeks_to_reassure_nations_on_plan_to_shoot_down_satellite/

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Hmmm, I thought US diplomats had been displaced and put in mothballs. Also, I distinctly recall diplomats retiring, in protest of the ‘war’, who said rebuilding diplomatic ties would take more than 50+ years.

So … who exactly is left with any ‘capital’ to convince anyone that ‘our’ motives are ‘pure’?

[peacebird]

1. obviously this diplomatic offensive is meant to REMIND people about our ability to take out

satellites....

Why would any country believe we were doing this for any other reason? Satellites are made to fall apart on re-entry. They burn up for the most part. This "charm offensive" doesn't pass the smell test for me.

[Solly Mack]

5. I tend to agree

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. This wasn't my first thought when I saw the plans to shoot down the satellite.

My first thought was that their tracking models must show the satellite crashing down into a populated area.

[flashl]

6. IIRC, when falling satellite was first announced US claimed to not know where it would drop.

I found that to be questionable.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. This test of our abilities to shoot down satellites is not a test of

our abilities to shoot down satellites. It is completely different from the Chinese test of their abilities to shoot down satellites.

OK. Fucking liar. Nobody believes anything you say.

[texanshatingbush]

14. Actually, my great fear is that we will NOT.....

....be able to hit it when we try, thereby displaying to the remainder of the world, once again, how much the Bush administration has made us a toothless tiger by weakening our military, or economy, and our standing in the world.

[flashl]

16. Like ... several years ago watching the Navy's misadventures trying to detonate a bridge in VA. nt

[Solly Mack]

4. This excerpt says it all

"In a cable sent to all US embassies, diplomats were told to draw a clear distinction between the upcoming attempt and last year's test by China of a missile specifically designed to take out satellites, a maneuver criticized by the United States and other countries."

Message: We can do it too!

[Summer93]

7. Scientists say.....

A scientist interviewed said that it is a bad idea to shoot it down

[Dudley_DUright]

9. Here is one reason why - It will increase an already too large amount of space junk

From a recent Physics Today Article:



Figure 2. Altitude distribution of cataloged debris for low-Earth orbit. Objects in noncircular orbits are distributed in the plot according to the amount of time they spend in each 50-km altitude bin. The differences between the 10 January (blue) and 31 March (red) curves are due to the tracked debris (green) from China's Feng Yun-1C satellite, destroyed in an antisatellite test in January 2007.


The Chinese ASAT test added some 2000 fragments to the catalog; they make up about 35% of the breakup-debris total.

<snip>

Currently the US and Russia are each responsible for about 35% of the cataloged objects in space, and China for about 20% following its ASAT test. The Russian percentage is expected to increase to roughly 40% in the next year as debris from the February 2007 breakup of a Briz-M booster stage launched in 2006 is cataloged.

more at...

http://scitation.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD-ft/vol_60/iss_10/35_1.shtml

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. I love your username!

Since you have more than two years on me at DU I don't know how I've not seen it in the past, but I don't think I have.

Very creative and cute. Great choice. :hi:

[Dudley_DUright]

13. Thanks LSD

I have not been posting as much lately during the DU primary wars, just jumping in here and there. Methinks you deserve a valentine heart for your thoughtfulness.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

19. Thank you, Dudley_DUright

You're a gem. :)

[Summer93]

8. First thought

I first thought that this is a planned exercise. Anything *Bushco* does seems to have the outcome that makes him a lot of money or some other payoff. Could it be yet another way to inject U.S. presence into the Middle East?

[dweller]

11. what info is on/in this satellite?

so, it's a 'spy' satellite: spying on who?

am i reaching when this 'telecom immunity' bs has come to a head, lapsed, and now the decision is made to shoot down this satellite?

just more things that make me go hmmm.
dp

[Deny and Shred]

15. Interesting coincidence dweller. If there is a link, we'll never know

[1monster]

20. That was my first reaction too: "Hmm, a spy satellite?" Perhaps the *Admin. is

afraid other countries will get to it first and lots of secrets will be revealed...

[Ian David]

22. This is a Two-fer. They get to test technology to shoot down satellites...

AND they get to make sure it doesn't fall into the hands of someone who takes the thing apart.

[flashl]

23. The Russians are NOT buying cable or dipolmatic channels ...

Russia: U.S. Plan to Shoot Down Damaged Spy Satellite Could Be Missile Test

MOSCOW — Russia's Defense Ministry said Saturday that U.S. military plans to shoot down a damaged spy satellite carrying toxic fuel could be a veiled test of U.S. missiles' capability to down enemy satellites.

The Ministry accused the U.S. military of failing to provide "enough arguments" to back its plan to smash the satellite next week with a missile so other countries could assess possible dangers.

"There is an impression that the United States is trying to use the accident with its satellite to test its national anti-missile defense system's capability to destroy other countries' satellites," it said in a statement.

"This particular action is different than any actions that, for example, the Chinese may have taken in testing an anti-satellite weapon," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "The missions are quite different and the technical aspects of the missions are quite different."

[Saturday]

12. I know who could be our spokesman to the world....

"Our role is to reassure nations around the world as to the nature of what we are tying to do,"

Let's send Colin Powell, after all we know how credible he is in speaking for the USA. :sarcasm:

[FATCATs]

17. Can you say Hypocritical Neo-Cons

How much more damage can these neo-con pukes cause in the next 338 days

GAWD !

[lovuian]

18. You can lie to Americans but can you lie to the world

I swear this satellite has nuclear material in it

[Ian David]

21. Don't worry if we miss. We'll just do the same thing we did during the first Gulf War.

Even though our Patriot missile batteries did not intercept a single Iraqi SCUD missile, we just told everyone that they did.

[Arctic Dave]

24. So they are concerned for our safety

That's why they want shoot it down. But if they miss then not only do we have bad satellite but now we have a missile floating around also. Why don't I feel safer?