Star Wars isn't just a movie, it's an instruction manual

From the WaPo comes news of GWB's latest strategic venture. It's more of the same, but this time in S-P-A-C-E:

President Bush has signed a new National Space Policy that rejects future arms-control agreements that might limit U.S. flexibility in space and asserts a right to deny access to space to anyone "hostile to U.S. interests."

"Freedom of action in space is as important to the United States as air power and sea power," the policy asserts in its introduction.

Though the Bush administration claims that this is not a step towards putting weapons in space, label me doubtful. Recently, the article notes, the US was the only nation to vote against a call for negotiations for a UN treaty to ban space weapons (160 nations voted yes).

Even worse, it's sometimes hard to distinguish the dreamers at the pentagon from your run-of -the-mill fanboy. In 1997, the US Space Command (yes there is such a thing) produced Vision for 2020, complete with space lasers and pyramidal text just like the Star Wars intro (see p. 3). Seriously, click the link. You'll be amazed. This was a Clinton-era initiative, and some of the leading generals have retired, but if you think there's no one left dreaming up nuke 'em rays, I've got a mint-condition jar-jar binks doll to sell you.

On a more serious note, we really should be supporting multilateral agreements banning any kind of offensive weapons in space (this one was a good start). Sure, it's possible that in the long-run this will prove unfeasible. But we're too rapidly fulfilling our own prophesy.