Editorial: Bush in space a setback to peace

Over the past decade or so, space exploration has set a new benchmark for international co-operation. Americans and Russians have worked side by side on the International Space Station, and researchers and scientists from many nations have seized the opportunity to become astronauts. Even the Columbia shuttle tragedy failed to derail a rebirth of international interest in space. Indeed, a pervading sense of goodwill seemed about to underpin a golden age of exploration - and another giant step for mankind.

Not any more. President George W. Bush's ambitious space exploration programme destroys visions of genuine co-operation, and sets the scene for a military space race. Already, the International Space Station has been declared a casualty. Its mode of operation is incompatible with the broadening of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's strategic plan to include what the Pentagon wants. A core reason for sending astronauts to the moon, and eventually to Mars, is to extend American military supremacy in space.

President Bush has not, of course, admitted as much. He talks of slaking a human "thirst for knowledge" and technological breakthroughs. Such was the case with the bulk of recent exploration; it is not with the Bush programme. Sam Brownback, the Republican who chairs the Senate subcommittee on science, technology and space, conceded as much when he remarked, "You always want the [strategic] high ground."

President Bush also talks of "a journey, not a race". Yet this programme is also about enhancing his re-election prospects by unifying a nation in the same manner as John F. Kennedy in 1961. For that to work, Americans must see space exploration as a race similar to that which culminated in Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. President Bush's appeal to other countries to join the United States programme is, therefore, mere window-dressing. This enterprise will be controlled by Americans and serve American interests.

Regrettably, this is not the first time the Bush Administration has put self-interest above idealistic notions, thumbing its nose at international co-operation in the process. The President talks frequently of a global vision; the reality is far different. Within months of coming to power, he encouraged a Cold War-style anxiety by ditching the long-standing and successful Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in favour of the Star Wars missile defence system. Soon after, he announced that the US wanted no part of the Kyoto Protocol, and demanded that American soldiers be out of reach of the International Criminal Court.

The same mindset led to the authority of the United Nations being challenged, and discounted, in the lead-up to the attack on Saddam Hussein's Iraq. September 11 was used to justify an ill-founded doctrine of limited sovereignty, and the disregarding of a system of multilateral co-operation that had worked quite successfully since the birth of the United Nations.

In the difficult aftermath of the invasion, the Bush Administration has, of course, had to go cap in hand to those it scorned, urging the international community to play a bigger role in rebuilding Iraq. Yet it has not learned from this; the space programme confirms that the US remains unwilling to cede power or prestige to lesser nations.

This latest example of US breast-beating should never have been contemplated, given the massive federal budget deficit. It should never have been countenanced, given the potential for an arms race in space. Russia and China, in particular, are already piqued about the ill-conceived Star Wars initiative. They will see the military context of the US space programme as final proof that they must mount their own exploration missions - and quickly. The opportunity to cultivate an international approach has been lost. Mankind has taken a giant step backward.