Why Trump plans US dominance of space

Donald Trump’s drive for dominance in space is just an extension of his quest for dominance on Earth, but the US president’s announcement smacks of wishful thinking and Hollywood inspired megalomania, says Dennis Etler, an American political analyst who has a decades-long interest in international affairs.

Etler, a former professor of Anthropology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Tuesday after Trump ordered the establishment of a sixth branch of the military - a “space force.”

"It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space," Trump said at the White House before a meeting of his National Space Council.

He said that the American dominance of space would bolster the country’s national security and the economy with the creation of new jobs.

"We are going to have the Air Force and we're going to have the 'Space Force.' Separate but equal," he said later. "It is going to be something. So important."

PressTV-Trump orders new US military 'space force'

Trump has announced plans for American dominance in space by ordering the establishment of a sixth branch of the military - a “space force.”

Professor Etler said, “Trump’s proposed ‘Space Force’ is nothing new. It’s been proposed before and has not passed muster. Both the armed services and Congress have previously rejected the idea. So why is Trump pushing it once again, and what now? His rational is very telling.  According to news reports he said, ‘We must have American dominance in space,’ prior to a meeting of his National Space Council. Trump’s drive for dominance in space is just an extension of his quest for dominance on Earth.”

“All of Trump’s actions, no matter how contradictory they may seem, are devoted to seeking global dominance and hegemony. His trade wars against China, the EU, Canada and Mexico, etc. have that objective in mind. His rapprochement with North Korea as well as his scuttling of the Iran nuke deal, although seemingly at odds with one another, are actually in pursuit of the same goal, America Uber Alles. It should be no surprise that the US under Trump wants to expand its quest to dominate Space as well,” he added.

“The problem is the US abandoned the ‘space race’ decades ago. One of the few benign endeavors of the US government over the decades has been the exploration of the solar system by NASA’s planetary probes. These missions have generated a wealth of scientific data that allow for a better understanding of the Earth as well,” he stated.

Trump pushes for US as ‘space cop’

“With the abandonment of the Space Shuttle program however the US is now totally dependent on Russia in order to place humans into near Earth orbit. While plans are afoot to re-launch a manned US space capability it is still on the drawing board and not a single voyage has yet been scheduled or attempted. In addition, the International Space Station (ISS) is quickly approaching it due date and will be decommissioned by the mid 2020s,” the analyst said.  

“In this regard, the US has embargoed the participation of Chinese taikonauts on the ISS, fearful of alleged Chinese ‘IP theft.’ This racist fear-mongering redounded to the benefit of China as it spurred them on to develop their own manned space program and space station construction,” he continued.

“And there’s the rub. China and Russia have declared that they will co-operate in developing a joint space program. Given Russia’s decade long experience with manned space flight and China’s burgeoning technological expertise and deep pockets, a Sino-Russian condominium in space from which the US is excluded is Washington’s worst nightmare,” the commentator said.

“As Trump states, the proposed ‘Space Force’ will ‘implement a state-of-the-art framework for space traffic management.’ That is another way of saying that the US has ambitions of being a ‘space cop’ dictating to China and Russia what activities they can and cannot conduct in orbit,” he said.

“It is a pipe-dream to imagine that the US could ever be successful in fulfilling such a mission. With $21 trillion of debt, dissension within the ranks of the armed forces and an unproven set of new manned space vehicles Trump’s proposal smacks of wishful thinking and Hollywood inspired megalomania,” Etler said.

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