STRATCOM

The chief of the Strategic Command hinted Wednesday during a Senate hearing that the Pentagon has plans to conduct warfare in space as well as in cyberspace, strategies the Defense Department has been reluctant to discuss openly in the past.

Last January 11, a missile launched from China's Xichang Space Center destroyed a satellite 537 miles above the Earth's surface. Although the target was a weather satellite belonging to China itself (shot down ostensibly because it was obsolete), the act clearly rattled the U.S. space establishment. Said one observer, The new space policy says we can defend the heavens with technology. But we can't, and the Chinese just proved it."

Quoting official sources, the Western media is now confirming, rather belatedly, that the Bush Administration's war plans directed against Iran are "for real" and should be taken seriously. "Punitive bombings" directed against Tehran could be launched within the next few months. The diplomatic mode has been switched off: The Pentagon is said to be "taking steps to ensure military confrontation with Iran" because diplomatic initiatives have allegedly failed to reach a solution. These diabolical statements come within barely a couple of weeks following the release of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report. The later confirms unequivocally that Iran's nuclear program is of a civilian nature and that Iran has neither the intention nor the capabilities to develop nuclear weapons

The U.S. Air Force began the shift to a major command devoted to cyberwarfare operations Sept. 18 with the creation of a provisional Cyber Command. Though organizational in nature -- the Air Force already deals extensively with cyberwarfare -- the shift nevertheless marks a significant move toward making the military exploitation of cyberspace operational.