The Conspiracy that went viral ...
Background: Project for the New America
For conspiracy theorists, the neoconservative Republican think tank Project for the New America[i] provided some legitimacy to the idea that the 9/11 attack was a United States Government orchestrated event, in furtherance of financial, political and military interests.
Conspiracy theorists point to The Project for the New America document published in 2000 entitled, “Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century”[ii] (which I refer to as “the Report” for the remainder of this article) where it specifically states at page 51:
“Further, the process of transformation [in pursuit of the Report’s goals], even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor”.[iii]
According to some, this passage was a prophecy of the 9/11 event, which subsequently and precipitously ushered into the world the necessary revolutionary change that the authors of the Report required.
The subsequent official and bi-partisan 9/11 Commission Enquiry Report[iv] into the 9/11 tragedy, did little to dispel the notion that a deep state within the United States Government had created a false flag[v] event to justify the creation of the so called “war on terror”[vi] and with it a new paradigm under the Terrorist Surveillance Program, in which inter alia, extensive and illegal personal surveillance of hitherto private information, could be justified[vii] in the guise of national security.
Scepticism in some quarters of the 9/11 Commission’s findings was deepened when it subsequently became apparent that the 9/11 tragedy had been used in part as a pretext to invade Iraq in furtherance of goals set out in the Report;[viii] such scepticism being justified when the primary legal grounds for the invasion of Iraq, that Iraq held an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), was found to be entirely false[ix].
Aims of the Project for the New America
The Project for the New American Century was established in the spring of 1997. Its purported concerns were declared as:
“The decline in the strength of America’s defenses, and in the problems this would create for the exercise of American leadership around the globe and, ultimately, for the preservation of peace”.[x]
From the perspective of an analysis of American strategic defence and economic security, the Report is well thought out and as the examples below confirm, remarkably accurate in its predictions of the subsequent transformation in military and political arenas, not just under Republican administrations but Democrats too.[xi]
As at April 2020: There are more Questions than Answers
I do not think that I am alone in concluding that there have been several mixed messages as to how the Coronavirus COVID-19 began and its origins. Moreover, very little seems to make sense of what has happened in response to the pandemic.
In the last few weeks, we have repeatedly and overtly been fed a diet of misinformation and propaganda.
One-minute face masks don’t help, the next minute they do. There is more than sufficient testing equipment, then there isn’t. Millions of ventilators are available or being produced, then they are scarce.
In a different age, the scope and audacity of the misstatements and outright lies of certain world leaders (to name just two) concerning the current pandemic, would have been more easily imagined in fiction than in fact.
It’s not just the United States and the United Kingdom either. A perusal of news items throughout the world reveals often contradictory and perplexing data. Why do the infection and mortality rates differ? Why is it that some people are badly affected in some countries and not others? Is age, sex and even nationality really a factor? It looks like it is but is it?
More often than is helpful, what is said by certain so called “leaders” and other members of their administrations are simply statements of that which is not. We cannot trust anything they say as being truthful. Out of necessity, we are forced to search for answers to our questions from other sources and what conspiracy theorists offer up as a possible explanation, is no less possible than the versions provided by those we are meant to trust.
Is China really to blame?
Perhaps one of the biggest questions to date arising from the current pandemic is: “Why is the U.S. administration publicly blaming China and the Governments of other countries are not?” Is blaming China deflecting attention from the true cause? Does the US Government have something to hide?
The Coronavirus (COVID-19)[xii] pandemic and the muted criticism (other than from the US Government) of China’s animal husbandry and food chain hygiene, which was initially cited as the root cause, seems to me, to be deafening. Do other Governments know something about what the US has done?
Possible references to Coronavirus in the Report
For reasons which will soon become apparent, it is, if not interesting, then apposite to note the CNN headline on 6 April 2020[xiii] which stated: “Theories abound as researchers race to solve genetic detective story”. Is there a clue in the headline? Is there anything in the Report alluding to the use of bacterium that cause diseases (microbes) and/or targeted genetic warfare?
By strange coincidence (under the heading “Transforming U.S. Conventional Forces), there is specific reference to the use of microbes and targeted genetic biological warfare in the Report:
“Although it may take several decades for the process of transformation to unfold, in time, the art of warfare on air, land, and sea will be vastly different than it is today, and “combat” likely will take place in new dimensions: in space, “cyber-space,” and perhaps the world of microbes…And advanced forms of biological warfare that can “target” specific genotypes[xiv] may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool”. [xv]
One of the several theories in the aforementioned CNN article as to the cause of the Coronavirus COVID-19 is: “The US Army brought the virus to Wuhan”.
CNN is apparently dismissive of such a theory and also explains that:
“Scientists have banded together across international borders to condemn the nationalist-tinged conspiracy theories. And yet, they are divided on what was once widely thought the most likely culprit: a so-called wet market in Wuhan, where wild animals are kept in cages and sold as pets or food. It is believed that a bat-infected animal -- perhaps a pangolin -- infected the first human”.
Is CNN right to be so complacent? Is it impossible that the US Army are involved?
Past instances of Governments experimenting on humans
It is difficult to imagine that the US Government would in practice experiment with biological warfare that targets specific genotypes of civilians, even though it is specifically stated as an aim in the Report. Surely, it would be repugnant and against all democratic sensibilities for them and indeed any government, to directly or indirectly practice genetic biological experiments on its citizens or anyone else’s? Apparently not.
There is considerable evidence of such practices in the relatively recent past, not just by the US Government but other “democratic” administrations too. Is the Coronavirus COVID-19 an experiment like those conducted illicitly, without informed consent on citizens in the past?
Experiments such as:
· Exposing humans to the effects of nuclear radiation blasts.[xvi]
· Plutonium injections by the US Government[xvii]
· LSD injections by the US Government[xviii]
· Mustard Gas by the UK military in WWII[xix]
· Tuskegee syphilis experiments[xx]
· On Aboriginal Australians[xxi]
· Unit 731 in Imperial Japan.[xxii]
· The search for a tuberculosis vaccine in Canada using indigenous people.[xxiii]
All the above examples have been belatedly acknowledged as accurate and true and in one instance branded by President Barak Obama as a “crime against humanity”.[xxiv]
Uncanny: Other goals in the Report that have come true
There are several goals in the Report where objectives and principles cited by the authors have subsequently been achieved.
Thus, the following extracts from the Report provide a non-exhaustive list of goals and actions that have either been established or are in the process of being brought to fruition since the Report was written.
The Increased Use of Drones
“Air warfare may no longer be fought by pilots manning tactical fighter aircraft sweeping the skies of opposing fighters, but a regime dominated by long-range, stealthy unmanned craft (i.e. the use of Drones)”. [xxv]
The cooperation between the commercial sector and the military
“Space itself will become a theater [sic] of war, as nations gain access to space capabilities and come to rely on them; further, the distinction between military and commercial space systems – combatants and non-combatants – will become blurred.”[xxvi]
“Moreover, “space commerce” is a growing part of the global economy. In 1996, commercial launches exceeded military launches in the United States, and commercial revenues exceeded government expenditures on space. Today, more than 1,100 commercial companies across more than 50 countries are developing, building, and operating space systems.”[xxvii]
“Many of these commercial space systems have direct military applications, including information from global positioning system constellations and better- than-one-meter resolution imaging satellites. Indeed, 95% of current U.S. military communications are carried over commercial circuits, including commercial communications satellites.”[xxviii]
The creation of a Space Force – Reusable launch vehicles
“To ensure America's control of space in the near term, the minimum requirements are to develop a robust capability to transport systems to space, carry on operations once there, and service and recover space systems as needed. As outlined by Space Command, carrying out this program would include a mix of re-useable and expendable launch vehicles and vehicles that can operate within space, including “space tugs to deploy, reconstitute, replenish, refurbish, augment, and sustain" space systems.”[xxix]
“For one, U.S. military space planning remains linked to the ups and downs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. America’s difficulties in reducing the cost of space launches – perhaps the single biggest hurdle to improving U.S. space capabilities overall – result in part from the requirements and dominance of NASA programs over the past several decades, most notably the space shuttle program.”[xxx]
“Thus, the argument to replace U.S. Space Command with U.S. Space Forces – a separate service under the Defense Department – is compelling.” [xxxi]
Cyber warfare - Election Interference
“If outer space represents an emerging medium of warfare, then “cyberspace,” and in particular the Internet hold similar promise and threat. And as with space, access to and use of cyberspace and the Internet are emerging elements in global commerce, politics and power. Any nation wishing to assert itself globally must take account of this other new “global commons.” [xxxii]
“Moreover, the use of the Internet to spread computer viruses reveals how easy it can be to disrupt the normal functioning of commercial and even military computer networks. Any nation which cannot assure the free and secure access of its citizens to these systems will sacrifice an element of its sovereignty and its power.”[xxxiii]
Credible basis for a Coronavirus Conspiracy Theory
It should by now be obvious that the ingredients for a credible conspiracy theory exist.
Firstly: so many things contained within the Report have subsequently come to pass.
Secondly: there is specific reference in the Report to the use of microbes and targeted genetic warfare for political reasons: and
Thirdly: the US Government (and others) have carried out illegal chemical and biological based experiments on innocent civilians in the past: and
Fourthly: We cannot trust anything that any Government says.
Alarming though it may be, the possibility that the US Government is indeed behind the current Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is not beyond the realms of possibility. Perhaps the Coronavirus COVID-19 experiment or dry run (if that is what it is) isn’t to see how deadly:
“advanced forms of biological warfare [that] can “target” specific genotypes” but rather to see how easily and effectively a Coronavirus pandemic: “may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool”.
What is truly remarkable is the way in which we humans have been shepherded and corralled into acquiescence. We have been subjected to a level of mind control that is unprecedented. We were told not to go to work and to go home, and (for the main part) we have done so.
In the end, politics is about power, and the currency of power is money. Given the devastating impact on world economies that the response to the Coronavirus COVID-19 has created, is it appropriate to look at which country or countries will benefit most financially in the short, medium and long term?
For example, the United States’ economy may be affected by the pandemic but there are signs already that its main economic competitors Europe and China are going to suffer much worse. Given the so-called special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, is the timing of Brexit from Europe and the current pandemic fortuitous or well planned?
Every country in the world has to trade to obtain US dollars to buy oil, except of course the United States. In the end, the base currency against which all other currencies are valued is the United States dollar and the United States can literally print money with impunity.
The problem with world leaders not being truthful and not being trusted is that conspiracy theories are easily fuelled and expand not just in their reach but their scope too.
The Founding Fathers of the United States
The Report calls for a revolution in approach to support the status quo. But the status quo isn’t working. The Report reflects the old-world approach to how humans should live and that has proven to be less than successful save for a limited few. It is an approach that imposes from above and suppresses the needs and reasonable desires of the vast majority of people.
What is needed is a new world approach. My call is not for social reform since that is seeking to impose one ideology with another. The revolution that will create a New World[xxxiv] and that moves away from the world view expressed in the Report, can and must take place at an individual level.
The Founding Fathers[xxxv] in the Declaration of Independence conveyed a very profound and egalitarian notion regarding individual liberties: having the right to life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness.[xxxvi] What is happening in America and elsewhere is an abuse and gradual erosion of the founding principles that apply not just to American citizens but to everyone throughout the world.
A better world will come to pass only gradually at first, and then dramatically as we each change our understanding of what we should value most. Once we understand that our happiness is not primarily found in the pursuit of money (there is nothing wrong with money per se) but in the pursuit of love, we shall find the happiness the Founding Fathers refer to.
Non-Violent Resistance
The revolution that might change the world is what Mahatma Ghandi termed “nonviolent resistance”. If at an individual level we each resist the excesses and greed of the capitalist system, eventually, having a lot of money may become less of an aspiration. Such an attitude will undermine the insatiable demand for economic growth and a reduction in power of the exploiters over the exploited. There may be evidence that this process of change has already begun. Whether by mistake or design, the world’s economic and social structures are unlikely to be the same as they were before Coronavirus COVID-19.[xxxvii]
Although economists like Paul Mason[xxxviii] and others have predicted the ultimate downfall of the capitalist system and advocated its replacement with a socialist/communist system, the truth is that any system will be open to abuse unless and until humans change at a more profound and personal level.
There is more than enough brain power in the world to come up with a viable and equitable economic system. It may be brought about through necessity as a consequence of the current pandemic. Despite my misgivings, I am hopeful that fundamental changes will occur that support a better way of living for everyone – not just the few.
I disagree with the worldview promulgated in the Report, but I understand why it was written and why its authors hold the view that they do. Nevertheless, military defence strategies are not the end that the Report contemplates but simply the means to the end. Until recently the end game has always been about money, and ultimately the pursuit of money may lead to the end of civilisation as we have known it.
History shows that the great empires have disappeared due to a decline in funds and monetary control. Is America wise to believe that it is immune to the same fate that has befallen all other empires of old?
A Conspiracy or an Opportunity?
It seems to me that there are arguments (and evidence) both for and against a theory of conspiracy in the case of Coronavirus COVID-19. Like so many historical events, we might not learn of the true cause of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in the short term, but the truth tends to come out at some point in the end: particularly when agencies’ documents become declassified or Freedom of Information battles are won.
At this moment in time, knowing one way or the other will not likely be of any material use to us. We are pretty powerless to do anything about most conspiracies, beyond take control of our own mind and thoughts, whatever the circumstances in which we live.
In taking control of ourselves, we can create our own world: a world in which love, appreciation, kindness and helping one another are its most prevalent features – and the pursuit of wealth is not the dominant goal and measure of someone’s value. If nothing else, the Coronavirus pandemic is giving us an opportunity to re-evaluate what is of true value to us all and to choose how to live in the future.
Endnotes
[i]. John Pilger, “John Pilger reveals the American plan: a new Pearl Harbour”, New Statesman, last modified 16 December 2002, URL: https://www.newstatesman.com/node/192545. See also: Militarist Monitor, “Project for the New American Century”, Militarist Monitor, last modified 16 October 2019, URL: https://militarist- monitor.org/profile/project_for_the_new_american_century/
[ii]. For a complete copy of the Report go to: Project for the New American Century/Foreign Policy Initiative, “Rebuilding Americas Defenses”, Internet Archive, Published 1st September 2000. URL: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n17/mode/2up
[iii]. Craig Shirley & Scott Mauer, “The attack on Pearl Harbor united Americans like no other event in our history”, The Washington Post. Last modified 7 December 2016. URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/07/the-attack-on-pearl- harbor-united-americans-like-no-other-event-in-our-history/ Pearl Harbour was allegedly a surprise (to America) pre-emptive attack by Japanese forces on the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbour in Honolulu on December 7th 1941. That event triggered the United States formally joining World War II the next day. An article in the Washington Post on December 12th 2016 described it in these terms: “The attack on Pearl Harbour united Americans like no other event in history”. Subsequent investigations have revealed evidence tending to suggest that there may have been prior knowledge of the attack and the US Government allowed it to happen (notwithstanding the many fatalities that would ensue) so as to provide an excuse for formal entry into World War II.
[iv]. The 9/11 Commission Report, https://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf
[v]. Cambridge Dictionary (Online) s.v. “false flag”, URL: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/false-flag
[vi]. Richard Jackson, “War on terrorism (United States History)”. A term used to describe the coalition of NATO countries led by America in response to the events of 9/11. See: https://www.britannica.com/topic/war-on-terrorism [vii].
See: Homeland Security Act 2002. A copy can be obtained at: https://www.dhs.gov/homeland-security-act-2002 c.f.:
See also: Adrienne Lafrance, “Same Surveillance State, Different War”, last modified 8th April 2015, URL: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/same-surveillance- state-different-war/389988/ [viii].
See the excellent article: Jonathan Stein and Tim Dickinson, “Lie by Lie: A Timeline of How We Got Into Iraq”, last modified September/October 2006. URL: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/leadup-iraq-war-timeline/
[ix]. J.D. Maddox, “The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq”, The New York Times Magazine, last modified 29th January 2020. URL : https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/magazine/iraq-weapons-mass-destruction.html
See also: Glenn Kesler, “The Iraq War and WMDs: An intelligence failure or White House spin?”, The Washington Post. Last modified 22 March 2019. URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/22/iraq-war-wmds-an-intelligence- failure-or-white-house-spin/
See also: Julian Borger, “There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq”, The Guardian. Last modified 7th October 2004. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/07/usa.iraq1
See also: The somewhat disturbing news reports by numerous news outlets concerning the factual matrix surrounding the death of Dr. David Kelly, the British born weapons inspector for the United Nations Monitoring and Verification Commission.
i. BBC, “Dr David Kelly: Controversial death examined”, BBC News. Last modified 17th December 2011. URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13716127
ii. Vikram Dodd, “Dr David Kelly: 10 years on, death of scientist remains unresolved for some”, The Guardian. Last modified 16th July 2013. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jul/16/david-kelly-death-10-years-on
iii. Andrew Gilligan, “The Betrayal of Dr David Kelly, 10 years on”, The Telegraph. Last modified 21 July 2003. URL: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10192271/The-betrayal-of-Dr-David-Kelly-10- years-on.html
[x]. Project for the New American Century/Foreign Policy Initiative, “Rebuilding Americas Defenses”, page i. Internet Archive, Published 1st September 2000. URL: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n17/mode/2up
[xi]. Micah Zenko, “Obama’s Final Drone Strike Data”, Council on Foreign Relations, last modified 20th January 2017. URL: https://www.cfr.org/blog/obamas-final-drone-strike-data
See also: Center for Civilians in Conflict & Columbia Law School, “The Civilian Impact Of Drones: Unexamined Costs, Unanswered Questions”, 2012. URL: https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/microsites/human-rights- institute/files/The%20Civilian%20Impact%20of%20Drones.pdf
[xii]. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which may cause illness in animals or humans. In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The most recently discovered coronavirus causes coronavirus disease COVID-19. See: The World Health Organisation (WHO), URL: https://www.who.int/health- topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1
[xiii]. Robert Kuznia & Drew Griffin, “How did coronavirus break out? Theories abound as researchers race to solve genetic detective story”, CNN. Last modified 6 April 2020. URL: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/06/us/coronavirus-scientists-debate-origin-theories- invs/index.html
[xiv]. Scitable (by Nature Education), s.v. “genotype”. URL: https://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/genotype-234/
[xv]. Project for the New American Century/Foreign Policy Initiative, “Rebuilding Americas Defenses”, page 60. Internet Archive, Published 1st September 2000. URL: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n17/mode/2up
[xvi]. Robert S. Stones et al, “Human Radiation Experiments”, Atomic Heritage Foundation. Last modified 11 July 2017. URL: https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/human-radiation- experiments
[xvii]. Nick Rolston, “Human Plutonium Injection Experiments”, Stanford University (Submitted as coursework for PH241, Stanford University, Winter 2015). Last modified 16 March 2015. URL: http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph241/rolston2/
[xviii]. WDVM-TV, “60 Minutes – MK-Ultra/Mind Control Experiments”, CBS Network. Broadcast 23 December 1984. URL : https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA- RDP88-01070R000301530003-5.pdf
See also: Tom O'Neil & Dan Piepenbring, Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties, London: Hachette, 2019. ISBN-13:978-0316477543
[xix]. Ulf Schmidt, “Cold War at Porton Down: Informed Consent in Britain’s Biological and Chemical Warfare Experiments”, Camb Q Healthc Ethics. 2006 Fall; 15(4): 366–380. URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1832084/
See also: Patrick Colburn, “US Navy tested mustard gas on its own sailors: In 1943 the Americans used humans in secret experiments. Patrick Cockburn in Washington reports on the survivors who bear the scars”, The Independent. Last modified 14 March 1993. URL: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/us-navy-tested-mustard-gas-on-its-own-sailors-i n-1943-the-americans-used-humans-in-secret-1497508.html
[xx]. CDC, “U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee”, CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention). URL: https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm
[xxi]. The University of Adelaide, “Apology For Past Experiments On Aboriginal People”, last modified 8 February 2020. URL: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news314.html
See also: Joff Lelliot, “The Cultivation of Whiteness: Science, Health and Racial Destiny in Australia”, BMJ. 2003 Apr 19; 326(7394): 888.URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1125797/
[xxii]. Nicholas D. Kristof, “Unmasking Horror -- A special report.; Japan Confronting Gruesome War Atrocity”, The New York Times. Last modified 17 March 1995. URL: https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/17/world/unmasking-horror-a-special-report-japan- confronting-gruesome-war-atrocity.html
See also: Justin McCurry, “Unit 731: Japan discloses details of notorious chemical warfare division”, The Guardian. Last modified 17 April 2018. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/17/japan-unit-731-imperial- army-second- world-war
[xxiii]. Ashifa Kassam, “Canada sued over years of alleged experimentation on indigenous people”, The Guardian. Last modified 11 May 2018. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/11/canada-indigenous-people-medical- experiments-lawsuit
[xxiv]. The case of the Guatamala syphilis experiments on prison inmates, women and mental patients. The President of the United States, The White House, The East Room, 16 May 1997, “REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN APOLOGY FOR STUDY DONE IN TUSKEGEE”, CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention). URL: https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/clintonp.htm
See also: Maggie Fox, “U.S. apologizes for syphilis experiment in Guatemala”, Reuters. Last modified on 1 October 2010. URL: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guatemala-experiment/u- s-apologizes-for-syphilis-experiment-in-guatemala-idUSTRE6903RZ20101001
[xxv]. Project for the New American Century/Foreign Policy Initiative, “Rebuilding Americas Defenses”, page 60. Internet Archive, Published 1st September 2000. URL: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n17/mode/2up
For articles on the use of drones by the USA see:
1. Milena Sterio, “The United States' Use of Drones in the War on Terror: The (Il)legality of Targeted Killings under International Law”, 45 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 197 (2012) 1.URL: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1072&context=jil
2. Steve Niva, “Trump’s Drone Surge”, Middle East Research and Information Project, 283 (Summer 2017). URL: https://merip.org/2018/02/trumps-drone-surge/
3. Alegra Harpootlian, “How the Presidency Seized Control of Drone Strikes”, The Nation. Last modified 14 January 2020. URL: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/obama-trump-drone-strikes/
4. John Haltiwanger, “Trump inherited Obama's drone war and he's significantly expanded it in countries where the US is not technically at war”, Business Insider. 28 November 2018. URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-has-expanded-obamas-drone-war-to-shadow-war-zones-2018-11?r=US&IR=T
5. Dan Sabbagh, “Killer drones: how many are there and who do they target?”, The Briefing, The Guardian. Last modified 18 November 2019. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/nov/18/killer-drones-how-many-uav-predator-reaper
[xxvi]. Project for the New American Century/Foreign Policy Initiative, “Rebuilding Americas Defenses”, page 60. Internet Archive, Published 1st September 2000. URL: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n17/mode/2up
See also: TITLE 51—NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS This title was enacted by Pub. L. 111–314, §3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3328. URL: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title51&edition=prelim
See also: Peter B. de Selding, “DoD Takes ‘Strategic Pause’ as Distinctions Between Military and Civilian Comsats Blur”, Space News. Last modified 8 November 2013. URL: https://spacenews.com/38069dod-takes-strategic-pause-as-distinctions-between-military- and-civilian/
See also: Stanniland A., Curtin D. (2013) An Examination of the Governmental Use of Military and Commercial Satellite Communications. In: Pelton J.N., Madry S., Camacho- Lara S. (eds) Handbook of Satellite Applications. Springer, New York, NY URL: https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4419-7671-0_8
See also: Paul, B Larson, “Issues relating to civilian and military dual uses of GNSS”, Space Policy 17 (2) May 2001, DOI: 10.1016/S0265-9646(01)00007-8. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263101449_Issues_relating_to_civilian_and_milit ary_dual_uses_of_GNSS
[xxvii]. Project for the New American Century/Foreign Policy Initiative, “Rebuilding Americas Defenses”, page 55. Internet Archive, Published 1st September 2000. URL: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n17/mode/2up
[xxviii]. Ibid (Endnote 27 above). Note also the current SpaceX program. Space X, “Reusibility”, URL: https://www.spacex.com/reusability-key-making-human-life- multi-planetary
[xxix]. Project for the New American Century/Foreign Policy Initiative, “Rebuilding Americas Defenses”, page 56. Internet Archive, Published 1st September 2000. URL: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n17/mode/2up
See: In comparison to what is being said here: “SpaceX believes a fully and rapidly reusable rocket is the pivotal breakthrough needed to substantially reduce the cost of space access.” Space X, “Reusibility”, URL: https://www.spacex.com/reusability-key-making-human-life- multi-planetary
[xxx]. Project for the New American Century/Foreign Policy Initiative, “Rebuilding Americas Defenses”, page 56. Internet Archive, Published 1st September 2000. URL: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n17/mode/2up
[xxxi]. Project for the New American Century/Foreign Policy Initiative, “Rebuilding Americas Defenses”, page 57. Internet Archive, Published 1st September 2000. URL: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n17/mode/2up On December 20 2019, the US Department of Defence provided a Press Release confirming that President Trump had signed into force the US Space Force. See: US Gov, “Department of Defense Establishes U.S. Space Force”, US Department of Defence. Last modified 20 December 2019. URL: https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2045981/department- of- defense-establishes-us-space-force/
[xxxii]. Project for the New American Century/Foreign Policy Initiative, “Rebuilding Americas Defenses”, page 57. Internet Archive, Published 1st September 2000. URL: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n17/mode/2up
[xxxiii]. Project for the New American Century/Foreign Policy Initiative, “Rebuilding Americas Defenses”, page 57. Internet Archive, Published 1st September 2000. URL: https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n17/mode/2up
See also: Part I of the Report on the Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election; available at: https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf
See similar concerns with reference to Europe: Marco Silva, “Is Russia trying to sway the European elections?”, BBC News. Last modified 20 May 2019. URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-48296557
[xxxiv]. See: Preface in my book: Paul Kolberg, “What’s the Point?”, (London: Marmalade Publishing, Release in Spring 2020)
[xxxv]. Views differ as to the precise identity of the Founding Fathers but there is consensus that the following seven should be recognised as such: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson. James Maddison and George Washington.
[xxxvi]. The United States Declaration of Independence of July 4 1776 is (in my view) one of the most beautiful pieces of prose ever written. A copy can be obtained at: https://www.constitution.org/us_doi.pdf
[xxxvii]. Paul Mason, “PostCapitalism: A Guide to Our Future”, London: Penguin, 2015.
[xxxviii]. This is a tour de force of economic systems. Paul Mason clearly knows his stuff, but he is perhaps less thorough in his proposals for a viable alternative to the current capitalist system. The ending feels rushed. Overall, though, it is an excellent read and thought provoking.
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