30th anniversary of the Global Network

 

Comments from GN board members
 
The Global Network has a Board of Directors and Board of Advisers. Below are comments from some of them. 

• Who would think that 30 years of Keeping Space for Peace would go so fast? In that time I feel that the GN has created an international community of amazing people who have recognised the importance of the militarisation of space and the threats that it poses to us on Earth. Together, under the dedicated stewardship of Bruce Gagnon, we continue to educate, share information on the issues and speak truth to power. It is wonderful to work with so many people from around the world who share a vision of a space environment free from exploitation, corruption and war. ~ Dr. Dave Webb, Leeds, England

• Global Network has been an educational network about how space is used for the US´ military all around the world. It has also encouraged me to start to pay notice to how Sweden is deeply involved in the use of space. The satellite station - Esrange - in the North of Sweden is the world´s biggest downloading station from satellites. ~ Agneta Norberg, Stockholm, Sweden

• Congratulations on 30 years of work, and the struggle very much continues. Both the turning of space into a war zone in violation of the intent of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 and the push to, overhead, use nuclear power in space remain being pushed aggressively. The Global Network has been the leading organization internationally challenging these twin horrors. La Lucha Continua. ~ Karl Grossman, New York
  

• It's hard to believe our Global Network is now 30 years old, and we are still confronting the need to keep space for peace and keep it nuke-free. Only this week, one of our founding Board Members, Karl Grossman wrote of a terrifying conference he attended where mad scientists and their corporate enablers are plotting and planning an accelerated drive to pollute our heavens with toxic nuclear radiation that lasts for eons. Our Global Network has heroically been the first and most reliable source of information about how space is being used for war, and future plans for even greater savagery as well. Everything I know about the relationship between between the ground based missiles desecrating our planet to war plans from space, and why space weapons and land missiles are so interrelated, I learned from the Global Network. Congratulations for spreading the word and warning the world over this past third of a century! Hope in the next third of a century the good work of our Network can bring some peace to our planet. ~ Alice Slater, New York 
  

• I learnt about the role of war fighting in Space - namely the illegal conflict in Iraq. I attended quite a few GN conferences in America and also round the world - all so informative and fun. We discovered the link with Menwith Hill and that this US base was connected to the launch of the Space Based Infra Red System. The three important radomes making Menwith Hill a very significant US base. And all the time Bruce Gagnon and Dave Webb were working away to build up GN to this impressive and unique campaign which I am so pleased to be connected to. I have learnt a lot, increasingly overwhelmed by the waste of resources, noise issues and encouragement of conflicts between nations. Thank you GN but particularly to Bruce and Dave for the tireless work you do to keep us all up to date and then we spread the word. GN is needed more than ever. ~ Lindis Percy, England, Co-Founder of the Campaign of the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases

• When ex-President George Bush Jr. announced about the missile defense project as well as the Nuclear Posture Review which targeted seven countries including Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, North Korea, Russia, China, in early 2000s, GN was one of a few organizations I could rely on spiritually, and mentally. I learned a lot from GN! I also found how GN peace activists are genuinely committed to peace and humanity. Jeju is one example. I can’t imagine how the struggle against the Jeju navy base could be so international without the friendship and solidarity by GN! I am really happy and grateful to to know about the GN and GN friends! The dedication by Bruce Gagnon and Dave Webb and all the GN friends to save the Earth and Space is really inspiring and touching! GN should be forever until the the day when the peace for space finally and truly comes! ~ Choi Sung-hee, Savejejunow.org, South Korea

• Three decades of standing for the Global Network in the era of militarization and commercialization of space is an achievement in itself. Though I am a recent addition to it, I could appreciate the noble cause of Global Network under the patronage of some highly motivated people. Much has been done over the years, but much more needs to be done, and the Global Network needs support of every right-minded person in this direction. Let this 75th year of Indian independence carry the message of freedom to all from the scourge of weapons and destruction. ~ Prof. (Dr.) Sandeepa Bhat B., West Bengal, India 

• I’m quite new to the GN community, but feel blessed to be connected with, and working alongside of a team of such caring and dedicated people, helping to steer civilization toward a saner and more viable future. ~ Kate Kheel, Maryland  

 

 

• Everything I learned about the weaponization of space I learned from the GN. I remember first meeting Bruce when someone invited him to speak here in Albuquerque as we were protesting a war profiteers meeting that involved space weapons. At the time the U.S. had gotten one of the Soviet space capsules and it was being used to promote future U.S. space activity. We suspected for war. Bruce put it all together for us and especially how our city was so important to the militarization of space. Thanks to the small GN we were able to see the larger picture of what was really going on. Thanks Bruce and all the folks who make up the GN today. Our work now has many opportunities to reach out and rally more and more people. It is so heartening to see members in way off places like South Korea and India. What a movement the GN has established. We will push on. ~ Bob Anderson, Albuquerque, NM 
  

• If Homo sapiens makes it another 100 years, a lot of credit will be due to groups like GN and people like Bruce Gagnon. They work tirelessly to keep the public informed. They keep cooperation and human decency alive while the military-industrial complex foments civil strife and animosity. ~ Christian Sorenson, Massachusetts 
  

• In 2002, Canadians learned that our national government was considering a request from the U.S. to partner on ballistic missile defence (BMD). Canadian peace activists were very wary of this request because we knew that the U.S. had recklessly withdrawn the year earlier from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. In early 2003, we began the Canadian Campaign to Oppose Missile Defence. I found the web site of the Global Network and sent an email. Bruce replied right away and said he would help. Bruce also offered to come to Canada to speak about the dangers of missile defence. Over the next two years, he spoke many times to audiences across the country. During our three-year national campaign, we held actions for Keep Space for Peace week and had many screenings of the film Arsenal of Hypocrisy: the Space Program & the Military Industrial Complex. In December 2004, President Bush came to Halifax, Nova Scotia and made a public appeal to Prime Minister Martin to join missile defence. Outside of the Bush event, we organized a massive protest against BMD and the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the Global Network’s help, we succeeded in preventing Canada from formally joining BMD. Nevertheless, Canadian peace activists recognize that though the Liberal government formally declared that Canada would not join BMD in 2005, our country continues to partner with the U.S. on space military operations through NORAD and NATO. Last month, the Department of National Defence announced a new Space Division under the Royal Canadian Air Force. The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace continues to be a member of the Global Network and I remain on the board. I greatly value the friendships that I have made over the past two decades – it is like a family to me! ~Tamara Lorincz, Canada

• In the 1990s, the Global Network introduced me to the US Space Command and the document explaining its Vision for 2020. The Space Command would militarize space to “protect US interests and investment” through “full spectrum dominance.” I remember carrying that document to talk everywhere we could and discussing its horrifying implications. These were conversations few others were having. Thirty years later, as we have stood beside each other in protest at space military installations in so many diverse parts of the world, I sit in awe and deep gratitude for the Global Network community. May the education, the inspiration, the community, and the resistance to the space military machine continue for years to come. May we continue to support each other. May the light the GN community carries forward in the world overwhelm the darkness of full spectrum dominance -- if I look hard enough, I can see its foundation crumbling…! ~ Mary Beth Sullivan, Maine 
  

• The Global Network is a classic prophetic voice in resistance to the madness of the militarization and colonization of space, the moon and other planets in our solar system. It is one of those kinds of voices that work tirelessly to be heard and understood while the powers of greed and dominance, the idolatrous worshipers of Mammon, turn a blind eye to our very survival as a species and that of our beloved planet. As a board member I have been accepted into and mentored by a sisterhood/brotherhood of dedicated, intelligent, hard-working and eloquent defenders of humanity and the planet, voices of sanity in an insane age. From Jeju Island to Guantanamo Bay, some of my proudest moments as an activist have been associated with the Global Network. Happy 30th anniversary to my most revered prophets. ~ Dennis Apel, California
  

• As a relative latecomer to the work of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, I continue to be impressed with the forward vision of this organization. Some claims about the militarization of space might have seemed farfetched in the past but are spot on in 2022. And other serious concerns such as space pollution and the contribution of space travel to climate change here on Earth have long been noted by members of GN. I'm grateful to be part of the organization and welcome the opportunities it offers to be in community with like-minded people around the planet. Thank you for your work and best wishes for the next 30 years! ~ Lisa Savage, Maine 
  

• It has been an honor to work with our boards and membership in the GN for these past 30 years. Our goal has always been to build an international constituency around space issues that could over time help the world grapple with the multi-dimensional realities of the 'space age'. We warmly thank all our members and leaders (living and passed on) for all they have done to build the GN. ~ Bruce Gagnon, Maine