On Oct. 5, 2007, with the theme, “StratCom’s Role in the Militarization of Space: An Update and Catholic Response.”, Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the “Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space,” and Thomas Gumbleton, Emeritus Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit had the joint speech in the Rigge Science Building, Creighton University(a Catholic Jesuit school), Omaha, Nebraska. Following Bruce Gagnon’s (27min.) and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton’s speech(21min.), the Question and answer period with the audience went about 40min. This piece records Bruce Gagnon’s speech on the day.
According to the article by the ‘Nebraskans For Peace’:
‘Between Bruce Gagnon and Bishop Gumbleton, a more qualified pair of presenters could not be found to address both the political and ethical implications of the new role StratCom has assumed in the wake of 9/11. A Vietnam-era veteran, Bruce Gagnon has spent more than 20 years organizing against the U.S. government’s effort to militarize and nuclearize space. Thanks to Gagnon’s particular interest in the transformation that has occurred at Strategic Command, the Global Network has chosen to hold its next annual conference in Omaha in April 2008 to spotlight the enhanced military threat StratCom now poses internationally.
Bishop Gumbleton, of course, is one of the best-known disarmament advocates in the world, who throughout his storied career has consistently warned of the dangers of nuclear weapons. In recognition of his lifelong commitment to the disarmament cause (including an arrest for civil disobedience at StratCom), Nebraskans for Peace honored him as a “Peacemaker of the Year” at the 1999 Annual Peace Conference when he was the featured speaker. At that time, however — two years before the 9/11 terrorist attacks — StratCom served solely as the headquarters for America’s nuclear deterrent and its, theoretically, ‘defensive’ mission. Today, as the nerve center for offensively waging the Bush/Cheney Administration’s “War on Terror” (with both conventional and nuclear weapons) and its stated goal of absolute space dominance, StratCom is an even greater danger to international law and world peace. As the theme of the 2008 Global Network conference bluntly asserts, StratCom today is “the most dangerous place on the face of the earth.” (http://www.nebraskansforpeace.org/articles/APC2007.php)
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