A colleague sent me a Reuters story that so mangles a UNHCR report on the human rights situation in Iraq that I don/’t know whether to laugh or cry. The gist of the Reuters story is: While crediting the United States for ending the “shocking and systematic” human rights abuses that occurred under Saddam Hussein, …
Canadian Space Surveillance
by | 2004-06-03 | No Comments
The National Post reports that the Canadian Department of National Defence is conducting a $65-million program, Project sapphire, to join the United States Space Surveillance Network. Canada will launch “a satellite with an optical sensor to look at objects in deep space — approximately 6,000 kilometres to 40,000 kilometres from Earth,” according the director of …
Space-Based Laser in the Black Budget?
by | 2004-06-02 | No Comments
Just when you thought the space-based laser was dead … the Canadian Department of National Defence reveals that it believes the program has gone black to hide it from scrutiny. Last year, MDA closed its Space-based Laser (SBL) program office and canceled theanticipated 2012 test of the system. MDA/’s decision followed a $120 million Congressional …
Chinese Military Power, 2004
by | 2004-05-31 | No Comments
The 2004 edition of the Department of Defense/’s Annual Report on the Military Power of the People/’s Republic of China has been released and, well, it is pretty disappointing. The most important sections (according to DOD) are actually shorter than those in the 2003 edition, and the act of condensing some sections has destroyed any …
