Bruce K. Gagnon (Coordinator,  Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space)

Interview

What were your impressions of the tours to the Pyeongtaek US base and the Mugeonri exercise / training area?

I was deeply impressed by the determination of the people organizing in both locations to save their homes and their land.  They were extremely kind and generous to us.  It was just heart breaking to all of us to see the lands being taken from the people.  This is unjust and must be resisted and we all pledged to do more in our countries to educate people about this desperate situation.  In the end the only solution is for the US military empire to be shut down.  That means our work and your work must become more connected to be as effective as possible.

In the US also, how are people affected by the expansion of training areas and / or bases?

Yes, in fact right now the Army is trying to take a large portion of southern Colorado for an expanded military training area and the cattle ranchers are fighting them.  Some of our friends in the peace movement in Colorado have been working with these ranchers who are normally very conservative but they have begun to ask more questions about our government.  A couple of years ago I worked with a conservative community in rural Florida that successfully fought against an Air Force bombing range.  With new high-tech weapons the Pentagon needs bigger training areas, which means more communities in the US and around the world, are at risk.  We must call for an end to all militarism.

What are the main problems for people who live near to bases and / or training areas?

Noise pollution, prostitution, alcoholism, increased violence, environmental contamination of the local water systems and a significant impact on the local culture.  Whether in the US or around the world military bases always have adverse impacts.

What are the significance and the symbolism of holding this MD international conference and the GN annual general meeting in Seoul?

Each year we meet in a different place in order to spread the consciousness about needing to prevent an arms race in space.  Previously we have met in Germany, England, Canada, Australia, and in various states in the US.  By bringing together key activists from around the world who are working on space issues we spread the knowledge and find ways to give each other support.  This year was our 17th year of holding these space conferences.

Why is the US demanding that the ROK participate in the MD system?

Several reasons.  The US wants to create more instability in the Asian-Pacific region because the more tension there is the more weapons systems the military industrial complex can sell.  Secondly, the US has since before 2000 been doubling its military presence in the region in order to encircle and “manage” China.  By getting Japan, Australia, and South Korea involved in so-called “missile defense” the US gets its allies to help pay for this military buildup and its also helps create the impression that the people in those countries support this new growth in offensive militarism.

On April 5, North Korea launched a satellite, which the US and Japan say was a ballistic missile. Concerning this, what is your opinion?

To me it does not really matter whether North Korea launched a satellite or a ballistic missile.  They are a sovereign nation and have a right to test missiles.  The US launches these kinds of rockets all the time from their bases in Alaska, Hawaii, California, and Florida.  It is nothing but hypocrisy for the US to lecture North Korea or Iran about launching rockets while at the same time helping Israel, India, or other countries to do the same thing.  In fact, I am ultimately against all military space missile launches but I am even more against the hypocrisy of the US on this point.

Because the US is trying to stir up fear in South Korea, Japan, and back in the US.  They are using North Korea to make people afraid so they will support the massive spending on space technology that will then be used for offensive empire building purposes and to surround China.

In February, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that if North Korea launched a rocket, it would be intercepted immediately; what do you think about this?

The US is trying to convince the American people that North Korea is going to attack the US, which of course is utter nonsense.  The reason why they are doing this is so that the American people will blindly support any spending the Pentagon requests for expanding military operations in the Asian-Pacific region.  They are trying to make the American people believe that only the military can resolve the tensions in the Asian-Pacific.  At a time when the US economy is crashing most people would rather see their taxes spent on education, health care, and creating green technology jobs.  So the Pentagon needs an enemy.  North Korea and Iran are the latest victims of the Pentagon’s public relations campaign.

The Obama administration has reduced the MD budget; what is the Obama administration's policy on MD?

Obama has made it clear many times that he supports missile defense and in 2010 he will increase the Pentagon budget by 4%.  There will be minimal cuts in a couple of missile defense programs like the airborne laser and the ground-based midcourse program (the ones with the least testing success) but programs like Aegis destroyers missile defense, PAC-3, and THAAD are now the favored programs of Obama and the Democrats in Congress so we expect to see them get more funding as time goes on.  There can be no doubt that Obama and the Democrats who now run Congress support the military empire.  Bush was a bad cowboy.  Obama is the good cowboy ? but still a cowboy.

Please introduce the anti-MD struggle that has taken place in the Czech Republic and in Poland.

In the Czech Republic 70% of the people oppose the US space warfare radar base that Bush proposed to deploy there.  Nearby in Poland 60% of the people oppose US plans to deploy “missile defense” interceptor missiles there.  The US says these systems would protect against Iranian missiles but scientists who have studied these systems say they are really intended to be used against Russia as the US and NATO now expand bases right up to the Russian borders.  The people in the Czech Republic have organized a vigorous campaign to resist the Star Wars radar base and their government has recently fallen in a no-confidence vote largely due to this issue.  Obama says he wants to negotiate nuclear missile reductions with Russia but as long as the US is deploying “missile defense” systems on their borders and increasing its conventional military build-up then Russia says there can be no nuclear reductions agreement.

What are this MD international conference's achievements and what still remains to be done?

Our Global Network members are all very worried about US plans for the Asian-Pacific and hoped that we would come away from the conference with new working relationships established ? particularly with activists from South Korea and Japan.  This has happened and we now hope we can follow-up with more joint communication, information sharing, and mutual support in our peace work.  Our organization is very committed to doing all we can to support resistance to militarism (particularly space technologies).  We have worked hard to support the resistance in the Czech Republic and intend to do all we can to support the peace movements in the Asian-Pacific as well.  We have to sadly acknowledge that the US is moving rapidly to turn the Asian-Pacific into a new region of instability (and profits), so we all have much work to do.

Korea remains divided into South and North as a result of the Second World War. You just made a tour of the DMZ. What are your impressions of this?

I was born on July 27, 1952 just one year before the ceasefire of the Korean War.  My father served in the Air Force in Korea during the war and he worked in photography.  He had books and books of pictures from Korea during the war and when I was young I used to look at all the picture over and over again.  So my whole life has been closely and emotionally linked to Korea in many ways.  This was my first trip to Korea and seeing the DMZ broke my heart.  It is crazy that this wall separates the people from one another - families kept apart from each other.  While standing there looking out at the line between the two Koreas I saw a bird flying back and forth between the two countries.  It came to me that only humans would create such a wall between themselves.  Nature knows no such boundaries.  I came away feeling that I must do more to share these images with the people I work with around the world so that they too can feel the need to help bring peaceful reunification to Korea.

More than 60% of the ROK population think that the USFK must withdraw. The USFK are not welcome in the ROK. What do you think about this?

I think this is the right response to empire.  Bases must close and the US troops must go home.  Koreans have every right to say they want their country back.  When I was a boy my father was stationed in Germany and one day my class went to visit an old castle on the Rhine River.  We were told we were standing on a stone floor that once was a barracks for the Roman Empire soldiers.  But the Roman Empire could not stand over time because it was a contradiction.  It was not natural.  It is not natural for the US to have bases and tens of thousands of soldiers in Korea.  They must leave and the more the Korean people organize and make demands, the sooner the US will go home.  We want to help from our side of the world to speed that process up as much as possible.

You were very interested in visiting Seoul.  Now that you have come, how do you like it?  What impressed you particularly?  What did you most enjoy about your visit here?

Most of all I loved the people I met.  Kind and warm hearted, dedicated and generous.  I loved the food more than I thought I might ? particularly the fish, the rice, the delicate salty fine sheets of seaweed, and yes, even the kimchee.  The countryside was beautiful.  I don’t like big cities very much, they are not environmentally sustainable.  Like most cities around the world Seoul has far too many cars.  We must end the car culture.  We must put solar on all the buildings in Korea and around the world.  We must take the money from the military in every country so that we can deal with the harsh realities of climate change that are coming fast.  We don’t have time to be patient.  I was sad to leave.  There was so much more I’d like to have seen and learned about in Korea.  My best wishes to all there.

Do you have a message for SPARK?

Last year SPARK became an affiliated member of the Global Network and we are very grateful for this joint connection.  We were very lucky to have Ko Young-dae speak at our annual space conference last year in Nebraska where the Strategic Command is headquartered.  We have long been impressed with the work of SPARK and I often post photos and articles from SPARK protests on my blog and our Global Network website.  I just want to encourage members of SPARK to keep the pressure on the US government.  It is a pleasure and an honor to be working with SPARK and we look forward to an even closer connection.  

No missile defense!  

Close the US bases in ROK!

Give the land back to the people!  

We support Korean reunification!

Bruce