Ha! The Bushies Are Listening

Recently I blogged about the USG's concern over state secrets escaping our territorial borders through the untimely demise of a US spy satellite due to crash-land somewhere on the terrestrial surface in March.

I made the case that one might be as concerned with human life as with the security of our satellite technology.

Seems the Bushies have paid heed to this dose of wisdom. They've decided to shoot down the satellite and justify it by citing the risk to human populations if it should hit land:

"They say the satellite contains a hazardous material which could be fatal if inhaled by humans.

A US general denied claims that the main aim was to destroy secret parts."

In fact, they're bending over backward it seems to claim that destorying satellite secrets has nothing to do with the decision to pull the trigger.

"General James Cartwright said confidential components would be burned up in the atmosphere and, in any case, that would not be a reason for shooting down the satellite."

Of course it's rubbish, but the fact that they feel they must claim it is says a lot about how "human security" is displacing "national security" in "security-speak." It's a good sign - norm change always does begin with hypocrisy. Anyways, it's nice to know the Bushies are paying attention.

Satellite Security v. Human Security

A while back I blogged about the concept of "human security." But not expansively. My students sometimes get a little confused about this term, it meaning so many different things to different people. And Roland Paris up at University of Ottawa has argued famously that the concept represents more hot air than a genuine paradigm shift in strategic thinking.

So here's a story that both illustrates the concept of human security and lends credence to Paris' argument. It seems a US spy satellite is dropping out of orbit and will likely hit ground somewhere in North America in the next few weeks. Big issue for the US military, it seems.


A human security frame, which privileges protecting individuals from threats to their security, would probably encourage consideration of the populated areas that could be affected. Instead, according to the London Register, experts at the defense thinktank Global Security is primarily concerned with the risks to "the secrets of the satellite":

"One concern the intelligence community is going to have is that parts of this satellite will fall into the hands of the Russians or Chinese or somebody else," says Global Security director John Pike.

According to Pike, the satellite carries a new generation of spy equipment, able to provide round-the-clock intelligence.

"The hopes were that this was going to be a more capable, less expensive spy satellite or radar satellite that could see objects through clouds and in the dark."

Oh yes, that would have been just fine.