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During the Cold War, it was all the rage to get into space. This was viewed not only as a prestige issue (as in who is the best, the first, the fastest) among those who
considered politics a game or were into power plays, it also was driven by a fear factor. What would the other party be able to do, from that vantage point? Rain
down death and destruction with great accuracy? Peek into bedrooms and boardrooms and undress corporate and government lies as well as personal lies? How
could the current status quo, which is to lie to the people one governs, to lie to business partners and competitors alike, and to lie to the auditors, one’s family,
one’s neighbors and church - continue? The thought of having to be honest is discombobulating to those who have lied since childhood and done this as a way of
life during their professions as politicians, executives, or lawyers. Thus, the ability to put up spy satellites was deemed a strong offensive against any other party
unable to do likewise.
Though the Russian were the first into space, with Sputnik, the US soon dominated and has more satellites up than publicly acknowledged. They have come to rely
upon them, as the easier means of snooping compared to sending in live bodies that can be seduced and lie to their handlers and switch sides. So much safer having
that live feed recorded. The allies of the US shared this information, at least in part, which was a strong reason to become an ally of the US in the past. So why are
England and others in Europe in an uproar over Echelon, which monitors electronic transmissions as well as what can be seen from space? What changed? As the
Attack on America on September 11, 2001 demonstrated, all is not well within the ranks of the elite who would remain on top during and through the coming
changes. There will be winners and losers - those who drown on islands going under the rising sea level and those who live smugly in the highlands and deny
immigration, those whose assets retain their worth due to manipulation in the financial market and those who find themselves holding worthless paper, those with
influence over the populace and those whose voices are like noise that gets ignored.
England no longer trusts the US, since the maneuver of wrenching the Presidential election from the rightful electee, Gore. Where this was deemed a partisan issue
in the press, it was clear to those who knew otherwise that strong arm tactics were going to be allowed, done boldly and without shame or fear of repercussion.
Anything goes. Corporate interests in the US would be pushed overriding all agreements with other countries or the law. This had been the Republican agenda in
any case, increasingly, but now all the stops would be pulled. Arms agreements with Russia tossed into the wastebasket. Refusal to even consider Global Warming
issues, the current explanation for the wild weather devastating the entire globe, in the Kyoto summit. America first, always, and to hell with anyone else. No ethics.
No regret. And thus deep distrust of a former ally has developed in all countries still publicly calling the US a friend.