Rumsfeld unveiled the initiative right after a New York Times story by James Dao had accurately depicted it as entailing a push to militarize space. Because the story had already kicked up a fuss, Rumsfeld was intent on discrediting it. But even an editorial in the ardently pro-Rumsfeld Washington Times basically said that Rumsfeld was lying (although, unlike me, the Times is happy about the Rumsfeld space initiative). Here is an excerpt from the editorial:

To be sure, during the press conference Mr. Rumsfeld, responding to persistent questions from reporters, insisted that his proposals involving the consolidation and reorganization of the military's space programs had "nothing to do" with any intention to eventually militarize space. However, the consolidation is not occurring in a vacuum. After all, prior to being named defense secretary, Mr. Rumsfeld served as chairman of the congressionally authorized Space Commission, which was charged with studying military issues in space and which issued its report in January. The report warned that the United States had become "an attractive candidate for a space Pearl Harbor," concluding that eventual warfare in space was a "virtual certainty." Noting that "every medium - land, air and sea - has seen conflict," the commission's report asserted, "Reality indicates that space will be no different." An important recommendation of the commission was for the U.S. military to invest heavily in research and development of military space technologies."

Standing by Rumsfeld's side during the press conference was Sen. Bob Smith, who candidly described the bureaucratic reorganization as an outgrowth of the Space Commission that Rumsfeld had chaired—the commission that deemed the development of space weapons an important U.S. goal. Indeed, Rumsfeld's own description of the reorganization's purpose—"ensuring that the Air Force will become the lead for space activities in the Department of Defense"—comes right out of the commission's paradigm of space as a future battleground and not just a place to process data that supports military operations on the ground.

Smith, who initiated the Space Commission and has worked hand-in-glove with Rumsfeld throughout the space policy review, has employed various strong-arm tactics to speed up development of anti-satellite weapons. And he employed some of them again shortly after the press conference. As Defense Daily reported:

The Air Force should take over control of the Kinetic Energy Anti-Satellite (KE-ASAT) program if the Army's support of the program continues to falter, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said yesterday.

The warning from Sen. Robert Smith (R-N.H.) to recommend shifting the program out of Army control comes days after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced a greater role for the Air Force in control of space assets and policy as recommended by the Space Commission report (Defense Daily, May 9).

"If the [Space Commission] recommendations seem to fit and the Army is not going to be supportive, maybe we ought to take a look at the Air Force," Smith told Army Secretary nominee Tom White at a SASC hearing on his confirmation yesterday.

Smith for months had held up the promotion of the new commander of the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command due to problems with KE-ASAT funding and management (Defense Daily, Feb. 7). In February, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki assured Smith that the service is committed to completing the manufacture of three KE-ASAT kill vehicles (KV) and getting the program on track. Smith then allowed the appointment of Maj. Gen. Joseph Cosumano to the head SMDC post to proceed.