Star fighters

Talk about David and Goliath. On one side you have the might of the US military and on the other, a clapped-out campervan, driven by two blokes named Neil and Sam. Just possibly, however, the vast US military machine may have more to fear from Neil and Sam - and others like them - than from all the rogue states in the world.

What they are armed with is not mysteriously-disappearing weapons of mass destruction, nor Scud missiles, rusty Kalashnikovs or even car bombs, but something far more potent: information.

Neil is Neil Kingsnorth, CND's Yorkshire development worker and national campaigner against Star Wars. Sam is his mate, who, during the next few days, will be driving Neil's campervan and making a video film of his National No Star Wars tour.

Star Wars, of course, is the United States' proposed missile defence system which would enable it to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles, thus providing a shield against nuclear attack. An upgraded RAF Fylingdales would play a vital part in such a system - the British Government has already given its approval - by providing early warning and tracking of incoming missiles.

Neil and Sam set out from Faslane nuclear submarine base in Scotland today on the first leg of their tour and, during the next nine days, will be touring missile defence "hotspots" throughout the UK, meeting local activists and holding public meetings to raise awareness about the threat they say Star Wars poses to Britain and the world.

They reach Fylingdales tomorrow, move on to Menwith Hill on Friday, and reach the US Embassy in London on June 13 - the first anniversary of what Neil calls the "death of the ABM (anti ballistic missile) treaty... killed off by the USA to allow them to pursue a missile defence system."

Two men in a clapped-out campervan may not seem much to fear, but Neil hopes that gradually, if people such as him and Sam keep banging on about the risks, the groundswell of public opinion could turn against those who believe yet more military spending is the way to maintain world peace.

Their arrival at Fylingdales tomorrow is well timed. On Monday the Evening Press revealed how a top US Air Force scientist, Dr Richard Albanese, said he would not buy a house near Fylingdales because he feared the radiation it produced could cause cancer.

Members of the Fylingdales Action Network, worried about the health risks, will be linking up with CND outside the base tomorrow. They will be dressed in white boilersuits and pretend to take measurements of the radiation emitted.

"We'll be trying to draw attention to the health hazards," says campaigner Jackie Fearnley, who lives in nearby Goathland.

What is urgently needed, says Jackie, is information. Bland assurances by the Minsitry of Defence that it does "not believe there is a risk to the local community" are not good enough.

It is bad enough for people such as her living a few miles from the base, yet the people she is really worried about are the MoD police who stand on guard outside. "I feel I ought to approach them about whether they have a union that should be concerned," she says.

The health hazard is only one of many threats that Star Wars and Fylingdales represent, however, insists Neil Kingsnorth.

Once it becomes part of a working missile defence system it will become a target for anyone who wants to knock that system out.

At the moment, Fylingdales operates as an early warning system. As a result of a Star Wars upgrade it would also be able to track incoming missiles so US interceptors could target them.

It is already a target by virtue of its early warning capability, says Neil. "But it will become very much more a target if the missile defence system works."

Retired RAF pilot Tommy Thomson, who also lives in Goathland, agrees.

During his years in the RAF from 1953 to 1971, he flew as a ground attack pilot and knows what it would take to knock out Fylingdales.

"To silence Fylingdales, one has to destroy it," he says. "You can't just put a cloud of poison gas out and think that will do the job, because the radar pictures would continue to be transmitted automatically. The only way is to destroy it physically, by putting a little nuke on it. It is only a quarter mile off the main road, so to deliver one by lorry would be quite simple."

Emergency planners dismiss the fears. Robin Myshrall, head of emergency planning at North Yorkshire County Council, says the threat of Fylingdales being targeted by a nuclear attack is "virtually non-existent". The only nations with the capability to mount such an attack, he says, are the US and Russia - and there is no risk of that.

Even if you accept that reassurance, however, there is still much to be concerned about, says Neil Kingsnorth. The global threat posed by Star Wars is even more terrifying.

Missile defence, if it works, will effectively provide the US with a shield from behind which it can fight with impunity, Neil says - giving it the ability to launch pre-emptive strikes safe in the knowledge it cannot be hit back.

Even more worrying, Star Wars could lead to a new arms race, he claims. In an attempt to develop the capability to punch through the missile defence shield, countries such as China could decide to massively increase the number of nuclear missiles in their armoury. That in turn could lead to other countries such as India and Pakistan increasing their nuclear stockpiles. "I fear it is going to have some extremely destabilising effects on the international community," says Neil.

The British Government, of course, insists Star Wars is all about increasing the UK's security. On his visit to North Yorkshire, defence secretary Geoff Hoon insisted Star Wars was needed so the West could defend itself against rogue states with ballistic missile capability such as Iraq and North Korea.

But there is a further fear, says Neil. On top of everything else, Star Wars represents a definite step towards what he calls the "weaponisation of space".

You may think the idea of battle-stations in space armed missiles poised to rain down on Earth far-fetched.

The US administration's own Space Command website, however, makes clear just how determined the US is to take military control of space.

The Space Command's motto is "Dominating the space dimension of military operations to protect US interests and investment."

Its Joint Vision for 2010 reads: "The medium of space is the fourth medium of warfare - along with land, sea and air. The emerging synergy of space superiority with land, sea and air superiority will lead to Full Spectrum Dominance. Space Power is a vital element in moving towards the... goal of being persuasive in peace, decisive in war and pre-eminent in any form of conflict."

I don't know about you, but that's scary enough for me.

Updated: 11:13 Wednesday, June 04, 2003