Vice President Pence Declines to Rule-Out Deploying Nuclear Weapons In Space

Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Nov. 11, 2017. Photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley

Asked if nuclear weapons should “always be banned from space,” Vice President Pence, declined to answer telling the Washington Post, who hosted a policy summit called “Transformers: Space,” on Tuesday, “well, look, what we need to do is make sure that we provide for the common defense of the people of the United States of America,” he added, “and that’s the president’s determination here.”

Speaking of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty that outlawed weapons in space, Vice President Pence said, the current ban, was “in the interest of every nation,” but he also points out that the issue should be decided on “the principle that peace comes from strength.” 

In August as the News Blender reported, Vice President Pence, announced that the creation of a sixth branch of military service to the U.S. would be called Space Force, and established by 2020. 

Vice President Pence’s remarks on Tuesday came just days after President Trump told reporters gathered in Nevada, “that the U.S. would exit a landmark 1987 arms control agreement with the former Soviet Union, due to his belief that it constrains the U.S. from developing its own weapons and that Russia has violated the pact.” 

According to the linked Post article, the Air Force has estimated “that Space Force could cost,” in it’s first year, $3 billion and “would likely need $13 billion in its first five years.” The Post notes that the estimation of cost has received some resistance from Conservative-Republican’s on Capital Hill. 

Vice President Pence’s comments also come on the same day that National Security Adviser John Bolton confirmed during a press conference from Moscow, that President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could meet in Paris on November 11th, via The Hill, “I said yes, in fact, that President Trump would look forward to meeting with him in Paris.” 

President Trump according to The Hill, is scheduled to travel to Paris “to commemorate Armistice Day,” November 11th, “which marks the end of World War I.” 

About the opinions in this article…

Any opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this website or of the other authors/contributors who write for it.

About Tiff 2829 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.