Posted: Thu, Aug 2, 2001, 11:33 AM ET (1533 GMT)
An Air Force general said Wednesday that the United States will likely put weapons in space to protect orbiting spacecraft from attack. Air Force chief of staff Michael Ryan said that the country's reliance on military and commercial spacecraft made it necessary for the US to be able to use force to protect them. "I think that we have in some way be able to protect those assets, at least defensively," Reuters quoted Ryan, who will retire from the Air Force next month. "I would think that eventually we're going to have to have capabilities to take things out in orbit." Ryan's comments closely echo conclusions published in January by an independent commission led by Donald Rumsfeld, who now serves as Secretary of Defense.

Related Links:

•  Reuters article
•  Rumsfeld commission report