Aaron Ball: "Militarized space" RESPONSE

Dear editor:
 
I recently read the online version of PRAVDA for the first time.  I must admit that I was particularly surprised by the volume of anti-American sentiment expressed in the articles on the website.  I am not one to criticize or avoid debate, even when the comments are directed at my own country.  I note that certain articles, such as "A Militarized Space?", however, appear to be written by journalists who have no substantive experience in the areas on which they report.  Mr. Bancroft-Hinchey appears to have no substantive experience reporting on the area of defense spending or military affairs.  Even if he had such experience, Mr. Bancroft-Hinchey's article appears to be nothing more than pure editorial, not journalism, as it makes allegations of ", terrorist acts and assassination attempts" and "murder" and "piracy" without citing any examples or bases for such statements.  The only data which your reporter appears to refer to is that supplied by the Russian government.  That data further appears to be out of date.  In particular, Mr. Bancroft-Hinchey mentions the "FALCON" program.  His analysis of the program was, at best, incomplete (For your information, I have included a more detailed analysis of the program below). 
 
In short, articles such as "A Militarized Space?" that contain profane, unsupported allegations, including serious allegations like state-sponsored terrorism and murder which violate international legal conventions, should not pass as objective journalism but be moved the the "Editorial" column.  A publication with a long and established history such as PRAVDA should know better.  In such cases it should rely on the work of knowledgeable journalists, preferably, in the case of articles on the United States, one who does not live thousands of miles away from Washington, D.C.
 
Aaron Ball
Washington, D.C.