Arms-control experts from the United States and Canada warn that the Pentagon's missile-defence program is part of an elaborate strategy to use outer space as a battlefield in the future.

Meanwhile, federal Liberals from Quebec say a tide of opposition to Canadian participation in the program is rising in that province, elevating the political importance of the missile issue to the level of last year's debate on the Iraq war.

Jonathan Dean, who was a disarmament negotiator for the U.S. government during the Cold War, told the Commons foreign affairs committee that research on ballistic missile defence (BMD) systems is part of a Pentagon push to develop weapons to shoot down satellites.

Peggy Mason, Ottawa's former ambassador for arms control, told a news conference she fears the United States is trying to drag the federal government into BMD because Canadian territory is an ideal spot from which to launch anti-satellite weapons.

The U.S. Air Force recently released a military doctrine document on "counterspace operations" that describes the need for offensive weapons capable of destroying space stations and satellites.

These weapons could include "directed energy weapons," such as lasers, that could be "space-based," the 56-page document says. The document, published by the secretary of the Air Force five months ago, says the U.S. military must be able to control "the high ground of space" from future enemies and to "destroy adversary space capabilities." It does not say who the enemy might be, but adds that there is every reason to believe outer space will become a "battlespace" in this century.

Such prospects alarm Mr. Dean, now a security consultant for the Boston-based Union of Concerned Scientists.

He said there are far better ways for the United States to protect itself from a potential enemy, including enforceable treaties to keep weapons out of outer space.

A Cold-War-era treaty banning nuclear warheads in space did not foresee other kinds of weapons, such as laser guns and so-called kinetic kill vehicles.

In 2006, the Pentagon plans to test one of the components of a space weapons system, a satellite sensor that could be used to target missiles, Mr. Dean said.

Ms. Mason, who was prime minister Brian Mulroney's ambassador for disarmament, said the BMD interceptor rockets that the United States is deploying in Alaska and California are not particularly good at their stated task of shooting down incoming ballistic missiles.

But the rockets "work as an offensive anti-satellite weapon," she said. They would also be "very useful if stationed in other countries for offensive operations," Ms. Mason said, warning that this might be why U.S. President George W. Bush is so keen on Canadian participation in BMD.

Liberal caucus sources, including MPs who are generally receptive to the idea of Canadian participation, say Mr. Bush stirred up a hornet's nest with his appeal for Ottawa's co-operation during two public appearances on his visit last week.

BMD "is a major issue for all of Canada, like Iraq," Quebec Liberal MP Denis Coderre said, referring to the government's decision not to join the U.S.-led coalition that invaded Iraq last year.

The Quebec wing of the Liberal Party voted on the weekend to "abstain" from the U.S. program.

Mr. Coderre predicted that the issue will come to a head no later than March, when the party holds a national policy convention. Liberal youth and women's groups are proposing resolutions condemning the BMD program.

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