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CounterPunch
January
6, 2003
Yes, Virginia,
Santa Really Is American
by ASIF DEVJI
The December 24 broadcast of the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation's national news included, expectably, some Christmas-related
stories. One of these was an interview with two Canadian officers
speaking from Peterson Air Force Base in Winnepeg. The soldiers
were there to tell us that this was the 45th year that NORAD
(the North American Air Defence Command) would be tracking Santa's
annual flight, and that this year Santa would be escorted by
two jet fighter planes as he made his way across Canadian skies.
The screen opened up to a shot from the
Santa Cam -- a computer graphic simulation of Santa in red with
his reindeer, soaring through the sky over Canada, sled full
of gifts, flanked on either side by a jet fighter.
It was an odd sight, and I wondered why
Santa would need a military escort. Was he in danger? Was Canada?
Was Santa -- with his outlandish clothing and long beard -- a
security threat in Canadian air space?
Curious, I went to the web site provided
for the kids (http://www.noradsanta.org)
to "track Santa's progress" over Christmas Eve.
There I learned, as would curious children
on Christmas Eve, that NORAD is a bi-national American and Canadian
military organization which "provides warning of missile
and air attack against both of its member nations, safeguards
the air sovereignty of North America, and provides air defense
forces for defense against an air attack."
I also discovered that NORAD would monitor
Santa using "four high-tech systems."
The North Warning System, a network of
47 radar installations spread across Northern Canada and Alaska,
would establish when Santa was off the ground.
Then a satellite system would go into
effect. Using infrared technology, "the same satellites
that we use in providing warning of possible missile launches
aimed at North America" would track the jolly crew from
22300 miles above the earth. This would be easy, I was told,
because "Rudolph's nose gives off an infrared signature
similar to a missile launch."
The data gathered by the satellites would
be used to coordinate fighter jets, which would scramble to join
the chase as Santa entered Canadian air space.
And finally, viewers at home could track
the action using the Santa Cam.
I opened up the Santa Cam and watched
Santa fly past the Capitol in Washington, through the metropolis
of Philedelphia, over Canadian waters, and curl around the Eiffel
tower and Taj Mahal. I even saw him make a trip up to the International
Space Station.
But in his gift-giving journey around
the world in 2002, Santa did not visit Afghanistan or Iraq or
even the Middle East (although, according to another Christmas-related
news story, many stayed away from Bethlehem this year).
The closest he got was the Persian Gulf,
where from a satellite's-eye view the Santa Cam swooped down
to follow Santa cruising past aircraft carriers and military
helicopters.
I suppose the children in those parts
of the world had learned to expect a different type of gift delivered
from a different type of vehicle this year.
But I wondered about North American kids,
and the information they were receiving from the Santa Cam. Judging
by the abundant military hardware shown, Santa was surely flying
through a dangerous world. And judging by the numerous US sites
he visited -- compared to the single stops or none which he made
in other parts of the world -- Santa was surely partial to Americans.
As I dug deeper into the web site, though,
it all became clear.
This year's Santa tracking was brought
to us by the team of: NORAD (the "military organization
responsible for the aerospace defense of the United States and
Canada"); Analytical Graphics ("the producer of Satellite
Tool Kit, the leading commercially available analysis and visualization
software for the aerospace and defense communities"); Etheriel
Web Marketing (an expert in "building complex Web applications,
converting websites for wireless access, [and] full blown promotional
and media campaigns"); Ampersand Creative (which deals with
"brand development, printed collateral, catalog design,
Web site design, HTML e-mail and direct mail"); Globelink
(which "specializes in helping firms conduct business in
the global arena"); America Online ("the world's leader
in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and
e-commerce services"); and WorldCom (which "keeps the
government running when unexpected events occur").
Santa, and peace on earth, had been branded
in the corporate War on Terror.
Asif Devji
lives in Montreal, Canada. Devji can be reached at: flexicon2@yahoo.ca
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