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'Star Wars' Empire Strikes Back at Obama's Death Star Refusal

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Death Star
(Image credit: Del Ray)

The refusal of President Barack Obama's Administration to build a planet-destroying Death Star from the "Star Wars" films is both short-sighted and cowardly, according to the Galactic Empire.

In a statement posted to the official "Star Wars" website Monday (Jan. 15), the fictional Empire — the totalitarian regime that built the Death Star bases — touted its military might in the wake of the White House's negative response to a petition to begin building a real-life Death Star by 2016.

"The overwhelming military superiority of the Galactic Empire has been confirmed once again by the recent announcement by the President of the United States that his nation would not attempt to build a Death Star, despite the bellicose demands of the people of his tiny, aggressive planet," Empire officials said in the joke letter.

On Friday (Jan. 11), the White House issued a statement explaining why the Obama Administration could not support any effort to build a real Death Star. Chief among the reasons: the project's estimated cost of more than $850 quadrillion and the fact that the Obama Administration does not support destroying other planets.

The Empire's three-paragraph response comes complete with a quote from a fictional member of the Galactic Empire ridiculing the way the president handled the request.

"'The costs of construction they cited were ridiculously overestimated, though I suppose we must keep in mind that this minuscule planet does not have our massive means of production,' added Admiral Conan Motti of the Imperial Starfleet."

This story was provided by SPACE.com, a sister site to Live Science. You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+. 

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Miriam Kramer
Miriam Kramer
Miriam Kramer joined Space.com as a staff writer in December 2012. Since then, she has floated in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight, felt the pull of 4-Gs in a trainer aircraft and watched rockets soar into space from Florida and Virginia. She also serves as Space.com's lead space entertainment reporter, and enjoys all aspects of space news, astronomy and commercial spaceflight.  Miriam has also presented space stories during live interviews with Fox News and other TV and radio outlets. She originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee where she and her family would take trips to dark spots on the outskirts of town to watch meteor showers every year. She loves to travel and one day hopes to see the northern lights in person.