 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Articles ArchiveReturn
to Articles Archive Menu
A Critical
Time in Human History
- Escalating Nuclear Disarmament
Douglas Mattern
In his article "Apocalypse
Now" published in the May/June issue of Foreign Policy,
former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara describes the
extreme danger posed by nuclear weapons and lack of action to
reduce this threat. He writes: "We are at a critical moment
in human history" and he says "We must move promptly
toward the elimination-or near elimination-of all nuclear weapons."
McNamara reminds us: "Today,
the United States has deployed approximately 4,500 strategic,
offensive nuclear warheads. Russia has roughly 3,800. The strategic
forces of Britain, France, and China are considerably smaller,
with 200-400 nuclear weapons in each state's arsenal. The new
nuclear states of Pakistan and India have fewer than 100 weapons
each. North Korea now claims to have developed nuclear weapons,
and U.S. intelligence agencies estimate that Pyongyang has enough
fissile material for 2-8 bombs."
Moreover, "The average U.S.
warhead has a destructive power 20 times that of the Hiroshima
bomb. Of the 8,000 active or operational U.S. warheads, 2,000
are on hair-trigger alert, ready to be launched on 15 minutes'
warning."
On 2 May at the opening of the
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in New York,
Kofi Annan appealed for the operating status of nuclear
weapons to be lowered. He also quoted the UN High Level Panel
on Threats, Challenge, and Change that has called for de-alerting
nuclear weapons.
On 21 April in New York, Mikhail
Gorbachev criticized the U.S. for its large nuclear arsenal and
urged the United States "to cure itself" of hypocrisy
over nuclear arms and be prepared to cut its atomic arsenal and
take it off "hair-trigger" alert.
Gorbachev said: "I think
Russia is ready to cooperate. Now the question is, is the United
States -- which is the only remaining superpower -- is the United
States ready to do this? I think not," he added. "They
(United States) say other people don't need (nuclear weapons),
but what kind of law is this that they are advocating?"
Gorbachev asked. "It's the law of the jungle."
At a meeting with Gorbachev in
New York, Ted Turner also deplored the thousands of U.S. and
Russian nuclear warheads on hair trigger alert "that could
be launched at a moment's notice and destroy the world in an
afternoon,' Turner said. 'I think that's the most important threat
we face. We're running out of time, and we've been lucky that
something hasn't gone wrong.'
This warning to the world's nuclear
powers, particularly the United States and Russia, is in line
with an appeal produced and circulated by the Association of
World Citizens in San Francisco and Friends of the Earth Australia
in Sydney that has been signed by 44 Nobel prizewinners, over
200 organizations worldwide, 53 parliamentarians, the Australian
Senate and the European Parliament. The Appeal also urges that
all nuclear weapons, specifically the 4,000 U.S. and Russian
strategic warheads, be removed from "hair-trigger"
alert and "launch-on-warning" to greatly reduce the
possibility of a nuclear exchange initiated by an accidental
missile launch, miscalculation, or early warning system error.
The harsh reality is that the
current status of nuclear weapons means that every day we are
under the threat of nuclear incineration. This is the most irresponsible,
if not criminal, policy imaginable because it holds all of us
hostage to the constant threat of nuclear incineration initiated
by an accidental missile launch, early warning system error,
or miscalculation.
There have been over 20 documented
close calls to nuclear war over the years, and we have been lucky.
But luck does not endure and we are running out of time. For
this reason the new drive to end this utter madness is directed
to the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT) taking
place this month at the United Nations. NPT must produce action
to reduce the current danger and begin the liberation of humanity
from the nuclear nightmare before "Apocalypse Now."
But if the conference fails this task, a new unyielding movement
of concerned citizens must escalate the struggle continuously
until the goal is reached.
Home
Page | AWC Goals | AWC
Branches | Archives
Resolution
2010 | Human Manifesto | AWC History
United
Nations | AWC Staff | Join
Online Today | Worldometers
Contact Us
|
Articles Archive - Escalating Nuclear Disarmament Douglas Mattern In his article "Apocalypse Now" published in the May/June issue of Foreign Policy, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara describes the extreme danger posed by nuclear weapons and lack of action to reduce this threat. He writes: "We are at a critical moment in human history" and he says "We must move promptly toward the elimination-or near elimination-of all nuclear weapons." McNamara reminds us: "Today, the United States has deployed approximately 4,500 strategic, offensive nuclear warheads. Russia has roughly 3,800. The strategic forces of Britain, France, and China are considerably smaller, with 200-400 nuclear weapons in each state's arsenal. The new nuclear states of Pakistan and India have fewer than 100 weapons each. North Korea now claims to have developed nuclear weapons, and U.S. intelligence agencies estimate that Pyongyang has enough fissile material for 2-8 bombs." Moreover, "The average U.S. warhead has a destructive power 20 times that of the Hiroshima bomb. Of the 8,000 active or operational U.S. warheads, 2,000 are on hair-trigger alert, ready to be launched on 15 minutes' warning." On 2 May at the opening of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in New York, Kofi Annan appealed for the operating status of nuclear weapons to be lowered. He also quoted the UN High Level Panel on Threats, Challenge, and Change that has called for de-alerting nuclear weapons. On 21 April in New York, Mikhail Gorbachev criticized the U.S. for its large nuclear arsenal and urged the United States "to cure itself" of hypocrisy over nuclear arms and be prepared to cut its atomic arsenal and take it off "hair-trigger" alert. Gorbachev said: "I think Russia is ready to cooperate. Now the question is, is the United States -- which is the only remaining superpower -- is the United States ready to do this? I think not," he added. "They (United States) say other people don't need (nuclear weapons), but what kind of law is this that they are advocating?" Gorbachev asked. "It's the law of the jungle." At a meeting with Gorbachev in New York, Ted Turner also deplored the thousands of U.S. and Russian nuclear warheads on hair trigger alert "that could be launched at a moment's notice and destroy the world in an afternoon,' Turner said. 'I think that's the most important threat we face. We're running out of time, and we've been lucky that something hasn't gone wrong.' This warning to the world's nuclear powers, particularly the United States and Russia, is in line with an appeal produced and circulated by the Association of World Citizens in San Francisco and Friends of the Earth Australia in Sydney that has been signed by 44 Nobel prizewinners, over 200 organizations worldwide, 53 parliamentarians, the Australian Senate and the European Parliament. The Appeal also urges that all nuclear weapons, specifically the 4,000 U.S. and Russian strategic warheads, be removed from "hair-trigger" alert and "launch-on-warning" to greatly reduce the possibility of a nuclear exchange initiated by an accidental missile launch, miscalculation, or early warning system error. The harsh reality is that the current status of nuclear weapons means that every day we are under the threat of nuclear incineration. This is the most irresponsible, if not criminal, policy imaginable because it holds all of us hostage to the constant threat of nuclear incineration initiated by an accidental missile launch, early warning system error, or miscalculation. There have been over 20 documented close calls to nuclear war over the years, and we have been lucky. But luck does not endure and we are running out of time. For this reason the new drive to end this utter madness is directed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT) taking place this month at the United Nations. NPT must produce action to reduce the current danger and begin the liberation of humanity from the nuclear nightmare before "Apocalypse Now." But if the conference fails this task, a new unyielding movement of concerned citizens must escalate the struggle continuously until the goal is reached. Home Page | AWC Goals | AWC Branches | Archives Resolution 2010 | Human Manifesto | AWC History United Nations | AWC Staff | Join Online Today | Worldometers Contact Us |