Not long ago, President Obama reached an agreement with the Russian Federation's Dimitri Medvedev to begin reducing the number of nuclear weapons that the U.S. and Russia hold. The cuts were modest, but they were an important first step. Both sides will reduce the number of deployed nuclear weapons by around 30%. This treaty needs a two-thirds vote in the Senate to be ratified.
The U.S. is also reviewing its policy on the use of nuclear weapons. Previously, the U.S. stated that it was willing to use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear opponents, especially if faced with an overwhelming conventional attack. In fact, the Bush administration sought to widen the permissible uses of nuclear weapons, using them against hardened targets with substantially less provocation. Now, the President seeks to declare that the U.S. will not use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear state that is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The eventual goal must be a world with zero offensive nuclear weapons. However, President Obama has taken some important first steps and I urge the Senate to follow through. Critics of these reductions are off-base: both the U.S. and Russia have more than sufficient nuclear weapons to destroy each other. Should Iran or North Korea foolishly decide to start a nuclear war with the U.S., there are sufficient weapons to annihilate each country several times over.
Articles are linked from the Washington Post, Voice of America and the Wall Street Journal.
Showing posts with label Nuclear disarmament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nuclear disarmament. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Friday, May 01, 2009
Evangelicals: Nuclear weapons are 'direct affront' to God
USA Today reports that a number of prominent evangelical ministers are calling for steps toward multilateral nuclear disarmament.
The destruction one nuclear bomb can wreak is more than horrifying, says megachurch pastor Rob Bell of Grandville, Mich. It's an insult to God.
"Nuclear weapons are a direct affront to God's dream of shalom for the world," Bell said Tuesday. "Life is beautiful, and nuclear weapons are ugly."
Bell, the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church and an up-and-coming voice among young evangelicals, has joined other evangelicals to issue an impassioned call for the elimination of nuclear weapons. The new Two Futures Project is a coalition of prominent Christians who assert that multilateral disarmament is a biblical imperative.
Christians should be in the no-nukes vanguard, Bell and others said, as they face the choice of "a world without nuclear weapons or a world ruined by them."
"We must eliminate these weapons, and we can eliminate these weapons," said Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, 31, a Baptist minister who founded the project.
"Who do we think we are to claim authority over life itself and the welfare of future generations? That power belongs to God alone."
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
McCain says US needs to step up to control nuclear threat
As reported by Marketwatch, Sen. McCain has given a speech on control of nuclear proliferation. He seems to see the need for controlling nuclear proliferation, and seems to be willing to stop American development of new nuclear weapons. Although I would not vote for him, it is refreshing to hear such words from a member of an otherwise dangerously hawkish party.
In a major foreign policy speech, Sen. John McCain on Tuesday called for more vigilance in cutting back on nuclear weapons, calling for renewed negotiations with the world’s superpowers and limiting the number of nations that are part of the nuclear club.
The presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency told an audience at the University of Denver that the U.S. needs to be more vigilant if it is to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of extremists.
“If you look back over the past two decades, I don’t think any of us, Republican or Democrat, can take much satisfaction in what we’ve accomplished to control nuclear proliferation,” McCain said in a speech that was interrupted a few times by hecklers.
McCain also took a veiled shot at his likely Democratic rival, Barack Obama, alluding to the junior senator from Illinois’s call for negotiations with Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iran is believed to be pursuing a nuclear weapons program even though that country’s leaders insist it is only trying to develop nuclear power.
“Many believe all we need to do to end the nuclear programs of hostile governments is have our president talk with leaders in Pyongyang [North Korea} and Tehran [Iran], as if we haven’t tried talking to these governments repeatedly over the past two decades,” McCain said.
McCain called for a number of steps to curb nuclear proliferation. They include:
– Ask the Joint Chiefs to do a comprehensive review of nuclear strategy and policy.
– Negotiate a new treaty with Russia to further reduce the number of weapons.
– Begin a dialogue with China on strategic and nuclear issues.
– Conduct talks with other countries to put a moratorium on testing.
– Put a hold on all new nuclear weapons, and cancel work on the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator.
While McCain called for cutbacks in nuclear arsenals, he did say that civilian nuclear energy could be an effective tool in battling global warming.
But the senator also said nuclear energy cannot be used as a segue to atomic weaponry.
“We need to build an international consensus that exposes this deception, and holds nations accountable for it,” McCain said. “We cannot continue allowing nations to enrich and reprocess uranium, ostensibly for civilian purposes, and stand by impotently as they develop weapons programs.”
– Russ Britt, MarketWatch
In a major foreign policy speech, Sen. John McCain on Tuesday called for more vigilance in cutting back on nuclear weapons, calling for renewed negotiations with the world’s superpowers and limiting the number of nations that are part of the nuclear club.
The presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency told an audience at the University of Denver that the U.S. needs to be more vigilant if it is to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of extremists.
“If you look back over the past two decades, I don’t think any of us, Republican or Democrat, can take much satisfaction in what we’ve accomplished to control nuclear proliferation,” McCain said in a speech that was interrupted a few times by hecklers.
McCain also took a veiled shot at his likely Democratic rival, Barack Obama, alluding to the junior senator from Illinois’s call for negotiations with Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iran is believed to be pursuing a nuclear weapons program even though that country’s leaders insist it is only trying to develop nuclear power.
“Many believe all we need to do to end the nuclear programs of hostile governments is have our president talk with leaders in Pyongyang [North Korea} and Tehran [Iran], as if we haven’t tried talking to these governments repeatedly over the past two decades,” McCain said.
McCain called for a number of steps to curb nuclear proliferation. They include:
– Ask the Joint Chiefs to do a comprehensive review of nuclear strategy and policy.
– Negotiate a new treaty with Russia to further reduce the number of weapons.
– Begin a dialogue with China on strategic and nuclear issues.
– Conduct talks with other countries to put a moratorium on testing.
– Put a hold on all new nuclear weapons, and cancel work on the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator.
While McCain called for cutbacks in nuclear arsenals, he did say that civilian nuclear energy could be an effective tool in battling global warming.
But the senator also said nuclear energy cannot be used as a segue to atomic weaponry.
“We need to build an international consensus that exposes this deception, and holds nations accountable for it,” McCain said. “We cannot continue allowing nations to enrich and reprocess uranium, ostensibly for civilian purposes, and stand by impotently as they develop weapons programs.”
– Russ Britt, MarketWatch
Friday, April 20, 2007
Nagasaki peace declaration
This declaration was made by the murdered mayor of Nagasaki, Iccho Itoh. He was not killed for his nuclear weapons stance; it seems a Yazuka member was enraged that the city refused to compensate him after his car was damaged at a public construction site.
“What can people possibly be thinking?”
At the close of the 61st year following the atomic bombings, voices of anger and frustration are echoing throughout the city of Nagasaki.
At 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945, a single atomic bomb destroyed our city, instantly claiming the lives of 74,000 people and injuring 75,000 more. People were burned by the intense heat rays and flung through the air by the horrific blast winds. Their bodies bathed in mordant radiation, many of the survivors continue to suffer from the after-effects even today. How can we ever forget the anguished cries of those whose lives and dreams were so cruelly taken from them?
And yet, some 30,000 nuclear weapons stand ready nonetheless to annihilate humanity.
A decade ago, the International Court of Justice stated that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law, strongly encouraging international society to strive for the elimination of nuclear armaments. Six years ago at the United Nations, the nuclear weapon states committed themselves not merely to prevent proliferation, but to an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals.
Nuclear weapons are instruments of indiscriminate genocide, and their elimination is a task that mankind must realize without fail.
Last year, the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to which 189 countries are signatories, ended without result, and no progress has been observed since.
The nuclear weapon states have not demonstrated sincerity in their efforts at disarmament; the United States of America in particular has issued tacit approval of nuclear weapons development by India, and is moving forward with the construction of cooperative arrangements for nuclear technology. At the same time, nuclear weapon declarant North Korea is threatening the peace and security of Japan and the world as a whole. In fact, the very structure of non-proliferation is facing a crisis due to nuclear ambitions by various nations including Pakistan, which has announced its possession of nuclear arms; Israel, which is widely considered to possess them; and Iran.
The time has come for those nations that rely on the force of nuclear armaments to respectfully heed the voices of peace-loving people, not least the atomic bomb survivors, to strive in good faith for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and to advance towards the complete abolishment of all such weapons.
It must also be said that nuclear weapons cannot be developed without the cooperation of scientists. We would urge scientists to realize their responsibility for the destiny of all mankind, not just for their own particular countries, and to abandon the development of nuclear arms.
Once again we call upon the Japanese government, representing as it does a nation that has experienced nuclear devastation firsthand, to ground itself in reflection upon history, uphold the peaceful intentions of the constitution, enact into the law the three non-nuclear principles, and work for establishment of a Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, that the tragedy of war may not occur again. We also urge the Japanese government to provide greater assistance to aging atomic bomb survivors, both within Japan and overseas.
For 61 years, the hibakusha atomic bomb survivors have recounted their tragic experiences to succeeding generations. Many have chosen not to hide the keloid scars on their skin, continuing to tell of things that they might rather not remember. Their efforts are indeed a starting point for peace. Their voices reverberate around the world, calling for the deepest compassion of those who are working to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place on our planet to have suffered nuclear destruction.
The 3rd Nagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons will be held in October of this year. We invite people working for peace to span generations and national boundaries, and gather together to communicate. Let us firmly join hands and foster an even stronger network for nuclear abolition and peace, extending from Nagasaki throughout the world.
We remain confident that the empathy and solidarity of all those who inherit the hopes of the hibakusha atomic bomb survivors will become an even more potent force, one that will surely serve to realize a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons.
In closing, we pray for the undisturbed repose of the souls of those who lost their lives in such misery, we resolve that 2006 should be a new year of departure, and we proclaim our commitment to continue to strive for the establishment of lasting world peace.
[Hibakusha (被爆者) is the Japanese term for the A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As of 2005, there were 266,598 survivors, some living abroad. The Nagasaki bomb killed around 70,000 people by the end of 1945, and the Hiroshima bomb killed about 140,000 by that time.]
“What can people possibly be thinking?”
At the close of the 61st year following the atomic bombings, voices of anger and frustration are echoing throughout the city of Nagasaki.
At 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945, a single atomic bomb destroyed our city, instantly claiming the lives of 74,000 people and injuring 75,000 more. People were burned by the intense heat rays and flung through the air by the horrific blast winds. Their bodies bathed in mordant radiation, many of the survivors continue to suffer from the after-effects even today. How can we ever forget the anguished cries of those whose lives and dreams were so cruelly taken from them?
And yet, some 30,000 nuclear weapons stand ready nonetheless to annihilate humanity.
A decade ago, the International Court of Justice stated that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law, strongly encouraging international society to strive for the elimination of nuclear armaments. Six years ago at the United Nations, the nuclear weapon states committed themselves not merely to prevent proliferation, but to an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals.
Nuclear weapons are instruments of indiscriminate genocide, and their elimination is a task that mankind must realize without fail.
Last year, the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to which 189 countries are signatories, ended without result, and no progress has been observed since.
The nuclear weapon states have not demonstrated sincerity in their efforts at disarmament; the United States of America in particular has issued tacit approval of nuclear weapons development by India, and is moving forward with the construction of cooperative arrangements for nuclear technology. At the same time, nuclear weapon declarant North Korea is threatening the peace and security of Japan and the world as a whole. In fact, the very structure of non-proliferation is facing a crisis due to nuclear ambitions by various nations including Pakistan, which has announced its possession of nuclear arms; Israel, which is widely considered to possess them; and Iran.
The time has come for those nations that rely on the force of nuclear armaments to respectfully heed the voices of peace-loving people, not least the atomic bomb survivors, to strive in good faith for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and to advance towards the complete abolishment of all such weapons.
It must also be said that nuclear weapons cannot be developed without the cooperation of scientists. We would urge scientists to realize their responsibility for the destiny of all mankind, not just for their own particular countries, and to abandon the development of nuclear arms.
Once again we call upon the Japanese government, representing as it does a nation that has experienced nuclear devastation firsthand, to ground itself in reflection upon history, uphold the peaceful intentions of the constitution, enact into the law the three non-nuclear principles, and work for establishment of a Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, that the tragedy of war may not occur again. We also urge the Japanese government to provide greater assistance to aging atomic bomb survivors, both within Japan and overseas.
For 61 years, the hibakusha atomic bomb survivors have recounted their tragic experiences to succeeding generations. Many have chosen not to hide the keloid scars on their skin, continuing to tell of things that they might rather not remember. Their efforts are indeed a starting point for peace. Their voices reverberate around the world, calling for the deepest compassion of those who are working to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place on our planet to have suffered nuclear destruction.
The 3rd Nagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons will be held in October of this year. We invite people working for peace to span generations and national boundaries, and gather together to communicate. Let us firmly join hands and foster an even stronger network for nuclear abolition and peace, extending from Nagasaki throughout the world.
We remain confident that the empathy and solidarity of all those who inherit the hopes of the hibakusha atomic bomb survivors will become an even more potent force, one that will surely serve to realize a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons.
In closing, we pray for the undisturbed repose of the souls of those who lost their lives in such misery, we resolve that 2006 should be a new year of departure, and we proclaim our commitment to continue to strive for the establishment of lasting world peace.
[Hibakusha (被爆者) is the Japanese term for the A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As of 2005, there were 266,598 survivors, some living abroad. The Nagasaki bomb killed around 70,000 people by the end of 1945, and the Hiroshima bomb killed about 140,000 by that time.]
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Mayor Iccho Itoh of Nagasaki
By David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Article dated Apr 18
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation mourns the death of Nagasaki Mayor Iccho Itoh, whose life was cut short by an assassin’s bullet. With this tragedy, the world has lost a great peace leader. As the three-term mayor of the last city to suffer atomic devastation, he became a leading spokesperson for a world free of nuclear weapons.
Mayor Itoh was the vice president of Mayors for Peace and a leader of their global campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons by the year 2020. The Foundation honored Mayors for Peace and the leadership of Mayor Itoh and Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba with our 2004 World Citizenship Award.
Mayor Itoh played a significant role in the three Nagasaki Global Citizens’ Assemblies held while he was mayor. The most recent of these took place in fall 2006. In his Opening Address to this Assembly, he underscored his deep commitment, and that of the people of his city, that Nagasaki “must be the last place where an atomic bomb is dropped….” He made this a major goal of his life.
Along with many of my colleagues working for the abolition of nuclear weapons, I had the pleasure and honor of knowing Mayor Itoh. He was a man with an easy smile and open manner, but one with a firm dedication to building a lasting peace. In Nagasaki, he was a gracious host to so many of us who participated in the Nagasaki Citizens’ Assemblies.
In tribute to Mayor Itoh, we have included a link below to a reprint of the Nagasaki Peace Declaration, which he delivered on August 9, 2006. I urge you to read it as the final testament and call to action by a great man. Let its words sink into your heart, particularly these words: “The time has come for those nations that rely on the force of nuclear armaments to respectfully heed the voices of peace-loving people, not least the atomic bomb survivors, to strive in good faith for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and to advance towards the complete abolishment of all such weapons.” To achieve this goal will require an active citizenry. Citizens of the nuclear weapons states, and particularly the United States, will have to lead their political leaders.
In closing his speech, he prayed for the undisturbed repose of those who lost their lives in the atomic bombings and proclaimed Nagasaki’s commitment “to continue to strive for the establishment of lasting world peace.” In honoring Mayor Itoh’s life and commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons, let us add our own commitment to this cause so critical to humanity’s future.
Article dated Apr 18
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation mourns the death of Nagasaki Mayor Iccho Itoh, whose life was cut short by an assassin’s bullet. With this tragedy, the world has lost a great peace leader. As the three-term mayor of the last city to suffer atomic devastation, he became a leading spokesperson for a world free of nuclear weapons.
Mayor Itoh was the vice president of Mayors for Peace and a leader of their global campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons by the year 2020. The Foundation honored Mayors for Peace and the leadership of Mayor Itoh and Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba with our 2004 World Citizenship Award.
Mayor Itoh played a significant role in the three Nagasaki Global Citizens’ Assemblies held while he was mayor. The most recent of these took place in fall 2006. In his Opening Address to this Assembly, he underscored his deep commitment, and that of the people of his city, that Nagasaki “must be the last place where an atomic bomb is dropped….” He made this a major goal of his life.
Along with many of my colleagues working for the abolition of nuclear weapons, I had the pleasure and honor of knowing Mayor Itoh. He was a man with an easy smile and open manner, but one with a firm dedication to building a lasting peace. In Nagasaki, he was a gracious host to so many of us who participated in the Nagasaki Citizens’ Assemblies.
In tribute to Mayor Itoh, we have included a link below to a reprint of the Nagasaki Peace Declaration, which he delivered on August 9, 2006. I urge you to read it as the final testament and call to action by a great man. Let its words sink into your heart, particularly these words: “The time has come for those nations that rely on the force of nuclear armaments to respectfully heed the voices of peace-loving people, not least the atomic bomb survivors, to strive in good faith for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and to advance towards the complete abolishment of all such weapons.” To achieve this goal will require an active citizenry. Citizens of the nuclear weapons states, and particularly the United States, will have to lead their political leaders.
In closing his speech, he prayed for the undisturbed repose of those who lost their lives in the atomic bombings and proclaimed Nagasaki’s commitment “to continue to strive for the establishment of lasting world peace.” In honoring Mayor Itoh’s life and commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons, let us add our own commitment to this cause so critical to humanity’s future.
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