OMNI
NUCLEAR WEAPONS ABOLITION NEWSLETTER #27, JULY 31, 2021.
ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
UN Treatyon the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology
(#25, April 2, 2021; #26, June 13, 2021)
Urge federal, state, and local legislators to sign the US version of ICAN pledge: www.NuclearBan.US/ICANpledge.
Urge legislators to co-sponsor NORTON HR 2850: www.nuclearban.us/join-the-campaign.
Please contact our Senators.
Suggested reading: Disarming the Nuclear Argument by Tommon Wallis: www.DisarmingArguments.com
Short videos: “the world has spoken” www.youtube.com/watch?y--MiyTKluApRQ
And join OMNI's protests of UAF nuclear weapons research intersection of Razorback Road and MLKJr. Blvd. Let the public know Arkies know about the nuclear danger. Contact Abel Tomlinson. Watch for announcements. Dick
Contents Nuclear Weapons Abolition Newsletter #27
RESISTANCE:the new UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons TPNW.
Organizations
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolence v. Trident Subs
Nukewatch Quarterly
Fight for Civil Rights = Fight for World Peace
Nuclear Nations in Conflict: Kashmir
Biden Administration: Tell Biden No New Nukes
Behind the Biden Ad’s $100 Billion Missile System
Trump Dangers Continue
TEXTS
RESISTANCE
US Anti-Nuclear Weapons Organizations (notes by Dick)
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action at Poulsbo, WA, maintains a daily presence against the Trident submarine base nearby and publishes a monthly magazine against nuclear weapons.
GROUND ZERO (JULY 2021) selections:
Civil Resistance: Road Block.
Eiger and Milner, “Five Activists Cited at Mother’s Day Action: ‘The nuke’s days are numbered.’ Pp. 1-2. Photo of GZ members blocking the road to the nuclear subs displaying the banner “Trident Threatens All Life on Earth.” Mother’s Day for Peace was started by Julia Ward Howe in 1872. Hopes are higher from the new UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons TPNW.
Two-Week WalkCalling the Public to Protest Nuclear Weapons and Celebrate the Treaty.
Rev. Senji Kanaeda, “2021 Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk. ‘The Time Has Come to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.’” July 23 – August 9 from Eugene, OR, to Poulsbo.
Protest Pentagon’s Annual Weapons Fair
Milner, “Peace Fleet Marks 20 Years of Protesting Seafair’s Militarism.” Protesting the US Navy and Air Force annual promotion of war ships and planes.
New Bookby Member of GZ
Zelter, Angie. ACTIVISM FOR LIFE: “Wake Up, the World is Dying,” Now Do Something About It. Rev. Leonard Eiger, “Angie Zelter’s New Memoir Activism for Life.” Ground Zero (July 2021). https://www.gzcenter.org
Plus five more articles and a poem.
NUKEWATCHNUKEWATCH QUARTERLY (SUMMER 2021).
Our several excellent anti-nuclear weapons organizations and their publications make it possible for every citizen who desires nuclear peace to be well-informed. One of these is Nukewatch,a project of the Progressive Foundation, cofounded in 1979 by Samuel Day, Jr. They publish Nukewatch Quarterly.
Typically the magazine covers all aspects of nuclear weapons and power. For example, p. 1 articles on Fukushima waste water and uranium mine cleanup on Navajo lands. Particularly interesting to me are the articles on the new Treaty banning nuclear weapons, a public debate between two British submarine commanders regarding legality of nuclear attack orders, opposition to US missile defense program amid millions spent lobbying by contractors, weapons wastes storage in NM, and the “No First Use” debate.
NUKEWATCH QUARTERLY (SPRING 2021)
Page One features 2 articles, one of weapons, the other on energy:
Kelly Lundeen, “Demonstrations Mark Arrival of Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty.” A coalition of Nukewatch, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, and editors of the Nuclear Resister had prepared “100 actions in the US…and 200 actions around the world.” One action was a demonstration at Honeywell Aerospace in Minnesota.
The second article is “Fukushima at Ten: Aftershocks and Failed Decontamination” by John LaForge, an update on recent news and analysis.
Page Two has equally important articles:
The first by former Canadian Senator Douglas Roche that “deftly skewers the absurdities of the official opposition to the new Treaty” (editors). Roche’s latest book is Recovery: Peace Prospects in the Biden Era.
The other is an editorial by LaRoche, “Nuclear Weapons Treaty Ban Needs Bold Advocacy.” We have the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Now we the people must confront “the establishment’s ongoing preparations for nuclear war.” (As we must also with the climate catastrophe and our leaders’ perpetuation of the fossil fueled system, which with equal urgency must be confronted now—or really ten years ago. –D)
I hope in the future to tell about the rest of Spring NQ and other recent numbers.
NUKEWATCH QUARTERLY (WINTER 2020)
Here is the text of their page one report of the UN’s Treaty banning nuclear weapons, a copy of a letter from John LaForge, and myfew notes on several recent numbers.
NUKEWATCH QUARTERLY (SUMMER 2020)
News & Information on Nuclear Weapons, Power, Waste, & Nonviolent Resistance.
A publication of the Progressive Foundation, which also publishes the equally excellent The Progressive Magazine.
P. 1, “First US Citizen Convicted for Protests at Nuclear Weapons Base in Germany” by John LaForge (CounterPunch, 5-26-2020). Dennis DuVall, VfP member from Arizona, now living in Dresden. Co-Director John LaForge covers the world with his well-informed and incisive articles—eight in this number alone. E.g., “First US Citizen Convicted for Protests at Nuclear Weapons Base in Germany.” US citizen Dennis DuVall (VFP from Arizona) is “focused on international treaty law that forbids any planning and preparation of mass destruction,” citing also the Nuremberg Charter and Principles establishing individual responsibility for violations of laws of war.
P. 2 “Supporting the UN Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons” by Steve McKeown, all about the hundreds of organizations working to advance the Treaty. Accompanied by a map of the 37 countries that had ratified the Treaty. 50 countries will place the Treaty into force. [That was accomplished and the Treaty entered into force January 22, 2021.]
P. 4 “Gone Viral” by John Heid recounts Fr. Daniel Berrigan fleeing from the police as he continued to demonstrate, burn draft card files, and write against the Vietnam War. During that time he also wrote America Is Hard to Find: Notes from the Underground and Letters from Danbury Prison(1972). Heid applies lessons Berrigan learned during the VN War (while the populace was fretting over the war, the leaders built up the nuclear arsenal) to the Covid-19 pandemic (while the people were focused on the virus, Raytheon Missiles and Defense was given a multi-billion dollar contract to develop a new generation of missiles). The pandemic and nuclear weapons proliferation have comparisons. (I heartily recommend this succinct but penetrating analysis.—D)
P. 4 (NQ also reports on nuclear power): Elena Hight, “Radioactive Fracking Waste Under a Weakened EPA.” I count a total of 10 items on nuclear power in this number of NQ, mostly on radioactive waste.
RESISTANCE
Vincent Intondi. Reflections on [Ending ] Injustice, Racism, and [Abolishing] the Bomb. [The fight for civil rights and the struggle for world peace are the same. Other equally urgent issues should be connected too, as the Green New Dealers know.--D]
ARMS CONTROL TODAY
https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2020-07/features/reflections-injustice-racism-bomb
July/August 2020
. . . . [The author’s visit to Hiroshima changed him.]
But I could not forget what I learned, who I met, or how I felt in Hiroshima. Regardless if I was fighting for civil rights; against the inequities perpetuated by the World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund; for justice for the indigenous people of Chiapas, Mexico; or to stop the U.S. war in Iraq, I kept coming back to one thought: What does any of this matter if we were all dead from nuclear war?
To me, it was simple. These were not separate issues. Jobs, racial equality, climate change, war, class, gender, and nuclear weapons were all connected and part of the same fight: universal human rights, with the most important human right being the freedom to live…live free from the fear of nuclear war.
Of course, this thinking is not new. Contrary to the narrative that nuclear disarmament has been and remains a “white” issue, since 1945, the anti-nuclear movement has included diverse voices who saw the value in connecting all of these issues. Moreover, the nuclear disarmament movement has been most successful when it left room for diverse voices and combined the nuclear issue with social justice.
The movement to abolish nuclear weapons began even before the first bomb was dropped. Among the earliest critics of nuclear weapons were the atomic scientists, members of the Roman Catholic Church, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and many in the Black community. Specifically, regarding African Americans, for some, nuclear weapons were directly linked to racism.
Many African Americans agreed with Langston Hughes’ assertion that racism was at the heart of President Harry Truman’s decision to use nuclear weapons in Japan. Why did the United States not drop atomic bombs on Italy or Germany, Hughes asked. The Black community’s fear that race played a role in the decision to use nuclear weapons only increased when the U.S. leaders threatened to use nuclear weapons in Korea in the 1950s1 and Vietnam a decade later. For others, the nuclear issue was connected to colonialism. From the United States obtaining uranium from Belgian-controlled Congo to the French testing a nuclear weapon in the Sahara, activists saw a direct link between those who possessed nuclear weapons and those who colonized the nonwhite world. For many ordinary citizens, Black and white, however, fighting for nuclear disarmament simply meant escaping the fear of mutually assured nuclear destruction and moving toward a more peaceful world.
Today, many people love to quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., especially his “I Have a Dream” speech, while also ignoring the full title and focus of the march: “Jobs and Freedom.” Throughout his life, King made the connections of what he called the “triple evils” of capitalism, racism, and militarism.
Civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, shown here in 1964, combined domestic activism with international, including a trip to protest French nuclear testing in Africa. (Photo: Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
King was not alone among civil rights activists in making these connections. To put it in today’s context, to singer, actor, and activist Paul Robeson, “Black Lives Matter” meant not only speaking out about racism in the United States but also highlighting where the United States obtained its material to build nuclear weapons. To W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Lives Matter meant not only forming the NAACP or writing Souls of Black Folk, but also getting millions to sign the “Ban the Bomb” pledge to stop another Hiroshima in Korea. To civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, Black Lives Matter meant not only organizing the March on Washington but also traveling to Ghana to stop France from testing its first nuclear weapon in Africa. To Lorraine Hansberry, Black Lives Matter meant not only A Raisin in the Sun, but Les Blancs, her last play, about nuclear abolition. To Representative Ronald Dellums (D-Calif.), Black Lives Matter meant not only bringing jobs and education to Oakland, California, but also making sure President Ronald Reagan did not build the MX missile.
The prominent Black writer James Baldwin put it best on April 1, 1961, when he addressed a large group of peace activists at Judiciary Square in Washington. Baldwin was one of the headlining speakers for the rally, titled “Security Through World Disarmament.”
When asked why he chose to speak at such an event, Baldwin responded, “What am I doing here? Only those who would fail to see the relationship between the fight for civil rights and the struggle for world peace would be surprised to see me. Both fights are the same. It is just as difficult for the white American to think of peace as it is of no color.… Confrontation of both dilemmas demands inner courage.” Baldwin considered both problems in the same breath because “racial hatred and the atom bomb both threaten the destruction of man as created free by God.”
The power of diversity in the nuclear disarmament movement was perhaps most evident in the 1980s. With Reagan’s rhetoric of a “winnable nuclear war” and massive budget increases for nuclear weapons while cutting social programs that hurt the most vulnerable, the anti-nuclear movement grew exponentially. The nuclear freeze movement emerged.
New groups such as the Women’s Actions for Nuclear Disarmament, Feminists Insist on a Safe Tomorrow, Performers and Artists for Nuclear Disarmament, Dancers for Disarmament, and Athletes United for Peace formed. Established organizations such as Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, the Union for Concerned Scientists, and Physicians for Social Responsibility all saw their membership skyrocket.2
For some, ending the nuclear arms race was and still is linked to their religious faith. Others saw a direct link between the amount of money being spent on nuclear weapons and eliminating badly needed social programs that benefited the poor. Many viewed and still view nuclear weapons as part of the overall military industrial complex, which included U.S. intervention in Central America and the Middle East, while for others, there was a genuine fear that the United States and Soviet Union would start a nuclear war.
This new sense of awareness, fear, and action culminated in the June 12, 1982, demonstration in New York’s Central Park, in which 1 million people of different races, genders, class, and religions marched and rallied for nuclear disarmament. As Randall Forsberg, one of the principal authors of the proposal for a nuclear weapons freeze, said in her speech to the throngs that day, “Until the arms race stops, until we have a world with peace and justice, we will not go home and be quiet. We will go home and organize.”
The rally, combined with other actions of the 1980s, contributed to the Reagan administration changing course on nuclear weapons, effectively showed the power of grassroots organizing, challenged the idea that the movement was not diverse, and paved the way for a new generation of activists committed to saving the world from nuclear annihilation.
[How can we abolish nuclear weapons?The traditional methods remain best, but require full commitment by the majority of citizens. –D] The questions that we must ask ourselves today are how have we avoided nuclear war for the last 75 years and how can we sustain the popular support and awareness that is necessary to move policymakers to take the steps necessary to reduce and eliminate nuclear dangers. The answers: good luck and good organizing. There is nothing we can do about luck, except hope it is on our side. But by learning from the past, it is clear that there is much we can do as organizers, advocates, lobbyists, artists, writers, teachers, and just concerned citizens.
We need to make connections. Our power is in our diversity. The anti-nuclear movement needs to continue to reach out to marginalized communities and show the links between that amount of money spent on nuclear weapons and how those funds could be used for food, health care, jobs, housing, and education. Whether it is connecting with the religious, immigrant, LGBTQ, or Black communities, half the battle is showing up.
We need education.Far too many students go through their entire education, including college, without ever learning about the history of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the greater nuclear threat that has persisted since 1945. We must demand that curriculums across the country dedicate more time to the nuclear arms race and the movement to stop nuclear war. This means being involved on school boards and curriculum committees and creating the materials that we can distribute and incorporate into the various school systems.
We need artists. Part of the reason the nuclear issue resonated in the 1980s was because performers such as Jackson Browne, Rita Marley, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Gil Scott-Heron, Harry Belafonte, and Linda Ronstadt, as well as various Hollywood and Broadway stars, performed, raised money, and lent their voices to the cause. We saw the power of this action when President Barack Obama was pushing the Iran nuclear deal.
We need filmmakers. One of the most successful strategies of the anti-nuclear movement in the 1980s was to create “The Day After.” Viewed by millions, this film, along with Helen Caldicott’s relentless pursuit of making sure the world knew the human effects of nuclear weapons, shook ordinary citizens to their core. We can and must replicate these actions to drive home the uncomfortable fact that nuclear weapons are a threat to everyone, everywhere.
We need to hold politicians accountable. Currently, we have a president who has threatened repeatedly to use nuclear weapons, has no problem spending billions on the nuclear arsenal, and may even want to resume nuclear testing. Moreover, we have local, state, and federal politicians who support the president’s decisions and are complicit in the march to nuclear competition and the perpetuation of the oppression imposed by the threat of nuclear weapons use. Whenever we have an opportunity to back a politician who fights for nuclear disarmament, we need to do so. We need to demand from our elected officials that they work toward the goal of nuclear abolition and indeed have some of our organizers within the movement run for office themselves. Of course, we need to vote.
We need to support the anti-nuclear movement and help it evolve. Much like new organizations that emerged in the 1980s, over the last decade we have seen groups such as Global Zero, Beyond the Bomb, and Don’t Bank on the Bomb and global disarmament networks such as the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons emerge. From the start, these groups have promoted intersectionality and made the connections among race, climate, feminism, and poverty in the fight to abolish nuclear weapons, not just in the United States but worldwide. In many cases, dynamic women have led this new movement. They are younger, with fresh ideas; savvy; and motivated. Whether one is in favor of working toward a no-first-use policy or a formal ban on nuclear weapons through negotiations at the United Nations, these organizers need our support, money, time, and respect.
With all this said, I cannot lie. I am saddened as I write this. Every five years on the anniversary of the first atomic bombings, the demand for my work seems to increase. Although I am thankful that I have the opportunity to write and speak about racism and nuclear weapons, this also means both are still with us.
Part of the problem is that we cannot wait until an anniversary of the atomic bombing or the release of another video of an unarmed person of color being murdered by police forces to talk about these issues.
Yet, I also remain hopeful. I find hope in the work of long-established groups such as the Arms Control Association, Ploughshares Fund, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and others. I find hope in younger anti-nuclear activists and the movement around the world to formally ban the bomb. I find hope in seeing so many in the streets demanding racial justice and refusing to remain silent in the face of hate, racism, and bigotry. But mostly, I remain hopeful that there will come a time, perhaps on another anniversary of Hiroshima, when I will be asked to write about the past when nuclear weapons and institutional racism once existed and were finally dismantled. Until that day, the fight continues, and we march on.
NUCLEAR NATIONS: KASHMIR
NOT JUST NO NEW NUCLEAR NATIONS: NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS
There’re NK and SK, Russia and the West, China, Israel, and USA THE ACTIVE BOMBER!
PAKISTAN/INDIA DANGER: Perpetual Fighting over Kashmir.
“Four Indians Die in Kashmir Clash.” NADG (6-14-18). Each side said the other initiated the attack.
! KASHMIR
Frequent Border War Between Two Nuclear Nations. Compare to the border conflicts and incursions by N. and S. Korea which eventuated in one going too far and full-scale war ensued. But India-Pakistan border conflict could destroy civilization. --Dick
“Battles in Kashmir Kill Nine People.” Google Search, 1-16-18
Nine killed in held Kashmir on India's Independence Day - Newspaper ...
www.dawn.com › Newspaper › Back Page
Aug 16, 2016 - SRINAGAR: Nine people, among them a 16-year-old protester and a police commander, lost their lives on Monday as clashes and gun battles raged across the disputed region on India's Independence Day. The teenage boy was shot dead late on Monday following clashes between Indian forces and ...
Two LeT militants killed in Kashmir gun battle, Indian forces claim
https://nation.com.pk/.../two-let-militants-killed-in-kashmir-gun-battle-indian-forces-c...
Jul 1, 2017 - Indian security forces claim to have shot dead a top Kashmiri militant who was accused ofkilling six police officers during a seven-hour gun battle in the. ... Anti-India sentiment runs deep among the region's mostly Muslim population and most people support the militant's cause against Indian rule despite a ...
Rebels storm Indian paramilitary camp in Kashmir; 8 dead
www.tampabay.com/rebels-storm-indian-paramilitary-camp-in-kashmir--dead-ap_wo...
Dec 31, 2017 - Officials say five Indian soldiers and three suspected militants were killed after rebels stormed a paramilitary camp in disputed Kashmir. ... Rebels storm Indian paramilitary camp in Kashmir; 8 dead. In this Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018 photo provided by China's Ministry of Transport ...
APA - Gun battle in Jammu Kashmir kills 3
en.apa.az/world-news/asia-news/gun-battle-in-jammu-kashmir-kills-3.html
Jan 8, 2018 - Three militants were killed on Monday in a gun battle with the Indian Armed Forces in disputed Jammu Kashmir, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency. According to police officials in the region ... More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989. India maintains more than half a ...
India, Pakistan Trade Gunfire and Blame in Kashmir; 4 Killed - The ...
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/01/15/world/asia/ap-as-kashmir-fighting.html
1 day ago [Jan. 15, 2018] - Four Pakistani soldiers were killed Monday after Indian and Pakistani soldiers traded gunfire in the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir, leading both of the ... Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the region, and most people support the rebels' cause against Indian rule while also participating in civilian street ...
Kashmir border violence kills nine | Daily Mail Online
www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article.../Kashmir-border-violence-kills-nine.html
1 day ago [Jan. 15] - At least nine people including four Pakistani soldiers were killed in fighting in disputed Kashmir on Monday, India and Pakistan said.The Pakistani army said...
Kashmir border violence kills nine | News24
https://www.news24.com/World/News/kashmir-border-violence-kills-nine-20180115
At least nine people including four Pakistani soldiers were killed in fighting in disputed Kashmir, India and Pakistan say. ... Kashmir border violence kills nine. 2018-01-15 22:36. Kashmiri protesters throw stones toward Indian policemen during a clash near the site of a gun-battle in Chadoora south ofSrinagar, ...
TELL THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
NO NEW NUKES
From: Amy Frame<info@winwithoutwar.org>
WIN WITHOUT WAR
Date: Fri, Mar 12, 2021 at 11:17 AM
Subject: The Navy doesn’t need new nukes
To: Dick Bennett <j.dick.bennett@gmail.com>
Dick — The U.S. Navy is pushing ahead with building a Trump-initiated, completely unnecessary new ship-based nuclear weapon. It’s a nuke *four* previous administrations, starting with Pres. George H.W. Bush, were happy to keep locked away in storage. Pres. Obama actually retired this nuclear weapon entirely — because we ALREADY have thousands of nukes deployed on submarines, fighter jets, and heavy bombers. In fact, experts say not only is this a colossal waste of money that accelerates a global nuclear arms race, it also sets the stage for a catastrophe by putting nukes on ships alongside non-nuclear missiles.
Congress can — and must — stop this nuke in its tracks. Representative Joe Courtney, chair of the House Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee, and Senator Chris Van Hollen agree. That’s why they’ve introduced a bill to cut off funding before this disaster-in-waiting goes any further.Will you take two minutes to write and ask Rep. Womack and Sens. Boozman and Cotton to add their names as cosponsors and cut funding for this completely unnecessary new Navy nuke?
Over the last four years, Trump and Congress accelerated a new nuclear arms race. They approved SO many nuclear weapons projects that current estimates are that the United States will spend $2 TRILLION on the nuclear arsenal in the coming decades.
But if we succeed in cutting off funding for these completely unnecessary destabilizing new nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missiles (SLCMs) we’ll stop this Trump pet project from ever getting off the ground and send an unequivocal signal around the world that we want this new nuclear arms race slowed to a stop.
But the timing is tight.
The Navy is preparing to start work next year, so we’ve got to cut off the funding NOW and stall the work. And we do that by working to urge as many members of Congress to cosponsor Rep. Courtney and Sen. Van Hollen’s bill.
Getting enough support now in Congress will give us a better chance that President Biden cancels this program before his budget request to Congress is released in May.
Thank you for working for peace,
Amy, Shayna, Erica and the Win Without War team
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© Win Without War 2020
1 Thomas Circle NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005
What’s Behind the Biden Administration’s New $100 Billion Nuclear Missile System?
| 2:53 PM (3 minutes ago) |
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TRUMP DANGERS Published on Friday, January 05, 2018 By 35 Peace Groups Demand Congress Protect Public From Nuclear 'Bomb Threat' TrumpPresident's "bellicose rhetoric and reckless actions pose a clear and present danger to national security," groups tell lawmakers. By Nearly three dozen grassroots organizations on Friday demanded that members of Congress do their jobs and put a leash on nuclear "bomb threat" President Donald Trump. In an open letter (pdf) to lawmakers, they write that the president's "bellicose rhetoric and reckless actions pose a clear and present danger to national security." "Time and time again, Trump has proven just how dangerous it is for him to have thousands of nuclear weapons at his fingertips. He doesn't believe in science and doesn't consult experts," the progressive groups, including Greenpeace USA, Indivisible, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Ultraviolet, and Veterans for Peace, write. "There's no better example of the unique danger Trump poses than the unfolding crisis with North Korea, where his cavalier attitude towards nuclear war puts the whole world at risk." That attitude was put on display late Tuesday when Trump boastfully tweeted about the size and power of his "nuclear button"—a tweet the groups characterized as a "schoolyard taunt" directed at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump has threatened the nation numerous times since taking office, including saying he would hit North Korea "with fire, fury, and frankly power the likes of which the world has never seen before." In their letter, the groups point to two specific pieces of legislation the lawmakers should back to put a check on Trump's power to launch a nuclear war—the "No First Use" bill introduced by Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash. ) and the bicameral "Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act" introduced by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). "Congress has the ability to rein in this world-ending power, but has mostly chosen to sit on the sidelines," the letter states. "This abdication of responsibility cannot continue." It concludes: "The majority of Americans agree: Trump is a bomb threat. It's time you do something to stop him." Published on Tuesday, December 19, 2017 By Trump National Security Strategy Could 'Create More Pathways to Nuclear War,' Critics Warnhttps://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/12/19/trump-national-security-strategy-could-create-more-pathways-nuclear-war-critics-warnWhite House's newly unveiled National Security Strategy lays bare the president's "obsession with nuclear weapons," an anti-nuke group warned By Viewed by critics as further evidence that President Donald Trump is "obsessed with nuclear weapons and creating the conditions for nuclear war," the White House's newly unveiled National Security Strategy (NSS) lionizes America's nukes as the "foundation" of its security policy and suggests they could be deployed even in the case of non-nuclear threats. "Nuclear weapons have served a vital purpose in America's National Security Strategy for the past 70 years," states Trump's NSS document (pdf), made public on Monday. "While nuclear deterrence strategies cannot prevent all conflict, they are essential to prevent nuclear attack, non-nuclear strategic attacks, and large-scale conventional aggression." The policy statement goes on to lament the decline of "investments in our nuclear enterprise" and the "reduced...role of nuclear weapons" following the end of the Cold War and argued that "significant investment is needed to maintain a U.S. nuclear arsenal and infrastructure that is able to meet national security threats over the coming decades." Commenting on the Trump NSS in an interview with the Guardian the director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists, Hans Kristensen, noted that Trump's "broadening of the nuclear weapons mission against non-nuclear attacks" represents a departure from the stated policies of previous administrations and concluded that it raises a monumental question: "are we creating more pathways to potential nuclear war?" Trump's NSS was released as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea continue to soar. As Common Dreams reported earlier this month, the U.S. flew a B-1B supersonic bomber over the Korean Peninsula as part of war exercises that North Korea denounced as a simulation of "all-out war." Given Trump's expressed affinity for America's nuclear arsenal, it is not entirely surprising that his administration's security strategy would place it at the center of attention. NBC reported in October that Trump surprised even military leaders during a meeting over the summer by calling for "what amounted to a nearly tenfold increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal." Trump later denied requesting such a build-up. In the face of Trump's erratic behavior and his propensity for floating threats of "fire and fury" against official adversaries, members of Congress last month held the first hearing in decades on the president's authority to launch nuclear weapons. "There may be plans in place, right now, at the White House, to launch a preemptive war with North Korea using nuclear weapons—without consulting Congress," warned Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). "No one human being should ever have the power." THE BOMB: FOLLOWERS OF A LOSING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ALMOST CAPTURED THE CODE “Nuclear Football,” VP Pence, and the Insurrection [and Nuclear Bomb “Broken Arrows”] Trump insurgents came within seconds of capturing 'nuclear football' on Jan. 6 Mark Sumner, Daily Kos Staff Wednesday July 21, 2021 · 8:21 AM CDT
A military aide follows Mike Pence down the stairs on Jan. 6. During Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, video footage of events on Jan. 6 revealed just how close Mike Pence came to falling into the hands of the people who were chanting for his execution. Fourteen minutes after the mob of Trump supporters first breached the Capitol, Secret Service agents led Pence from the Senate chamber and down a flight of stairs. He entered that stairwell just seconds ahead of the arrival of insurgents, some of whom were carrying rope or zip ties. Had those insurgents not been delayed through the actions of Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, they could easily have been there to capture Pence and take him to the gallows waiting on the lawn outside. . . . [An] aide was carrying a small satchel, and inside that satchel was a book listing the locations of classified military sites, a description of how to activate and use the Emergency Broadcast System, a “black book” of pre-planned military actions, and a small card that contains the codes necessary to authorize a nuclear strike. That aide was with Pence at the top of the stairs in the video that was shown during the Senate trial. The Jan. 6 insurgents didn’t just almost get Mike Pence. They almost got the backup copy of the president’s Emergency Satchel. Better known as the “nuclear football.” As Reuters reports, concern over how close the satchel came to being captured by the Trump horde is calling for a review of just how the vital information is carried and secured. Some form of the football goes back to President Dwight Eisenhower, but it was concerns from President John Kennedy that created the system that’s still followed today. Both the president and vice president are closely pursued by aides who have the current information necessary to respond if the nation were to fall under sudden attack. Following the events of Jan. 6, in which one of the footballs almost went into the hands of insurgents calling for the overthrow of the elected government, there’s a concern that this 60-year-old program may be due for some review. This wasn’t the only occasion in the last four years in which the vital information came under threat. An aide carrying the information on a trip to China got into what was described as a “tussle” with a Chinese official while Trump was having lunch with Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. That situation apparently required then chief of staff John Kelly to get into a “physical altercation” to secure the satchel. Neither situation is particularly reassuring. Exactly what the Trump mob might have done with the satchel had they taken it and opened it isn’t clear. There are procedures for changing the authorizations codes in the case a football is lost or stolen. However, the book of secure sites and the book of military actions—primarily military actions that the U.S. intends to take in case of an attack on the nation—are extremely sensitive and any data released from those sources could cause serious damage to national security. Had that information been captured, it would have been considered compromised even if the military wasn’t aware of any leaks of the contents. Just what changes are being considered to better secure the information are not clear. But just as a start, securing the Capitol against future assaults by ravening mobs of Trump supporters out for blood is a good first step. [A more urgent matter is that since 1950, there have been 32 nuclear weapon accidents, known as Broken Arrows. And the Jan 6 attempted takeover of the Capitol was no accident, but was incited by the losing candidate for president. Our only safety lies in the abolition of weapons of mass destruction. –D]. | ||||||
CONTENTS #26, June 13, 2021
https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2021/06/nuclear-weapons-abolition-newsletter-26.html
Contact Abel Tomlinson
PEACE ACTION PANELS FOR LEGISLATION
Inside the ICBM Lobby
Biden’s New $100 Billion Nuclear Missile Plan
Celebrate Ellsberg
Demonstrate with Ground Zero and Remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Russia’s Nuclear Weapons
Despite Treaty, US and Russia, and Now UK Increasing Weapons
Space Alert! (Winter-Spring 2021)
Galtung’s 10 Proposals for Ending Nuclear Arms: Will the World Listen Now?
END NUCLEAR WEAPONS ABOLITION NEWSLETTER #27