Largest Peace Group: Biden Speech Right Direction on Nukes, But Funding Weapon Upgrades Wrong
For Immediate Release: February 18, 2010
Largest Peace Group: Biden Speech Right Direction on Nukes, But Funding Weapon Upgrades Wrong
Washington, DC — In response to today’s speech on nuclear weapons by Vice President Biden at the National Defense University in Washington, DC, Peace Action’s — a group founded in 1957 to abolish nuclear weapons and the largest grassroots peace organization — policy director, Paul Kawika Martin, stated the following after attending the speech:
“Peace Action applauds the Obama Administration’s vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. In his speech, Vice President Biden rightly focused on negotiating and ratifying a new START treaty, ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), increasing funding to secure nuclear weapons and moving towards a treaty to ban fissile materials.
“Despite independent analysis that the U.S. stockpile is secure and reliable, Biden wrongly stated the need to ‘modernize’ nuclear weapons facilities. Instead of spending $7 billion on facilities to upgrade nuclear weapons, that money would be more wisely spent on increasing the rate of dismantling the U.S. stockpile. Less nuclear weapons makes Americans safer and sends the right message to the rest of the world.
“We hope the President takes advantage of the upcoming nuclear security summit and the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review conference to start negotiating an international agreement to finally rid the world of nuclear weapons. Tens of thousands of people from around the world will be at the NPT call for just that.”
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Founded in 1957, Peace Action (formerly SANE/Freeze), the United States’ largest peace and disarmament organization, with over 100,000 paid members and nearly 100 chapters in 34 states, works to abolish nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights and support nonmilitary solutions to the conflicts with Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. The public may learn more and take action at http://www.Peace-Action.org. For more up-to-date peace insider information, follow Peace Action’s political director on Twitter. http://twitter.com/PaulKawika
PLEASE,PLEASE
There are two laws in play here. One, the law of un-intended consequences and two, Murphy’s Law which states if an error can be made, it will be made.
With nuclear proliferation no one wins. Don’t believe me…look at Chernobyl, Three Mile Island , Nagasaki or Hiroshima
Increasing nuclear weapons, selling weapons to foreign countries and increased spending for aircraft that will only sit idle in places like Tuscon Arizona is not the way to bring peace to this world. We need strong action to implement alternatives. This e-mail is the most comprehensive and easy to read as any I have received. I receive many e-mails from Progessive sites( and they are all good), but this is the best. I am a member of the Idaho Peace Coalition.
Already sent
Does the Obama administration have a vision of a world free of nuclear weapons? Or is this just another example of the disjunct between what it says and what it does?
Is the large increase in the budget for nuclear weapons, including a huge increase for Los Alamos lab (biggest increase in 65 years), compatible with such a vision? Los Alamos is among other things a powerful institutional force for perpetuation of the development of nuclear weapons, and for keeping them deployed on high alert.
Is there anything to suggest that the “deep nuclear reductions” Biden speaks of will leave United States forces with anything less than unimaginable overkill? That is, intercontinental missiles, remaining on high alert, with the explosive power equal to thousands of Hiroshima bombs.
And as Biden gives lip service to nonproliferation, the Administration cranks up fear about the nuclear program of Iran, which is in compliance with the nonproliferation treaty, while the United States does not live up to its obligations to SIGNIFICANTLY draw down its own weapons, and while it gives military, financial, and diplomatic support to Israel, a nuclear outlaw.
There is almost always a gap between the lofty pronouncements of leaders and the realpolitik that underlies their acts. “War is peace,” Orwell wrote. And Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels said this: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Here is what Joe Biden said yesterday: Investment in the nuclear infrastructure “is not only consistent with our nonproliferation agenda, it is essential to it.”
Investment in the nuclear infrastructure is certainly consistent with the military policy of the United States to seek “full spectrum dominance” on a global scale.
Nukes are the most dangeroud weapons USA broke it nuke treaty and supplied nukes to Pakistan as well as a complete nuke plant flow over India ro reach Palistan, Pakistan helped Saudis to build a nuke plant. In fact Pakistan opened a nuke Bazar in Karachi.North Korea is also a nuke nation. The list of nations with nukes ned to set up a conferance to solve the issue of nukes in the hands of dangerous nations.
There are far too many nukes in the hands of dangerous nations. Its time for USA and all other nations with nukes hold a conference on how to remove these nukes from our precious planet Earth
Mr. Vice President, I hope you will do all in your power to continue to dismantle the US nuclear stockpile. These weapons are not a deterrent to our enemies, who are no longer nation-states, but terrorist groups and individuals. If we continue to ‘upgrade’ our nuclear arsenal, the message to the world will be at best ambiguous, and at worst, a signal to do the same. Please re-think this decision. Thank you. Marcia Sichol (author, The Making of a Nuclear Peace, Georgetown Univ. Press)
No Nukes are Good News!
As one semi-literate immigrant of our United States expressed his love for his new country: “Uppa USS’A Your Honor!!