[E-rundbrief] Info 1702 - Global Zero_No nuclear weapons

Matthias Reichl info at begegnungszentrum.at
Di Jan 30 22:28:13 CET 2018


E-Rundbrief - Info 1702 - Bruce Blair, Global Zero (USA): The Doomsday 
Clock is at 2 minutes to midnight... preventing the use of nuclear 
weapons.

Bad Ischl, 30.1.2018

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

================================================

The Doomsday Clock is at 2 minutes to midnight. That’s the closest to 
midnight it’s been since the height of the Cold War. This development 
is a reminder that the top priority of the United States must be 
preventing the use of nuclear weapons.

Unfortunately, the White House has chosen to go in a different 
direction. A draft of the Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture 
Review, which lays out the administration’s vision for the future of 
the U.S. nuclear force, leaked earlier this month. The plan calls for 
expanding the role of nuclear weapons, the size of the U.S. nuclear 
arsenal, and the situations that would trigger a nuclear response.

Trump’s wizards of Armageddon have uprooted a nuclear taboo, declaring 
a newfound readiness to use nuclear weapons first and early in a 
confrontation. In a departure from previous presidents, Trump expands 
the circumstances in which nuclear weapons could be used to include as 
a response to “significant non-nuclear strategic attacks,” such as 
attacks on “civilian population or infrastructure.” The purported 
reason is to deter adversaries, specifically Russia, by indicating 
U.S. willingness to use nuclear weapons first and early.

To that end, the Trump administration calls for new, more usable 
nuclear weapons. These weapons are a boondoggle: the review provides 
no evidence that the new weapons are needed or that they will actually 
work to deter Russia. The plan is needless due to the vast 
conventional strength of the U.S. military, and ill-advised as it will 
only increase the risk of stumbling into a nuclear war.

For all its misguided calls for increased reliance on nuclear weapons, 
the document lacks any plan for funding. It reiterates support for 
expanding the eye-popping $1.25 trillion nuclear upgrade program ($1.7 
trillion when accounting for inflation) that the Obama administration 
set in motion. The call for useless new weapons would add to that sum, 
but you won’t find any ideas about how pay for it.

The White House is poised to officially release the Nuclear Posture 
Review soon and it is important they not do so in a vacuum. Not only 
will Global Zero push back against the notion that new, more usable 
nuclear weapons are needed, we will offer up solutions to pull us back 
from the brink and reduce nuclear risks globally. These steps – from 
declaring that the U.S. will not use nuclear weapons first, to placing 
checks on presidential launch authority, to prioritizing the safety 
and security of our nuclear arsenal over unnecessary new weapons 
programs – are pragmatic actions the U.S. can take that also 
strengthen national security.

The Trump administration plans to meet an international landscape 
fraught with tensions between nuclear powers with ill-conceived ideas 
that lift up nuclear weapons as solutions to our problems. With your 
support, Global Zero will expose this for what it is and advocate for 
alternatives that make us safe, secure, and closer to a world without 
the threat of nuclear weapons.

With gratitude,

Bruce Blair
Co-Founder, Global Zero


Global Zero is the international movement for the elimination of all 
nuclear weapons.

Sent by GLOBAL ZERO | 1342 Florida Avenue NW | Washington, DC 20009 
USA , www.globalzero.org


-- 

     Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
     Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
     Wolfgangerstr. 26, 4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
     fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
     Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at


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