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Traditional arms control agreements and new opportunities
for abolishing nuclear weapons are on a collision course
with the current corporate-driven efforts to build a new
"Son of Star Wars". Clinton has failed to respond
to a Russian offer to cut our respective nuclear arsenals to
1500 nuclear tipped missiles or even less. Were we to accept
the Russian offer we would then have an opportunity to bring
all the other nuclear weapons states (whose arsenals number
in the hundreds) to the negotiating table for a treaty to
eliminate nuclear weapons, just as the world has done for
chemical and biological weapons. This would bring us into
compliance with our legal obligations under the
Non-Proliferation Treaty as interpreted by a unanimous
ruling of the International Court of Justice that there is
an obligation "to bring to a conclusion, negotiations
for nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and
effective international control."
Instead, the Clinton administration is presently conducting
a series of tests before deciding whether to build a limited
ground-based National Missile Defense (NMD) to protect the
US against the threat of nuclear attack from so-called
"rogue" states such as North Korea, Iran, and
Iraq. An NMD will violate the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
with Russia. Both Russia and China have warned that any
violation of the ABM Treaty will compel them to build up
their nuclear arsenals to overcome our shield. The only real
nuclear threat to US security is from an accidental launch
from Russia’s massive nuclear arsenals poised at
hair-trigger alert with aging command and control centers,
or from a new nuclear arms race with China and Russia, which
will spark increased activity by India and then Pakistan,
while demonstrating to other nuclear "wannabes"
that there is no commitment to honor our legal obligations
to eliminate nuclear weapons. Any one of the 44 countries
with nuclear reactors is capable of building a bomb. It is
no secret to other nations that the US Air Force/ Space
Command proclaims its mission by 2020 is to "control
and dominate" the military use of space "to
protect US interests and investments."
Bush has actually called for a space shield, stating that
Clinton’s proposed ground-based NMD is inadequate.
Bush’s plan is to go it alone, cutting nuclear weapons
unilaterally without negotiating with Russia while violating
the ABM treaty, which will set off a new arms race to the
heavens and result in billions of dollars in profits for
military contractors. While Clinton has been pounding
unsuccessfully on Russia for the past two years to modify
the ABM treaty, so as to permit NMD to go forward legally,
Gore, not to be outdone by Bush, has stated his willingness
to abrogate the ABM treaty to protect us against North
Korea.
To eliminate the nuclear threat we must eliminate nuclear
weapons. Polls show that over 80% of all Americans favor a
treaty to ban the bomb. The path is clear. Keep space
weapons-free. Take up Putin’s offer to cut to 1,000
long-range nuclear weapons and invite the other nuclear
weapons states to the negotiating table. Both China and
India have repeatedly stated their willingness to negotiate
for total nuclear disarmament. Pakistan will follow
India’s lead and the remaining countries, France, UK, and
Israel will follow US leadership if we dare to exercise it.
Copyright
© Alice Slater |
