“We must end the nuclear lullaby,” Granoff, actor Coyote proclaim
SAN FRANCISCO–For decades, the American public has been inadequately informed regarding the U.S. nuclear weapon policies and programs, nuclear testing, and the effects of radiation on human health and the environment. “It’s time to end the nuclear lullaby before a deluding sleep leads to very real nightmares,” actor and activist Peter Coyote affirmed on Wednesday night during his live national call-in show, “The Active Opposition: The Nuclear Lullaby – What We Are Not Being Told.”
GSI President Jonathan Granoff, one of the experts interviewed during the 90-minute show, emphasized that the new U.S. nuclear posture, which envisages the resumption of nuclear testing and the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons, jeopardizes the roadmap toward the gradual elimination of nuclear weapons – a roadmap 188 states – including the U.S. – have officially committed to in 2000 in an effort to increase global security. “We are in a very dangerous situation. The American people are sleepwalking toward Armageddon, not realizing that the United States, rather than leading in strengthening of the international regime [preventing the spread of nuclear weapons], is ignoring it,” Granoff stressed.
Summary:
“The Nuclear Lullaby” presents information the U.S. government has not divulged on nuclear proliferation, the use of depleted uranium, and the storage hazards and “disposal” of nuclear waste. The program, funded by the John and Geraldine Cusenza Foundation and produced by WorldLinkTV, further explores the legacy of nuclear radiation, from the “downwinders” of nuclear testing to the American servicemen and -women affected by depleted uranium in Iraq. Also discussed are both the domestic and international facets of the nuclear threat, including nuclear terrorism, the realities of a “Hindu” and “Islamic” nuclear bomb, the resurgence in building plutonium pits, the contamination of the environment and the consequences of passing the unsolved burden of nuclear waste on to future generations.
Guests include:
– Jonathan Granoff (President, Global Security Institute)
– Lynn Woolsey (U.S. Representative)
– Jonathan Schell (Fellow, The Nation Institute)
– Arjun Makhijani (President, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research)
– Dan Fahey (Dessert Storm Veteran; DU expert)
Posted by zack_allen at 10:20 PM
BSG Panel Underscores Core Role of NPT, Presents Action Plan
Photo: Grey, Graham, Granoff, Markey, Gottemoeller, Holum
WASHINGTON, DC–On June 18, the Bipartisan Security Group (BSG) held a Capitol Hill briefing on the central role of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and obtaining their ultimate elimination. Stressing the Treaty’s successful track record over the past 30 years, the panel offered recommendations on how to pursue multilateral security post the Iraqi war.
Sponsored by the House of Representatives Bipartisan Task Force on Non-Proliferation, Members of Congress and some 50 Congressional staffers attended the briefing featuring BSG representatives Rose Gottemoeller, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former Deputy Undersecretary for Defense and Nuclear Nonproliferation in the U.S. Department of Energy; Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. (Ret.), BSG Chair and former General Counsel at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; and John Holum, former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security in the Clinton administration. Chairing the panel was Ambassador Robert Grey, Jr. (Ret.), BSG Director and former U.S. Representative to the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
Panelists discussed the success and weaknesses of the NPT in constraining countries from obtaining nuclear weapons. They explained that the NPT embodies a delicate, yet crucial balance of interests and expectations. On the one hand, non-nuclear-weapon States (now up to 183) expect the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and the fulfillment of disarmament obligations by the five declared nuclear-weapon States (China, France, Russia, the UK and the US). On the other hand, the five nuclear-weapon States expect that the non-nuclear-weapon States adopt IAEA safeguards and fulfill their obligation not to acquire nuclear weapons. Panelists also pointed out that the Treaty has almost fulfilled its quest to become universal, with only Israel, Pakistan and India holding out, and North Korea presently challenging the regime with its controversial withdrawal.
Rep. Ed Markey, co-chair of Bipartisan Task Force on Non-Proliferation, led a lively and probing dialogue on the need to strengthen safeguards against a state abusing its right to develop nuclear energy as a cover for a nuclear weapons program.
The Bipartisan Security Group distributed an Interim Report on the Status of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which contains specific recommendations about how to render the Treaty more effective.
View the June 2003 BSG Interim Report, “Status of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty” (PDF).
View the BSG Panel presentations:
Rose Gottemoeller (PDF)
Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. (PDF)
John Holum (PDF)
Posted by zack_allen at 07:26 PM
June 17, 2003
Capitol Hill Briefing on Future of Arms Control Treaties
WASHINGTON, DC–On Wednesday, June 18, the House of Representatives Bipartisan Task Force on Non-Proliferation will host a Bipartisan Security Group panel for Members of Congress and their staff on the future of arms control treaties.
Panelists will include:
Rose Gottemoeller, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and former Deputy Undersecretary for Defense and Nuclear Proliferation, DOE;
Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. (ret.), who was involved in the negotiation of every major international arms control and non-proliferation agreement of the past 30 years; and
John Holum, former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.
Moderator: Ambassador Robert T. Grey, Jr., former U.S. Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
2203 Rayburn House Office Building
1.) Invitation Letter from Congressmen Ed Markey and Chris Shays, Co-Chairs of the Bipartisan Task Force on Non-Proliferation
2.) “Status of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – Interim Report”, June 2003 BSG Policy Brief
For further information about the Bipartisan Security Group, contact BSG Director Ambassador (Ret.) Robert T. Grey, Jr. at 202-543-9017. For further information about the Non-Proliferation Task Force or the briefing, contact Benn Tannenbaum (Rep. Markey) at 225-2836 or Jordan Press (Rep. Shays) at 225-5541.
Posted by zack_allen at 05:21 PM
The Active Opposition’s
The Nuclear Lullaby: What We Are Not Being Told
Airs on June 18
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kim Spencer (415) 457-5222 or Jennifer Spoerri (510) 757-3321
Show Features Leading Nuclear Experts Discussing New Nuclear Threat
On June 16, WorldLink TV will launch “Red Alert: The Re-emergence of the Nuclear Threat,” a weeklong investigative and documentary exploration of the history of nuclear weapons and the present dangers inherent in today’s nuclear environment. Never before has such a comprehensive collection of documentaries and investigative reports on the history and scope of today’s nuclear realities been shown on American television. Anchoring the week will be five revealing specials on various aspects of the nuclear situation, culminating in a live, 90-minute edition of WorldLink’s original series, “The Active Opposition”, a national interview and call-in show on critical international issues, hosted by Peter Coyote. Red Alert will air every evening at 7:00 p.m. PDT on DIRECTV Channel 375 and DISH Network Channel 9410.
The Active Opposition’s The Nuclear Lullaby: What We Are Not Being Told will focus on the new nuclear threat and will feature as guests senior policy makers, scientists and other nuclear experts. The live, 90-minute national call-in program will present information that the US government has not divulged on nuclear proliferation, the use of depleted uranium, and the storage hazards and disposal of nuclear waste. Comments from viewers throughout the country will be directed to program guests.
Guests include: Jonathan Schell from the Nation Institute; Lynn Woolsey, U.S. Representative (D-Petaluma); Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute; Arjun Makhijani, nuclear scientist and President of the Institute of Energy and Environmental Recourses; and Dan Fahey a Desert Storm Vet and depleted uranium expert.
The program will explore the legacy of radiation, from the “downwinders” of nuclear testing, to the American servicemen and women contaminated by depleted uranium in Iraq. Also discussed are the domestic and international facets of the nuclear threat, including nuclear terrorism, the realities of a “Hindu” and “Islamic” nuclear bomb, the resurgence in building of plutonium pits, the contamination of the environment and the consequences of passing the unsolved burden of nuclear waste on to future generations.
The Nuclear Lullaby: What We Are Not Being Told is the fifth program in the ongoing WorldLink TV series “The Active Opposition,” hosted by actor and writer Peter Coyote.
The Active Opposition is funded by a grant from the John and Geraldine Cusenza Foundation, cross-linking humanity.
About WorldLink TV:
Founded in 1999, WorldLink TV is the first U.S. network offering a global perspective on news, current events and culture, presenting viewpoints seldom covered in the U.S. media. In fact, 95% of the station’s documentaries on global issues have never before been shown in the U.S.
WorldLink is seen nationwide via satellite on DIRECTV Channel 375 and on DISH Network channel 9410 and is accessible to more than 20 million households, one in five U.S. television households. WorldLink’s programming, combined with its innovative use of two-way digital link-ups and a participatory web site, deepens audience engagement and encourages active participation. WorldLink TV is a national non-commercial channel funded by viewer contributions and grants from major foundations. For complete program scheduling and Internet streaming, go to http://www.worldlinktv.org/.
Posted by zack_allen at 11:50 AM
June 09, 2003
GSI’s Short Film “Vision and Voice” Praised at SF Gala Debut
SAN FRANCISCO–“Vision and Voice,” a new GSI short film, celebrated its debut at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel during the April 12th Alan Cranston Peace Award Ceremony, which honored Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
The 400 guests at the gala, including actors Pierce Brosnan and Peter Coyote, praised the video as one of the highlights of the evening. The fast paced and informative six minute film is now available to download and share from the Global Security Institute website (http://www.gsinstitute.org/about).
If you have difficulty viewing the video, you may not have the latest version of QuickTime installed on your computer. Please click here to download a free copy of QuickTime.
Posted by zack_allen at 12:40 PM
Nothing but trouble
WASHINGTON, DC–Even as U.S. forces struggle to consolidate victory in a war justified largely to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the White House is preparing to build and test new nuclear weapons for America’s own arsenal. The administration supports provisions in the 2004 Defense Authorization Bill eliminating a 1994 ban on low-yield nuclear weapons, funding research on them, and compressing the time needed to prepare nuclear tests.
Supporters argue that low-yield nuclear weapons, so-called mini-nukes, could be an answer to the proliferation of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. The reasoning goes that conventional weapons are too weak to destroy deeply buried bunkers and existing nuclear weapons are too strong. Mini-nukes, though, would be just right – they could destroy such targets but limit collateral damage. The president could then credibly threaten rogue states with nuclear attack – expanding the “preemption” doctrine to explicitly embrace the first use of nuclear weapons. So in Iraq, for example, rather than invading, we could simply have launched nuclear warheads against those 40-odd sites thought to hold Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.
In fact the Iraq experience reveals why the case for mini-nukes is technically dubious as well as politically foolish – a spur, rather than an impediment, to the spread of weapons of mass destruction. No adversary will conveniently stockpile such weapons in a single remote site – and even if they did, it’s unlikely the U.S. would have intelligence reliable enough to justify a preemptive nuclear strike. As is increasingly and painfully obvious, we certainly didn’t have it in Iraq.
Moreover, mini-nukes would not fill the bill. An explosion capable of destroying hardened underground sites would, by definition, rip up massive quantities of earth, contaminate it with radiation, and disperse it into the atmosphere, generating fall-out that would kill and sicken many thousands of civilians. Even a 5-kiloton mini-nuke, roughly one-third the Hiroshima bomb, would be massively more than a surgical strike. In Iraq, again, imagine the political and economic rebuilding job after several dozen “small” nuclear explosions.
The political effect of mini-nukes, meanwhile, would be to foster proliferation and undercut international efforts to prevent it. It’s no accident that, after Iraq, the other two members of President George W. Bush’s “axis of evil” have both intensified their efforts to make nuclear weapon ingredients – North Korea by moving to reprocess spent fuel into plutonium, Iran by preparing to enrich uranium. When you put countries in the crosshairs, you should not be surprised when they hasten toward a deterrent.
Putting nuclear weapons even more explicitly in the picture would be used to legitimize other countries’ nuclear answers. Further, after decades of steady progress to reduce the numbers and roles of nuclear weapons, U.S. development of new kinds of weapons, with new missions, and lowered barriers to use – together with the resumed nuclear testing required to build them – would surely stimulate an unraveling of the international consensus against nuclear arms.
The security case for mini-nukes is so weak as to suggest perhaps a different motive. In Fort Greeley, Alaska, the administration is slapping up an “operational” national missile defense site that no president in his right mind would ever seriously rely on to intercept an incoming missile. It does, however, intercept the hated ABM Treaty, justifying and solidifying the president’s withdrawal last year. Perhaps mini-nukes have a comparable purpose – to manufacture a need to end the moratorium on nuclear testing initiated by Bush’s father in 1992 and to formally repudiate the hated Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996. The four years from 1989 to 1993, the first Bush presidency, were arguably the most productive time ever for arms control and nonproliferation. It will be a sad thing if that legacy is now being dumped by the first President Bush’s son for the sake of checking boxes on an extremist agenda. Worse, it will be a defeat for nonproliferation, and a dangerous thing for the country.
The writer served as Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security during the Clinton administration.
John Holum is currently a member of the Bipartisan Security Group, a program of the Global Security Institute.
Posted by zack_allen at 12:16 PM
June 06, 2003
Capitol Hill Panel on Bio-Weapons
Photo: Amb. James Leonard, Suzanne Spaulding, Prof. Barry Kellman, Hon. Ed Markey, Jonathan Granoff. Photo by N. Kjellberg.
WASHINGTON, DC–The Bipartisan Security Group organized a Capitol Hill panel discussion on biological weapons dangers. It was hosted by the Congressional Bipartisan Task Force on Non-Proliferation on March 25. Congressmen Ed Markey (D-MA) and Chris Shays (R-CT) later sent letters to Administration officials including John Ashcroft, Condoleeza Rice, Tom Ridge and Tommy Thompson, calling for specific policies to strengthen the legal prohibitions related to biological weapons.
Click the following links to view the press release and letters from Congressmen Markey and Shays:
Congressman Ed Markey’s Press Release
Letter to John Ashcroft, Attorney General
Letter to Condoleeza Rice, National Security Advisor
Letter to Tom Ridge, Secretary of Homeland Security
Letter to Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services
Posted by zack_allen at 03:59 PM