The Doomsday Clock Is Ticking: Veterans Call On U.S. To Sign The Treaty On The PNW

The Doomsday Clock is Ticking: Veterans Call on U.S. to Sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

 The treaty emphasizes “the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that  would result from any use of nuclear weapons.” It forbids participating  states “to develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire,  possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive  devices.” Additionally, it explains that the complete elimination of  nuclear weapons from international arsenals “remains the only way to  guarantee that nuclear weapons are never used again under any  circumstances.” 

 In keeping with a history of being unwilling to relinquish its massive  nuclear arsenal, the U.S refused to enter treaty negotiations and used  its status as the sole remaining international superpower to organize a  boycott that influenced approximately 40 countries. 

 U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki R. Haley defended the absence of the U.S. from the negotiations, stating, 

  “There is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no  nuclear weapons, but we have to be realistic. Is there anyone who thinks  that North Korea would ban nuclear weapons?”  

 Veterans For Peace (VFP), a nonprofit working since 1985 to abolish war  and nurture peace and the only veterans non-governmental organization  (NGO) represented at the UN, released a statement in  response, strongly criticizing the U.S.’s refusal to participate,  noting that the discussions were a “series of missed opportunities by  the United States to use its position as the world’s undisputed military  power to change the course of history … and end the danger and peril  that nuclear weapons pose to the world.” 

 Humanity has been at the brink of a nuclear exchange on multiple  occasions since the end of World War II, including times when the  decision to launch was seconds from happening. An urgent question, then,  is why these close calls, as well as the brutal and unnecessary  annihilation of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that  preceded them, failed to convince all governments that nuclear weapons  represent an existential threat to humanity, thus nuclear disarmament  must be a top priority? 

 The Doomsday Clock, maintained since 1947 by the Bulletin of Atomic  Scientists, is a symbol of the risk of a human-caused global  catastrophe, specifically of the rate of climate change and the  potential for a nuclear exchange. It is reset periodically depending on  global conditions. Presently, the Clock is at 2 minutes and 30 seconds,  the closest to midnight it has been since 1953, the start of the arms  race between the U.S. and former Soviet Union. 

 Certainly, the possibility of nuclear war was heightened with the unpredictable brinkmanship of President Donald Trump, who, in reference to nuclear weapons, once asked, 

  “If we have them, why can’t we use them?”  

This is the sort of irrational thinking to which Albert Einstein,  whose theory of relativity gave rise to the atomic bomb, may have been  referring when, in 1946, a year after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he warned  the world of the tragedy nuclear technology would bring: 

  “The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes  of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.”  

 Previous global action to prevent the use of nuclear weapons has  included the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) of 1963, which  curtailed nuclear testing but did not eliminate it. The Comprehensive  Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) of 1996 would have prohibited “any  nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion.” However,  despite signing the treaty, the U.S. and other nations, such as India,  North Korea and Pakistan, never ratified it. The Nuclear  Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968, which was signed by nearly all  nations, including the U.S., mandated that all participants pursue  nuclear disarmament “in good faith.” Despite the relative effectiveness  of the NPT and the end the Cold War of reducing a sizeable portion of  the global stockpile, an estimated fifteen thousand nuclear warheads are  still held by nine nations. Two of these nations — the U.S. and Russia —  possess over ninety percent of the total.

 The world now has the first-ever treaty to ban all nuclear weapons, and  the U.S. remains steadfast in their contempt of the possibility of  peace. In a statement released by the U.S., UK, and France, the three  nations asserted that they “do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become  party to it” alleging that “this initiative clearly disregards the  realities of the international security environment.” 

 The most significant threat to human survival and the biodiversity of  our shared planet, apart from climate change, is a world in which  nuclear weapons continue to exist. Yet, instead of negotiating in good  faith to reduce and eventually eliminate its nuclear arsenal, the  U.S. continues to develop new, more accurate, and more lethal nuclear  weapons, while deploying “missile defenses” that make a nuclear first  strike more possible and more likely. 

 The ongoing U.S. wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East, particularly  in Syria, along with the confrontational U.S. military posture toward  Russia, China and North Korea, are creating conditions that could all  too easily trigger a catastrophic nuclear war. Veterans For Peace  remains committed to transforming U.S. nuclear, military and foreign  policy from global dominance to global cooperation. This work includes  convincing the U.S to recommit itself to the UN Charter which forbids  military intervention and requires respect for the sovereignty of all  nations. 

 One of the founding principles of Veterans For Peace is a call to end to  the arms race leading to the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons.  VFP’s Nuclear Abolition Campaign is a feature of this effort. Several  notable manifestations of this campaign include a statement released last year calling for nuclear disarmament in our lifetime. Earlier this year, VFP endorsed the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017, introduced by Sen. Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Lieu (D-Calif.). Support for the historic Golden Rule antinuclear  sailboat, a national project of VFP, continues with the boat’s current  voyage down the West Coast, which is dedicated to supporting the UN  Treaty. VFP also participated in the Women’s March to Ban the Bomb, held last month in New York City and worldwide. 

 The next hurdle, getting all remaining nations to sign and ratify the  treaty. The treaty will be open for signature to all States on September  20th, 2017 at the UN General Assembly. It will go into effect within 90  days of ratification by 50 countries. 

 These are dangerous times indeed, but such dangers can focus the  collective mind and create new possibilities for real change, if  activists and organizers are prepared to seize the moment. 

 Let this be the generation that will finally ban nuclear weapons. It’s  not just about peace and justice; it’s about the survival of all life on  earth. 

 

Thanks for reading! Please check out my other posts on Steemit, and reach out to connect with me here!