Passé persists — U.S./NATO “Cold War”

Lethal entrenchment in a world needing policies, movement nonviolently forward

Editing by Carolyn Bennett 

“The Cold War has been over for more than 20 years,” says Global Zero addressing member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Keeping U.S. nuclear weapons in Germany, Turkey, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy makes no sense.” 

These weapons are dangerous, useless, expensive, unresponsive to today’s actual security threats. They are relics of a bygone age. Remove them from Europe.  

Pakistanis protest NATO

Seize this historic opportunity to take the next critical step toward a world without nuclear weapons.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) opposes all nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction: their development, manufacture, testing, deployment and use or threatened use by any country; and campaigns nonviolently to rid the world of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, and to create genuine security for future generations.

Antiwar and antinuclear activist Kate Hudson (Dr. Katharine Jane Hudson) is part of The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She is a UK academic and political activist and General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In 2003 through 2010, she was CND’s chairperson.

Hudson is a Visiting Research Fellow in the department of Social and Policy Studies at London's South Bank University and founding editor of the journal Contemporary Politics and member of the editorial board of Debatte: the journal of contemporary central and eastern Europe.

These are edited notes on the entrenched and lethal collusion of the United States and NATO discussed in Dr. Hudson’s recent article variously titled “Are NATO’s days numbered…” and “Time for NATO to face new realities.”

"Cold War Cheerios"
By Teacher Luke Piwoni

Ailing giant 

Behind times

Inspires Cold War itch

“The United States and Europe are experiencing massive economic crises, and the United States has been fundamentally weakened by its poor economic performance and lack of internal investment over decades,” Kate Hudson writes. 

Dynamic economic rivals have emerged; and, in an increasingly multi-polar world, it is clear that the United States cannot maintain its status as the single global superpower. Nor is it desirable that it should do so.”

Image at CND

While the ‘hostile-camp’ tension that existed with the Soviet Union has vanished, at least in theory, Russia remains the chief military counterweight and rival on a global scale to the Unites States and NATO. 

Many people fear that the U.S. missile defense emboldens U. S. impunity, attacking countries without fear of retaliation; and that U.S. adherence to missile defense threatens survival of the new START Treaty.

Though it has declined in many respects, Hudson writes, the United States “has increasingly used NATO to support and advance its global power projection; [and] whatever the changing rationale or the nature of its supposed enemies in the post-Cold War era, NATO’s core function has remained to advance U.S. global interests and foreign policy goals.” This was apparent when, at the end of the Cold War, the Warsaw Pact dissolved but the North Atlantic Treaty Organization did not.

“Rather than scaling back its military presence, the United States moved to fill the positions vacated by its previous rival. As countries of Eastern Europe embraced free-market economics and multi-party democracy, the United States moved rapidly — faster than Western Europe embraced Eastern Europe via the European Union — to integrate these countries into the U.S. sphere of influence via NATO expansion.”

NATO at Prague 2002

A big question is, Hudson says, “whether NATO states will continue to foot the bill.… How long can it go on like this?”

Contrary to established law

In face of concerns, fears of regress to Cold-War tactics

The nuclear policies of NATO are in conflict with the legal obligations of the signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), she observes. “Articles 1 and 2 of the NPT forbid the transfer of nuclear weapons to non-nuclear weapon states; [but] US/NATO nuclear weapons in Europe are located in non-nuclear weapons states.”

Image at CND

Despite a recent softening of language on nuclear issues and gestures towards a nuclear-free vision, particularly from the Barack Obama government, “NATO has continued to assert its need to retain nuclear weapons: ‘The supreme guarantee of the security of the Allies is provided by the strategic nuclear forces,’” states the new Strategic Concept. With it, NATO also hangs on to a policy of “first use” of nuclear weapons. “In other words,” she writes, “NATO would be prepared to use nuclear weapons in a first strike,” a position not lost on the Russians.

The 2010 NATO summit decision to integrate the U.S. missile defense system with a European-theatre missile defense program under NATO auspices has caused major relations problems with Russia, Hudson says. Moreover, in 2012, concerns persist among many peoples and nations “that missile defense will enable the United States to attack countries without fear of retaliation; and U.S. adherence to missile defense continues to threaten the survival of the New START Treaty on bilateral US/Russia nuclear reductions.” 

The STrategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was a bilateral treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. Signed July 31, 1991, and entered into force on December 5, 1994, the treaty barred its signatories from deploying more than 6,000 nuclear warheads atop a total of 1,600 ICBMs (Intercontinental ballistic missiles), submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and bombers. 

 The START I treaty expired December 5, 2009; and on April 8, 2010, the replacement New START Treaty was signed in Prague by U.S. and Russian presidents. After ratification by the U.S. Senate and the Federal Assembly of Russia, the New START Treaty on January 26, 2011, went into force. (Wikipedia)

“The mood is changing at many different levels —

Image at
Stop the War Coalition

“The mood is changing at many different levels, Dr. Hudson concludes, and it is “time for the NATO leadership to face the new realities.”

Sources and notes

Global Zero, http://nukesout.org/

Image at CND

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

As a British campaign, The CND concentrates as first priority on British nuclear weapons but it also works with anti-nuclear groups in other countries to eliminate the global threat. CND is also present at the United Nations and other international disarmament conferences.

Among its external strategic objectives

Global abandonment of space weapons and missile defense programs; and an international agreement on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space
Elimination of British nuclear weapons and global abolition of nuclear weapons
Withdrawal of all U.S. military bases and nuclear weapons from Europe and no nuclear or other expansion of NATO
Establishment of Formal Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones in Europe
Withdrawal of Britain from NATO
Closure of all foreign military bases on British soil
Independent control and verification of plutonium, uranium and depleted uranium stocks http://www.cnduk.org/about/aims-a-policies

Image at CND

Funded entirely by its members and supporters, CND aims to

Change Government policies to bring about the elimination of British nuclear weapons as a major contribution to global abolition
Stimulate wide public debate on the need for alternatives both to the nuclear cycle and to military attempts to resolve conflict.
Empower people to engage actively in the political process and to work for a nuclear-free and peaceful future.
Cooperate with other groups (UK and internationally) to ensure the development of greater mutual security (http://www.cnduk.org/about/aims-a-policies)

Kate Hudson, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Hudson_(activist)

“Are NATO’s days numbered waging war as the vigilante agent of US global interests?” (Kate Hudson), May 22, 2012, Stop the War Coalition, http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/usa-war-on-terror/1421-is-it-time-up-for-nato-as-a-vigilate-style-agent-of-us-global-interests

“Time for NATO to face new realities: NATO’s core function is still to advance U.S. global interests and foreign policy goals” (Kate Hudson opinion at Al Jazeera), May 20, 2012

Al JAEERA note: “Dr Kate Hudson was chair of the UK-based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from 2003 to September 2010, when she became general secretary. She is a leading anti-nuclear and anti-war campaigner nationally and internationally. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.” http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/05/201252081843426753.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/START_I

Image

Cold War Cheerios WebQuest, By: Luke Piwoni, http://www.kewaskumschools.org/faculty/lpiwoni/cheerios_home.cfm

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Second U.S. A-bomb massacre Nagasaki

Editing, excerpting, re-reporting by Carolyn Bennett

The United States massacred 39,000 people and injured 25, 000 with the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki August 9, 1945

The time has passed “for major powers to prevail in the world by military force. 

“Conflicts must be settled through diplomatic and peaceful means. 

“We support a world order of peace based on the U.N. Charter, as opposed to military alliances against imaginary enemies.”

The ‘nuclear deterrence’ policy must end as it spurs nuclear weapons acquisition and proliferation.

“In the 66th summer since the U.S. dropped atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we renew our call on the world to take action to achieve a ‘nuclear weapon-free, peaceful and just world,’” says the international Declaration issued by the 2011 World Conference against A & H Bombs. This is some of the text of that declaration.

“As the call for a total ban and elimination of nuclear weapons is being shared by broader sections of people, including citizens, municipalities and national governments throughout the world, the question how to achieve a ‘nuclear weapon-free world’ comes into sharp focus.

The Final Document agreed upon at the 2010 NPT Review Conference resolved to achieve a “nuclear weapon-free world,” and called for a special effort to reach that goal. …Many international organizations such as the Mayors for Peace have started serious work on a nuclear weapons convention as an important step towards the abolition of nuclear weapons. We have been working around the world to urge the nuclear powers and all other governments to start negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention.…

“Although the agreements reached to date should have been duly implemented, no significant progress has been made.

“Countries with nuclear weapons are particularly to be held accountable for this stalemate. The repeated subcritical nuclear tests conducted by the U.S. Obama Administration contradict its own pledge, as well as the spirit of these international agreements.

“As long as ‘nuclear deterrence’ policy persists, ‘peace and security in a nuclear weapon-free world’ cannot be achieved. Instead it provides incentives to acquire nuclear weapons to counter that policy and causes nuclear proliferation. … We reiterate our demand for a clean break from ‘nuclear deterrence’ policy by all nations.…

“As the movement that originates from the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons — we are deeply concerned about the severity and scope of radioactive contamination and damage caused by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. It revealed the deceit of the ‘safety myth’ and the danger of nuclear power plants. It is possible to secure energy sources for sustainable development without recourse to nuclear power and without leaving a dangerous burden to future generations. Let us develop solidarity with the movements in Japan and the rest of the world demanding the decommissioning of nuclear energy and a shift to renewable energy sources.

“Japan’s peace movement demands that, as the A-bombed country, its government should play due role in concluding a nuclear weapons convention.

“It also demands the abrogation of the secret agreements with the U.S., which allow nuclear weapons to be brought into Japan, as well as the strict observance of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles.

“It calls for the dismantling of U.S. military bases in Japan, including the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa, and opposes the deployment and port-calls of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and other warships.

“We express our support to the Japanese peace movement in its effort for Japan to break away from the U.S. nuclear umbrella and achieve a nuclear-free Japan, and to defend and honor Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan.

“Although wars and gunfire continue in different parts of the world — it is no longer time for major powers to prevail in the world by military force. Opposing the threat or use of force, we demand that conflicts be settled through diplomatic and peaceful means. We support a world order of peace based on the U.N. Charter, as opposed to military alliances against imaginary enemies.

“We extend our warm solidarity to the peoples in North African and Arab countries who stand for freedom, democracy and human dignity. We demand the cessation of NATO’s attack on Libya and a ceasefire, and a political solution of the issue.

“We oppose the occupation of Iraq and the military operations in Afghanistan and demand the withdrawal of all foreign military forces. Our support goes also to the struggle for the right of the Palestinians to national self-determination, including the right to establish an independent state.

“We oppose foreign military bases, and stand in solidarity with the movements for the defense of the national sovereignty and for the removal of such bases. We work in solidarity with the movements for relief from war damage, including the victims of Agent Orange.

“We call on the people of the world to take the following actions:

• ·       To develop many forms of international, regional and national actions to press for the start of negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention, including the signature campaign for the ‘Appeal for a Total Ban on Nuclear Weapons,’ and present the achievements of these initiatives to the U.N. General Assemblies and in the next review process of the NPT. 

• ·       To strengthen the movement in each country and region for the removal of nuclear arms and for nuclear-free zones, and develop campaigns and public support for the overcoming of the ‘nuclear deterrence’ policies. 

• ·       To strengthen our activities for the relief, solidarity and support of the Hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all nuclear test and radiation victims, to root out any more damage and suffering from radiation. Noting the link between nuclear weapons and nuclear power generation, we oppose military use of nuclear technology and demand an end to the reliance on nuclear energy and a shift to renewable energy sources, and we will work in firm solidarity with the broad range of movements.

“The achievement of a ‘nuclear weapon-free, peaceful and just world’ is the common desire of all who work for peace and against war. It is shared by many people who strive for democracy; human rights; protection of the global environment; women’s rights and status; resolution of such issues as hunger, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and injustice; and for a drastic reduction of military expenditure and armaments and improved social welfare.

“To achieve this shared goal and to open a new era, let us take bold steps forward, together with the Hibakusha and with young people, who bear the future of humanity.”

Sources and notes

August 5, 2011 International Meeting — 2011 World Conference against A & H Bombs

Declaration of the International Meeting

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/storage/japan/Hiroshima_Fukushima_2011%20World%20Conference%20against%20A%20%20H%20Bombs.pdf

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2011/8/5/hiroshima-world-conference-against-a-h-bombs-declaration.html

Hibakusha (“those who were bombed”)

In Hiroshima, at least 66,000 people were incinerated in an instant, at least 30,000 three days later when [the U.S.] used a second bomb on Nagasaki. Exact casualty figures are impossible to state, because population records turned to ash along with the record-keepers, and radiation caused many deaths.

Most survivors have been struggling with radiation-related illness for much of their lies, and death will surely have silenced the majority of them by the seventieth anniversary of the bombing in 2015.

Tadatoshi Akiba, a former math professor at Tufts, published an article in 1983, which calculated that, by 1950, 200,000 people had died as result of the bomb on Hiroshima; another 140,000 had died in Nagasaki. Nearly all were civilians — only 150 Japanese military were killed.

Thirty-four years after the atomic blast at Hiroshima, Akihiro Takahashi, one of Japan’s most conspicuous ‘hibakusha’ became director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/200712090011.html

TODAY IN HISTORY

The United States of America on August 9, 1945 dropped the second atomic bomb on Japan striking the city of Nagasaki.

Under a program called the Manhattan Project, the United States built the first atomic bombs

The first atomic bomb to be used in warfare used uranium. The United States dropped this bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945.

66,000 people died immediately

69,000 were injured

The force instantly and completely devastated 10 square kilometers (4 square miles) of the heart of Hiroshima, a city of 343,000 inhabitants.

more than 67 percent of the city’s structures were destroyed or damaged.

The second atomic bomb was of the plutonium type. The U.S. dropped this atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945

39,000 people died

25,000 suffered injuries

40 percent (est.) of the city’s structures were destroyed or seriously damaged

The United States after World War II conducted dozens of test explosions of atomic bombs in the Pacific at Enewetak (Eniwetok) atoll and in Nevada.

The first atomic bomb (using plutonium) the U.S. tested near Alamogordo, New Mexico, a site 120 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945.

Britannica

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