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  AFWW Newsletter #15 -  Abolishing Nuclear Weapons

January 2010 
New!
Opportunity is Knocking NOW!
Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
Unity & Focus
Why Now?
What You Can Do
Nukes Need to Go
Calls For a Nuclear-Free World
Reaching Critical Will
A Possible March
Countdown to Zero
AFWW Links
Quotable Quote
 
"The only way to eliminate the possibility of climatic catastrophe is to eliminate the nuclear weapons."
- Alan Robock and Owen Brian Toon, Sci. Am. January 2010.

A Good Book
Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U. S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 , Stephen Schartz (ed.)

A Good Movie
"Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." Director - Stanley Kubrik, Starring Peter Sellers

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A Future Without War
Believe in it.
Envision it.
Work for it.
And we will achieve it.

QuickLinks
Nuclear explosion To Abolish Nuclear Weapons - Opportunity is Knocking NOW!

A Beautiful Cloud They Make, But Deadly
Will We Escape Our Own Ultimate Weapon?




 


AFWW logo The Abolition of Nuclear Weapons is an AFWW Battleground
The April 2009 AFWW newsletter also addressed the nuclear issue. In the opening section on "levers" and "fulcrums" it provided an explanation for why focusing on abolishing nuclear weapons is a key battleground, a key step if you will, in a campaign to abolish war itself. Read that argument along with other information and links.


Unity Unity & Focus

Ending-war Activists Need Unity and Focus.

With Respect to Nuclear Weapons, NOW Presents a Great Opportunity

To state the obvious, nuclear weapons are dangerous to our species and our cultures and wastefully expensive. This next six months are critical.
 
If you want to help the cause of ending war, please consider taking just a bit of time from whatever else you're doing to let your voice reach our politicians. 
 
Take a moment to reflect on whether you might give some cash to support those who work directly on our behalf on dismantling and ending this resource consuming and dangerous weapons program.
 
We will have success in ultimately abolishing war only if we learn how to coordinate our efforts. Were Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. alive, AFWW believes both men would solidly throw their weight behind this abolition effort. Living peace activist are doing so. So are presidents, generals, media and business moguls (see Global Zero below).
UnitedThoughtful and knowledgeable people familiar with this nuclear mega-entity know that its risks are simply too great to be tolerated any longer (see "Call for a Nuclear Free World" below). And we have, at last, a powerful champion of the cause in President of the United States, Barack Obama.


      
       The Following Entries Provide More Information for Your Consideration

Warhead Why Now?
Why This Year, This Six Months?
Six Critical Events!

A Peace Action West's Blog lists and briefly describes the importance of these key events. Note that the first event, a Senate debate over START, is due to take place right away, in January:
  • New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) announced and Senate debate over US ratification (January estimate)
  • Fiscal Year 2011 U. S. Budget released (February)
  • Administration Nuclear Posture Review released (March 1 estimate)
  • Global Nuclear Security Summit (April 12-13)
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference (May)
  • Possible senate debate on ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (late in 2010 if at all)
WANDWAND (Women's Actions for New Directions) is another organization working to shift U.S. budget priorities, with special emphasis on eliminating nukes. They, too, have a page summarizing their take on the events to take place in these six months, "Can We Clear the Nuclear Shadow."


Phone What You Can Do 
E-mail or Phone your Representatives
Our heavily burdened legislators have so many demands being put on them. They must prioritize. And they will decide their priorities by how much push in what directions they feel from their constituents.
 
When supporters of a good cause came to President Franklin Roosevelt seeking his support, it's said that he told them that he loved their cause and believed in it.  And then he said to them, "Now go out there and make me do it!" 
 
CapitolThat's the way the system works. We need to pressure our Congress Members, Senators, and the President's office itself.  Let them know we expect them to act to end this wasteful and dangerous program, and we expect them to ACT ACCORDINGING NOW!  By contacting them we give them both support and political cover. We allow them to tell their colleagues that their constituents are lobbying hard on this issue.
 
So we need to push as hard as we can. For those of us in the United States that means to contact our legislators, senators, congressmen, and the administration, and do it more than once. They do keep track of every e-mail, every call.
 
Contact them by email:  you can find their addresses easily enough at government websites for that purpose.
Contact your U.S. senator
Contact your U. S. congress member
Contact the White House
 
If you prefer to call you'll find appropriate phone numbers on the same pages. It is so easy. It takes little time. And it DOES make a difference. Every call, for and against, is counted. Let our voices be the majority!


Study Nukes Need to Go
An Excellent Reminder of WHY Nukes Need to Go

See the January 2010 Issue of Scientific American (pp. 74-81) for a fine article by experts Alan Robock and Owen Brian Toon entitled "Local Nuclear War, Global Suffering."
 
The authors first review the history of the effects of a nuclear war, reminding us about the "global winter" that would be created should the U.S. and Russia unleash a tiny fraction of their arsenals.
 
This article concentrates on recent issues, like a regional nuclear war, say between Pakistan and India. It describes in detail the scenarios within which such a shooting war would start...and they aren't impossible or wild-eyed.
 
They also describe the best, most recent, modeling of what the results would be, both locally and globally. They also explain why abolition is the only policy that will safeguard us...given human nature, half measures are way too risky. 
 
Their conclusion: "The only way to eliminate the possibility of climatic catastrophe is to eliminate the nuclear weapons."


Journal Calls For a Nuclear-Free World
Schultz, Perry, Kissinger and Nunn Unite

An article by George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger, and Sam Nunn, all world-savvy leaders, was, entitled "Toward a Nuclear-free World." Published in the Wall Street Journal (Jan 15 2008), it has set the tone for the need to rid ourselves of this danger. To see the reasons these men give for why the time has come to de-nuke the global community read the article online.

WILPF Reaching Critical Will

A Rich Source of Information on Nuclear Issues
Reaching Critical Will - A Project of WILPF

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is the oldest women's peace organization in the world. Their project, Reaching Critical Will, created in 1999, strives for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
 
On the RCW Homepage you'll find links and information galore. They offer essays on key nuclear issues, impressively long lists of organizations globally and nationally that focus on nuclear issues, a disarmament calendar for 2010, blogs, and much more.
 
As a project of the oldest women's peace organization in the world, "RCW recognizes that nuclear weapons play an integral role in the militarism, ecological destruction, and social injustice plaguing our world today. Therefore, they work not just for nuclear abolition but also for total and universal disarmament, the reduction of global military spending, and demilitarization of politics and society."
 
"Reaching Critical Will was designed to increase the quality and quantity of NGO preparation and participation in UN disarmament processes and of NGO interaction with governments and the United Nations; to provide logistical support in facilitating activities during relevant conferences tailored for policy-makers and the public; and to provide accurate and timely reporting on all relevant conferences and initiatives so that those unable to attend can stay informed."  Check them out at www.reachingcriticalwill.org.


MarchA Possible March
In May in New York City, a number of NGO events will coincide with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. The NGO events will include strategy sessions, presentations, opportunity for advocates around the world on nuclear issues. Contact Ray Acheson at Reaching Critical Will for more information. [email protected]. See www.reachingcriticalwill.org.


Countdown "Countdown to Zero"
A film to Watch out For

Global Zero is an alliance of powerful individuals who agree that the time to eliminate nuclear weapons is now. Their members include well-known peace activists like South African Arch-Bishop Desmond Tutu and former United States President Jimmy Carter. It also includesover 200 world notables. Queen Noor of Jordan is a founder, and other members include Former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, entrepreneurs Richard Branson and Bill Gates, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, former U.S. National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, U.S. General Anthony Zinni, etc.
 
"Today, Global Zero unites more than 200 world leaders. These individuals are former heads of state, defense ministers, foreign ministers and senior military, civilian and religious leaders. Our mission requires the widest support. Already more than 140,000 citizens from all over the world have signed the Global Zero declaration, and in early 2010 a documentary film about the nuclear threat, "Countdown to Zero." will début at the Sundance Film Festival." Read more in the Moscow Times.


Links AFWW Links
To Provide Security and Order is an AFWW cornerstone, and that includes organizations dedicated to figuring out how to provide defense and security as we attempt to transition to a world without war. AFWW lists over 100 links to organizations in the vanguard of efforts to create a better future, among them those listed on the PSO list. These organizations were selected not only because of the good work that they are doing, but because THEIR WEBSITE PROVIDES LINKS TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS!  In other words, these organizations are a great "link resource" for you.
If you didn't check out the links earlier, here they are again. If you belong to or head up an organization, you may find your organization listed.  Check under the Nav Bar "Links and More". 

Judith
A Future Without War
 
Contact Info
A Future Without War Dr. Judith Hand P.O. Box 270074, San Diego, CA 92198 [email protected]