Global Zero
One group that seems to have become far more motivated by the prospect of someone halfway sane in the White House are nuclear nonproliferation advocates. There have been various op-eds and conferences moving towards the idea that the US and the world should be looking at nuclear reduction with a view towrads actual elimination of late, but now there's an international group with heavyweight backing which appears set to be a major pressure for change after so many years of Bush bellicosity.
Former world leaders and arms-control negotiators joined entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and the queen of Jordan Tuesday to launch a project aimed at eliminating the world's nuclear weapons over the next 25 years.
The group wants to reach the impossible-sounding goal by reviving nuclear disarmament efforts that have lagged since the end of the Cold War. It is proposing deep cuts in U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, a worldwide verification and enforcement system and phased reduction leading to elimination of all stockpiles.
"We have to set an example," Branson said.
The group, called Global Zero, wants to start with U.S.-Russian negotiations to cut back nuclear stockpiles. Then a second phase would bring in countries such as China, Britain and France. Finally, it hopes to attract other countries such as Iran — which the West fears is seeking nuclear arms. Tehran insists its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity.
Delegations from the group will go to Moscow for talks with Russian officials Wednesday and to Washington on Thursday.
Global Zero's website is here.
The list of signatories is impressive. For British political heavyweights it includes both a former Conservative Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd, and a Defense Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, as well as former Labour Foreign Secretarys Margaret Beckett and David Owen. In the US, figures such as William F. Burns, Joseph Cirincione, Chuck Hagel, Robert McFarlane, Gen. Anthony Zinni and Zbigniew Brzezinkski have signed on. Michael Gorbachev, former UN Envoy to Iraq and Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi, former Russian FM Igor Ivanov and Russian Council for Foreign and Defense Policy head Sergei Karaganov, Japanese former FM Yoriko Kawaguchi and former Pakistani FM Shaharyar Khan are among the leaders from the rest of the world involved.
With Branson's money behind such an impressive list, this group offers a very bright hope for nuclear disarmament. I've already added my name to the list of supporters.
"...eliminating the world's nuclear weapons over the next 25 years."
That's an agenda I can support.
Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity. Albert Einstein
Micheal Gorbachev, do you mean Mikhail Gorbachev?
What is your conceptual, continuity?
But I can't spell as fast as I type :-)
Regards, C
I'd like to accomplish it. I'd also like to accomplish the goal of no more false flag terrorist attacks going unreported either. You know like the mysterious Gulf of Tonkin incident that never happened. Or the tactic made famous by the Nazi's in Germany with their Reichstag Fire. Or the U.S.S. Liberty that ended up being told as a lie until the Chicago Tribune finally printed the truth a few years ago. Or the weird Anthrax case that used Anthrax from American labs and was sent to influential members of Congress just before the passage of the Patriot Act. Among others. We have a lot of work to do on the global scale to keep our Planet safe. All this is a worthy goal.
Are not necessary. Imagine a world without them.
Nice isn't it.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Nuclear weapons haven't killed nearly as many people as automatic weapons or even pistols or bolt-action rifles. I think there should be an organization that is devoted to stopping fire arm proliferation.
Americans aren't allowed to have guns under the second ammendment. Only if you are part of a militia. To circumvent this, my neighbor and I started a militia; it's just the two of us and we call ourselves the Totally Awesome Militia. Our militia is devoted to the stop of firearm proliferation.
It seems that a good way to stop nuclear proliferation would be to design a weapon that is more powerful than the H-bomb. Possibly some sort of Ice 9 scenario. This way the U.S. could stop other countries that are designing nuclear programs. This could be particularly helpful in stopping evil countries that sell information on nuclear weapons to theocracies in the middle east, namely France. All fucking frogs can burn in hell. They may not be christofascists but they support islamofascists, so what's the difference?
The weapon you describe are the nuclear weapons we possess. It didn't work out the way you invision did it?
We developed and used nuclear weapons first and with the use of depleted uranium in Iraq we have the least to add to this conversation.
We've pisssed away untold billions, we could use today, on this useless shit. Someone cashed in on our fear of others, in spades, to sell a protection that ends with no one alive to claim victory.
Take the plank out of your eyes before removing the splinters from another's!
[Deleted. No need for name calling, Smartypants-Sitemonitor]. Depleted uranium isn't useful for nuclear weapons. It is, however, useful for projectiles that could tear through armor plating. what is the half life of depleted uranium? Does it matter? It is already depleted. it could be enriched . . . but who would be enriching uranium in Iraq?
The yellow cake has more harmful potential than depleted uranium. If it were, the enemy could take a geiger counter out after the battle and salvage whatever is left--assuming that the projectile doesn't vaporize.
dracovelli -- I know of an organization, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), that works on a global outreach program dedicated to reducing and preventing deaths and injuries from small arms violence. The campaign is called Aiming for Prevention, and you can learn more about it here:
http://www.ippnw.org/Programs/AFP/index.html
Hopefully this answers your question!
That's quite a list of diverse participants. Talking and communicating always accomplishes much more than threats and violence.
This is very welcome news. I hope they succeed with their difficult task.
what about israels nukes?...they are the only nuclear power in the middle east.they are not subject to any inspection by no one!...oh yeah i forgot we are the united states of israel....WAKE UP C & L.when are you guys going to address the 400+nukes gorilla in the room-ISRAEL!!!...the administration in charge of israel is giving the jewish people a bad name!
Iran, which doesn't even HAVE nuclear weapons, was mentioned but not Israel, which is the reason Iran is aiming to develop them. Israel disarmed = Iran disarmed.
While I love Global Zero's mission and support it whole-heartedly, I can only wonder at its potential success since the NPT is already on the scene and everybody ignores it.
Well, I'll watch with interest to see what this group accomplishes.
A noble goal in principle, but read the article about atomic proliferation currently up at the NYTimes, and ask yourself why China would freely distribute the knowledge to make nuclear weapons to Islamic countries such as Pakistan and Algeria. We now have a situation where dangerous people stand to get their hands on very dangerous weapons; the Cheney admin has been dangerous, but at least they don't control nuclear weapons directly, even if they think they do.
I'll make a prediction: China will agree to all sorts of things in principle but will not compromise.
It's time for a cabinet level Dept. of Peace that works on such projects as Global Zero.
No nukes. We can't even get people to stop shooting each other with bow and arrows.
All it takes is one bad Lex Luthor out there to blow the deal.
Do away with fast food first. It has killed more people.
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