By Carolyn Bninski
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, a heavyweight in the area of dissecting nuclear dangers, is issuing dire warnings. The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by nuclear scientists who were involved in making the first atomic bomb. They created the Doomsday Clock two years later. The Bulletin's website says: "The decision to move (or to leave in place) the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock is made every year by the Bulletin's Science and Security Board in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 15 Nobel laureates."
On Jan. 25, 2018, the Bulletin moved its Doomsday Clock to two minutes to midnight and wrote that the world situation is "as dangerous as it has been since World War II" and that "the greatest risks last year arose in the nuclear realm." They point to "hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions" by United States and North Korea regarding North Korea's nuclear programs and the increased possibility of nuclear war by "accident or miscalculation."
The scientists also point to triggers for war between the U.S. and Russia: ongoing conflict between the two countries; continuing military exercises along the borders of NATO; the undermining of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF); upgrading of nuclear arsenals on both sides; and the lack of arms control negotiations. The scientists further point to U.S. conflicts with China, the buildup of nuclear arsenals by Pakistan and India and uncertainty about continued U.S. support for the Iranian nuclear deal.
They emphasize their alarm: "To call the world nuclear situation dire is to understate the danger — and its immediacy."
Finally, they point to the dangers of climate change and technological changes as part of their decision to move the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight.
The Doomsday statement also offers hope: "This is a dangerous time, but the danger is of our own making. Humankind has invented the implements of apocalypse; so can it invent the methods of controlling and eventually eliminating them. This year, leaders and citizens of the world can move the Doomsday Clock and the world away from the metaphorical midnight of global catastrophe by taking these common-sense actions."
Some of the solutions in the Bulletin's Doomsday statement include: U.S. President Donald Trump should refrain from provocative rhetoric regarding North Korea; the U.S. and North Korean governments should open multiple channels of communication; the Trump administration should abide by the terms of the Iran nuclear deal; the United States and Russia should adopt measures to prevent military incidents along the borders of NATO, seek further reductions in nuclear arms, and discuss a lowering of the alert status of their nuclear arsenals. Many more solutions are offered.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration recently put forward two significant military documents that take us in the opposite direction and exacerbate the likelihood of nuclear war. They are the National Defense Strategy, released Jan. 20, and the Nuclear Posture Review, released Feb. 2. The National Defense Strategy puts China and Russia, two nuclear armed states, in the cross hairs of the U.S. military. Can you imagine what their leaders are thinking and doing right now? The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) calls for updating and expanding the nuclear U.S. arsenal to respond to the great powers, e.g. China and Russia. It specifically includes sub-launched nuclear-armed cruise missiles which are inherently destabilizing and can be the perfect weapon for a nuclear first-strike.
Without massive push back from the U.S. citizenry, we will continue to march toward Armageddon. It up to us to demand that Congress stop funding this military madness. There are many things we can do. We can go to town halls and campaign events and to our congressional offices, write letters to the editor, ask all legislators at every level to take a stance by signing the Peace Legislators pledge ( www.peacelegislators.org), hold anti-war signs with the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center on Saturdays at 11 a.m, speak to friends and relatives, and get active with RMPJC by contacting me at Carolyn@rmpjc.org.
Use your imagination. Refuse to be complicit. Speak out. Demand an end to war and empire. And be inspired and buoyed by MLK's words: "A time comes when silence is betrayal."
Carolyn Bninski is with the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center.
On Jan. 25, 2018, the Bulletin moved its Doomsday Clock to two minutes to midnight and wrote that the world situation is "as dangerous as it has been since World War II" and that "the greatest risks last year arose in the nuclear realm." They point to "hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions" by United States and North Korea regarding North Korea's nuclear programs and the increased possibility of nuclear war by "accident or miscalculation."
The scientists also point to triggers for war between the U.S. and Russia: ongoing conflict between the two countries; continuing military exercises along the borders of NATO; the undermining of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF); upgrading of nuclear arsenals on both sides; and the lack of arms control negotiations. The scientists further point to U.S. conflicts with China, the buildup of nuclear arsenals by Pakistan and India and uncertainty about continued U.S. support for the Iranian nuclear deal.
They emphasize their alarm: "To call the world nuclear situation dire is to understate the danger — and its immediacy."
Finally, they point to the dangers of climate change and technological changes as part of their decision to move the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight.
The Doomsday statement also offers hope: "This is a dangerous time, but the danger is of our own making. Humankind has invented the implements of apocalypse; so can it invent the methods of controlling and eventually eliminating them. This year, leaders and citizens of the world can move the Doomsday Clock and the world away from the metaphorical midnight of global catastrophe by taking these common-sense actions."
Some of the solutions in the Bulletin's Doomsday statement include: U.S. President Donald Trump should refrain from provocative rhetoric regarding North Korea; the U.S. and North Korean governments should open multiple channels of communication; the Trump administration should abide by the terms of the Iran nuclear deal; the United States and Russia should adopt measures to prevent military incidents along the borders of NATO, seek further reductions in nuclear arms, and discuss a lowering of the alert status of their nuclear arsenals. Many more solutions are offered.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration recently put forward two significant military documents that take us in the opposite direction and exacerbate the likelihood of nuclear war. They are the National Defense Strategy, released Jan. 20, and the Nuclear Posture Review, released Feb. 2. The National Defense Strategy puts China and Russia, two nuclear armed states, in the cross hairs of the U.S. military. Can you imagine what their leaders are thinking and doing right now? The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) calls for updating and expanding the nuclear U.S. arsenal to respond to the great powers, e.g. China and Russia. It specifically includes sub-launched nuclear-armed cruise missiles which are inherently destabilizing and can be the perfect weapon for a nuclear first-strike.
Without massive push back from the U.S. citizenry, we will continue to march toward Armageddon. It up to us to demand that Congress stop funding this military madness. There are many things we can do. We can go to town halls and campaign events and to our congressional offices, write letters to the editor, ask all legislators at every level to take a stance by signing the Peace Legislators pledge ( www.peacelegislators.org), hold anti-war signs with the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center on Saturdays at 11 a.m, speak to friends and relatives, and get active with RMPJC by contacting me at Carolyn@rmpjc.org.
Use your imagination. Refuse to be complicit. Speak out. Demand an end to war and empire. And be inspired and buoyed by MLK's words: "A time comes when silence is betrayal."
Carolyn Bninski is with the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center.
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