From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #219 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Sunday, November 7 1999 Volume 01 : Number 219 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 14:25:58 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Y2K DE-ALERTING LETTER FAXED TODAY TO US SECY OF DEFENCE COHEN, SERGEYEV. John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html The Following has been faxed today to US Secretary for Defence William Cohen, all US Presidential fax numbers, Russian Minister for Defence Igor Sergeyev, Russian foreign minister I. Ivanov, John Koskinen, and Senators Dodd and Bennett. With it has also been faxed the FOE Sydney response to the Russian reply from I Ivanov, I. Ivanov's reply, and the most recent collation of the large sign on letter to Yeltsin and Clinton, now with over 460 organisations worldwide signed on to it, asking for nuclear forces to be stood down over the y2K rollover period. It is also to be emailed to all US congresspeople, all Australian parliamentarians, all members of the European parliament all UN missions and all heads of state with the current collation of the large sign on letter. I commend this and the large sign on letter expecially to your earnest attention. TO: WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE, +1-703-695-1149, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, +1-202-456-2461, +1-202-456-2883, +1-202-456-6201, +1-202-456-6218 cc IGOR SERGEYEV, DEFENCE MINISTER OF RUSSIA +7-095-247-2722, +7-095-293-3323, +7-095-293-3313, +7-095-247-2795 I.IVANOV, FOREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA, +7-095-244-3276, +7-095-244-2203 JOHN A. KOSKINEN, +1-202-456-7172 SENATOR BOB BENNETT +1-202-224-4908 SENATOR CHRIS DODD+1-202-224-1083 Y2K AND DE-ALERTING OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS Dear Secretary for Defence Cohen and President Clinton, I am writing to urge your administration to take US nuclear forces off 'hairtrigger alert' even if only during the Y2K rollover period. It is particularly disturbing that you are reported as having stated in Moscow that de-alerting of nuclear forces is 'off the table' as a stability building measure. You have also been quoted as saying that 'The better course is reduction, limiting the number of weapons, and establishing shared early warning centers'. These measures are not in competition with each other. All of them - reductions in the number of weapons, the establishment of shared early warning centers and de-alerting - are equally vital to the reduction of tension and the establishment of strategic stability. This is particularly the case in view of the uncertainties posed by the millennium date change (Y2K). As you are well aware, the largest and oldest computer system complexes in the world are those that control nuclear weapons systems. We are well aware that the chief of Stratcom, Admiral Mies has said in congressional testimony in April and July 1999 that the defence department is 'well advanced' in terms of its Y2K-remediation program. The Y2K problem is such that it is just not possible to be as certain as Mies is in his testimony. This is because very nature of this kind of problem prohibits you from being certain that every possible programming glitch is truly fixed. In fact no-one will be completely certain until the real date change itself, and indeed until well into the new year. And even if you are able to convincingly prove that US strategic nuclear computer systems are truly Y2K compliant and that they are 'fail safe', you will be well aware of the great concern that has been voiced over the Y2K readiness of Russia. Russia has, until recently, made little effort to even acknowledge the Y2K problem, let alone fix it. It is therefore quite possible that Russian computerized control systems are not Y2K compliant and that they will experience widespread failures during the Y2K rollover period. Even more disquieting is the fact that that the Russians have constructed the system known as 'Perimeter', or the 'dead hand'. Perimeter seems to offer additional pathways by which Y2K -related command and control failures could lead to an accidental launch of missiles, possibly by Y2K-related failures in sensors, combined with system blackout fooling the system into thinking that an attack had taken place. The establishment of a Y2K strategic stability center in Colorado is certainly an advantageous move and an absolutely essential one. However, it does not entirely remove the danger of an accidental launch of nuclear weapons. The fact that the Center is scheduled, as far as the public is aware, to come into operation only on December 27th, four days prior to the rollover, is itself far from reassuring. A four day delay will render it useless. Similarly, the center itself will depend on the availability of ultra-reliable hotlines between it and Moscow. The recently admitted Y2K vulnerabilities discovered, according to Reuters reports of congressional testimony, in six of the seven hotlines established during the cold war period are also cause for deep concern. If nuclear weapons are removed from a status in which they can be launched within minutes, and placed in one which would require at least days to launch, the risk of an accidental missile launch induced by Y2K or other errors in command and control systems will be virtually eliminated. This has been done by the UK, which has moved the 'notice to fire' for its missile forces from minutes to days. De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra Commission in 1996 as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's and this years text of the New Agenda Resolution in the UN General Assembly. In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the Australian Senate on 12 August and 20 September. (Text of these resolutions has been passed on to you by the deputy president of our Senate, Senator Sue West, copy is enclosed.) Mr. Clinton and Mr. Cohen, we believe that in taking De-alerting 'off the table', the United States is making a serious error. We believe that failure to take nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K 'rollover' period is an error that has the potential of causing unthinkable consequences. The probability of this may be low but it will never be zero as long as nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert. In a letter in response to a sign on letter from over 270 (now 460) NGOs, Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov said that: "The questions of removing from the military duty of Russian and American nuclear armaments which you mention in your appeal may become the matter for discussion between the two countries in the context of negotiations on further limitation of the strategic nuclear weapons" This hardly indicates that De-alerting is 'off the table' as far as the Russian Government is concerned. It should be very much on the table as far as your administration is concerned. In a previous administration, President Bush took strategic bomber forces off alert. We urge you to do this with all US nuclear forces. (Text of the Russian reply with English translation to our letter is enclosed, together with our response to the Russian reply.). (The latest compilation of the large sign on letter to Yeltsin and Clinton, asking for nuclear weapons to be taken off hairtrigger alert is also enclosed.) Signed John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Sydney, Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth El Salvador, Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Benin City, Nigeria, Kika Kapela, Friends of the Earth Cyprus, Yumi Kikuchi, Co-Founder and International Coordinator, Y2K-WASH (World Atomic Safety Holiday) Chiba, Japan, Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance, The Hague, Xanthe Hall, IPPNW(Germany), Berlin, Germany, Tom Mc Donald, British-American Security Information Council,(BASIC) London, Paul Swann, Y2K WASH (World Atomic Safety Holiday), London, Jenny Maxwell, West Midlands Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Birmingham, UK., Anni Rainbow and Lindis Percy, Campaign for the Accountability of US Bases, Yorkshire, UK., George Thomas, Founder/Coordinator, Earth Millennium Project, London, UK, Di Mc Donald, Network Information Project, Southampton, UK, Solange Fernex, President, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom,(WILPF) Paris, France, Bruno Barrillot, Directeur, Centre de Documentation et de Recherche sur la Paix et les Conflits, Lyon, France, Maurice Sistermans, Netherlands Centre for Indigenous Peoples, Amsterdam. Klaus Biegert, Nuclear-Free Future Award, Munich, Germany, Bernd Frieboese, Barsebäckoffensiv, Germany, Prof., Dirk Siefkes, Techn. Universitaet Informatik, Berlin, Ada Amon, Executive Director, Energy Club, Budapest, Hungary, Ulla Lehtinen, First Peoples, Finland, Marion Hancock, Aotearoa Peace Foundation, Auckland, NZ., Dr. Komei Hosokawa, Saga University, Saga City, Japan, Pan-Hellenic Network of Environment Organizations Greece, Gordon Edwards, President, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Montreal, Canada, Alice Slater, Global Resource and Action Centre for the Environment, NY., Ellen Thomas, Proposition-One Committee, Washington DC., Marylia Kelley, Executive Director, Tri-Valley CAREs, (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment), Livermore, CA, Carah Ong, Abolition 2000 Coordinator, David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Sanata Barbara, California, Robert W. Tiller, Physicians for Social Responsibility, USA, Michael Marriotte, Executive Director, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Washington DC., Bill Smirnow, Nuclear Free New York, Huntingdon, NY, William F. Santlemann, Metro-Boston Committee to De-Alert Nuclear Weapons, Judith H. Johnsrud, Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power, Pennsylvania, Laurie Grossman, Y2K-WASH,(World Atomic Safety Holiday) San Francisco, Mary Beth Branagan, Y2K-WASH San Francisco, Robyn Wolf, World Atomic Safety Holiday, Richmond, CA., Annie Wildwood, Y2K-WASH, Bolinas, California, Bob Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force, United Church of Christ, Rocky Mountain Conference, Arvada, Colorado, Reverend Robert Moore, Coalition for Peace Action, Princeton, NJ, Reverends Eleanor Mercer and Meredith Jordan, Rogers Mc Kay, Maine, Byron Plumley, American Friends Service Committee, Colorado, Anthony Guarisco, Alliance of Atomic Veterans, USA., Mel H. Kernahan, Alliance for Survival, Orange County, California, Mary Byrd Davis, Director, Ygdrassil Institute,(Earth Island) Georgetown, Ky, Scott Miller, Director, Peace Action Maine, Portland, Me, Rosalie Tyler Paul, Peace Action Maine, Portland, Me, Dan Ogden, Sawmill River Watershed Alliance, Ma, USA., Barbara Messana, Lawrence Grassroots Initiative, Lawrence, Ma, Christopher H. Peters, Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, Arcata, Calif, Nick Cooney, Student Activists Group, Hofstra University, NY., Deb Katz, Director, Citizen Awareness Network, MA., Ed Meagher, Merrimac Valley People for Peace Elsie Harvey, Greater Lansing Peace Education Centre, Michigan, Mark Krumholtz, Centre for Particle Astrophysics, University of California, Berkley, Dr. Julian Borrill, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, Berkley, Calif, Prof. Wendy Griffin, California State University, Long Beach, Calif, Caroll S. Wallace, Director, Everywomans Centre, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Irene Gale AM, Babs Fuller-Quinn, Australian Peace Committee, Adelaide/Sydney, Gareth Devenish, Goongerah Environment Centre, Galen White, Treefrog Consulting Pty Ltd., Information technology Consultants, - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 12:55:50 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) FAX NOW TO TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT FOR Y2K FAX COHEN, YELTSIN NOW TO TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT FOR Y2K (Please forward this email to everyone you know. Sorry for the inevitable multiple postings.) Dear All who recieve this email, I am emailing you to ask you to send a fax to the US Secretary for Defence, William Cohen and to President Yeltsin and his Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev, asking them to take their strategic nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K 'rollover' period at least. Arguably it could be the most important fax you ever make. That is why I have sent this out to so many people unasked, and thats why this appeal will be posted a few times. I ask you to be patient with that, as the subject is (at least potentially) literally the end of the world. If you are an organisation, I also urge you to sign on to the global de-alerting letter to Yeltsin and Clinton, now signed by over 460 organisations, that can be found on: http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html We are 54 days away from the Year2000 date change. The largest, oldest, and initially at least, the least Y2K compliant computer systems in the world are those that control and monitor nuclear weapons systems in the US and Russia. The US has some2,000 nuclear warheads in land- based silos, and the Russians have some 3,600 warheads in land based silos. (this doesn't count weapons in submarines, bombers, etc). These land- based missiles are able to be launched at a few minutes notice. A number of respected commentators have said that unless nuclear forces in Russia and the US are taken off hairtrigger alert before late December, there will be small but definite risk of accidental nuclear war due to simple Y2K- related computer error. In any case, with or without Y2K, taking nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert is a commonsense idea, strongly reccommended by the 1996 Canberra Commission and by a number of UN resolutions including one passed in the last few days. A global campaign exists to take all nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert. The UK has already done so. If you think it's an irresponsible risk to the entire planet to keep nuclear forces on alert even over the Y2K rollover, when no matter how much has been spent on Y2K 'remediation' we cannot be certain that it is all going to work flawlessly on the day, then PLEASE let Secretary Cohen, Clinton, Yeltsin and Sergeyev (in that order of priority) know that you want them taken off alert. You can fax US Defence Secretary Cohen on +1-703-695-1149, Clinton on +1-202-456-2461, and Yeltsin and Sergeyev on +7-095-205-4330, If you have the time it's best to fax all three. if you can only fax one, fax Cohen. Sample letters are below. Study them and write your own, or just send this as below. Do study the sample letters below and fax to Cohen/Clinton and Yeltsin/Sergeyev. And if you are an organisation, do please sign the big sign-on letter. It will help to make the planet a safer place! 1)SAMPLE LETTER TO COHEN/CLINTON (THIS IS FOR INDIVIDUALS TO USE TO SEND TO COHEN AND CLINTON YOURSELVES.) TO: WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE, +1-703-695-1149, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US, +1-202-456-2461 Dear President Clinton and Secretary for Defence Cohen, I am writing to urge your administration to take US nuclear forces off 'hairtrigger alert' even if only during the Y2K rollover period. It is particularly disturbing that you are reported as having stated in Moscow that de-alerting of nuclear forces is 'off the table' as a stability building measure. You have also been quoted as saying that 'The better course is reduction, limiting the number of weapons, and establishing shared early warning centers'. These measures are not in competition with each other. All of them - reductions in the number of weapons, the establishment of shared early warning centers and de-alerting - are vital to the reduction of tension and the establishment of strategic stability. This is particularly the case in view of the uncertainties posed by the millennium date change (Y2K). As you are well aware, the largest and oldest computer system complexes in the world are those that control nuclear weapons systems. The very nature of the Y2K problem makes it impossible to be sure everything has been fixed until well into the new year. Russia has, until recently, made little effort to even acknowledge the Y2K problem, let alone fix it. It is therefore quite possible that Russian computerized control systems are not Y2K compliant and that they will experience widespread failures during the Y2K rollover period. Even more disquieting is the fact that that the Russians have constructed the system known as 'Perimeter', or the 'dead hand'. This system seems to include additional ways in which Y2K failure might lead to an accidental launch. The establishment of a Y2K strategic stability center in Colorado is certainly an advantageous move and an absolutely essential one. However, it does not entirely remove the danger of an accidental launch of nuclear weapons. The fact that the Center is scheduled, as far as we the public are aware, to come into operation only on December 27th, four days prior to the rollover, is far from reassuring. A four day delay will render it useless. Similarly, the center itself will depend on the availability of ultra-reliable hotlines between it and Moscow. The Y2K vulnerabilities discovered in six of the seven hotlines established during the cold war period are also cause for deep concern. If nuclear weapons are removed from a status in which they can be launched within minutes, and placed in one which would require at least days to launch, the risk of an accidental missile launch induced by Y2K or other errors in command and control systems will be virtually eliminated. This has been done by the UK, which has moved the 'notice to fire' for its missile forces from minutes to days. De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra Commission in 1996 as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's and this years text of the New Aganda Resolution in the UN General Assembly. In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the Australian Senate on 12 August and 20September. In taking De-alerting 'off the table', the United States is making a serious error. Failure to take nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K 'rollover' period is an error that has the potential of causing unthinkable consequences. The probability of this may be low, but it will never be zero as long as nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert. In a previous administration, President Bush took strategic bomber forces off alert. We urge you to do this with all US nuclear forces. (SIGNED) etc. 2)SAMPLE LETTER TO YELTSIN/DEFENCE MINISTER SERGEYEV (THIS SAMPLE LETTER IS FOR YOU PERSONALLY TO FAX, CUSTOMIZED AS YOU FEEL BEST, TO YELTSIN AND DEFENCE MINISTER SERGEYEV. PLEASE DO FAX IT AND SEND IT NOW.) PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, IGOR SERGEYEV, RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER, +7-095-205-4330, 'Dear Defence Minister Sergeyev and President Yeltsin, I am writing to convey my deep concern that Y2K-related computer failures in the command and control systems for nuclear weapons may lead to an accidental nuclear war. I am aware that both Russia and the US have taken this problem seriously enough to establish a joint strategic stability center in Colorado. However, I am very much concerned that this facility will come into operation only by 27th December 1999, so that a delay of just four days will make it useless. I am also very much concerned that Y2K problems have been found in six out of seven of the 'hotlines' that would be used if a crisis of any sort arose over the Y2K rollover period. I am aware that there have been a number of occasions when either the US or Russia have mistakenly believed that the other nation was in the process of launching a nuclear attack. With 3,600 Russian warheads on 700 missiles and 2,000 US warheads on 500 missiles, with each side capable to launch within roughly 20 minutes, this must never be allowed to happen, either over the Y2K 'rollover', or at any other time. The use of 5,600 warheads would certainly mean the end of what we call civilization, would likely mean the end of the human race and could possibly mean the end of all life. I therefore urge both you and the United States, to place all your nuclear forces in a status in which at least days not minutes, would be required to launch . The United Kingdom has, I understand, already done this. The immediate stakes are so high and the potential for global catastrophe is so great, that mutually verified de-alerting of nuclear forces in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of political and national security.' (Signed) etc. John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 12:55:50 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) FAX NOW TO TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT FOR Y2K FAX COHEN, YELTSIN NOW TO TAKE N-WEAPONS OFF ALERT FOR Y2K (Please forward this email to everyone you know. Sorry for the inevitable multiple postings.) Dear All who recieve this email, I am emailing you to ask you to send a fax to the US Secretary for Defence, William Cohen and to President Yeltsin and his Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev, asking them to take their strategic nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K 'rollover' period at least. Arguably it could be the most important fax you ever make. That is why I have sent this out to so many people unasked, and thats why this appeal will be posted a few times. I ask you to be patient with that, as the subject is (at least potentially) literally the end of the world. If you are an organisation, I also urge you to sign on to the global de-alerting letter to Yeltsin and Clinton, now signed by over 460 organisations, that can be found on: http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html We are 54 days away from the Year2000 date change. The largest, oldest, and initially at least, the least Y2K compliant computer systems in the world are those that control and monitor nuclear weapons systems in the US and Russia. The US has some2,000 nuclear warheads in land- based silos, and the Russians have some 3,600 warheads in land based silos. (this doesn't count weapons in submarines, bombers, etc). These land- based missiles are able to be launched at a few minutes notice. A number of respected commentators have said that unless nuclear forces in Russia and the US are taken off hairtrigger alert before late December, there will be small but definite risk of accidental nuclear war due to simple Y2K- related computer error. In any case, with or without Y2K, taking nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert is a commonsense idea, strongly reccommended by the 1996 Canberra Commission and by a number of UN resolutions including one passed in the last few days. A global campaign exists to take all nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert. The UK has already done so. If you think it's an irresponsible risk to the entire planet to keep nuclear forces on alert even over the Y2K rollover, when no matter how much has been spent on Y2K 'remediation' we cannot be certain that it is all going to work flawlessly on the day, then PLEASE let Secretary Cohen, Clinton, Yeltsin and Sergeyev (in that order of priority) know that you want them taken off alert. You can fax US Defence Secretary Cohen on +1-703-695-1149, Clinton on +1-202-456-2461, and Yeltsin and Sergeyev on +7-095-205-4330, If you have the time it's best to fax all three. if you can only fax one, fax Cohen. Sample letters are below. Study them and write your own, or just send this as below. Do study the sample letters below and fax to Cohen/Clinton and Yeltsin/Sergeyev. And if you are an organisation, do please sign the big sign-on letter. It will help to make the planet a safer place! 1)SAMPLE LETTER TO COHEN/CLINTON (THIS IS FOR INDIVIDUALS TO USE TO SEND TO COHEN AND CLINTON YOURSELVES.) TO: WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE, +1-703-695-1149, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US, +1-202-456-2461 Dear President Clinton and Secretary for Defence Cohen, I am writing to urge your administration to take US nuclear forces off 'hairtrigger alert' even if only during the Y2K rollover period. It is particularly disturbing that you are reported as having stated in Moscow that de-alerting of nuclear forces is 'off the table' as a stability building measure. You have also been quoted as saying that 'The better course is reduction, limiting the number of weapons, and establishing shared early warning centers'. These measures are not in competition with each other. All of them - reductions in the number of weapons, the establishment of shared early warning centers and de-alerting - are vital to the reduction of tension and the establishment of strategic stability. This is particularly the case in view of the uncertainties posed by the millennium date change (Y2K). As you are well aware, the largest and oldest computer system complexes in the world are those that control nuclear weapons systems. The very nature of the Y2K problem makes it impossible to be sure everything has been fixed until well into the new year. Russia has, until recently, made little effort to even acknowledge the Y2K problem, let alone fix it. It is therefore quite possible that Russian computerized control systems are not Y2K compliant and that they will experience widespread failures during the Y2K rollover period. Even more disquieting is the fact that that the Russians have constructed the system known as 'Perimeter', or the 'dead hand'. This system seems to include additional ways in which Y2K failure might lead to an accidental launch. The establishment of a Y2K strategic stability center in Colorado is certainly an advantageous move and an absolutely essential one. However, it does not entirely remove the danger of an accidental launch of nuclear weapons. The fact that the Center is scheduled, as far as we the public are aware, to come into operation only on December 27th, four days prior to the rollover, is far from reassuring. A four day delay will render it useless. Similarly, the center itself will depend on the availability of ultra-reliable hotlines between it and Moscow. The Y2K vulnerabilities discovered in six of the seven hotlines established during the cold war period are also cause for deep concern. If nuclear weapons are removed from a status in which they can be launched within minutes, and placed in one which would require at least days to launch, the risk of an accidental missile launch induced by Y2K or other errors in command and control systems will be virtually eliminated. This has been done by the UK, which has moved the 'notice to fire' for its missile forces from minutes to days. De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra Commission in 1996 as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's and this years text of the New Aganda Resolution in the UN General Assembly. In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the Australian Senate on 12 August and 20September. In taking De-alerting 'off the table', the United States is making a serious error. Failure to take nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K 'rollover' period is an error that has the potential of causing unthinkable consequences. The probability of this may be low, but it will never be zero as long as nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert. In a previous administration, President Bush took strategic bomber forces off alert. We urge you to do this with all US nuclear forces. (SIGNED) etc. 2)SAMPLE LETTER TO YELTSIN/DEFENCE MINISTER SERGEYEV (THIS SAMPLE LETTER IS FOR YOU PERSONALLY TO FAX, CUSTOMIZED AS YOU FEEL BEST, TO YELTSIN AND DEFENCE MINISTER SERGEYEV. PLEASE DO FAX IT AND SEND IT NOW.) PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN, IGOR SERGEYEV, RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER, +7-095-205-4330, 'Dear Defence Minister Sergeyev and President Yeltsin, I am writing to convey my deep concern that Y2K-related computer failures in the command and control systems for nuclear weapons may lead to an accidental nuclear war. I am aware that both Russia and the US have taken this problem seriously enough to establish a joint strategic stability center in Colorado. However, I am very much concerned that this facility will come into operation only by 27th December 1999, so that a delay of just four days will make it useless. I am also very much concerned that Y2K problems have been found in six out of seven of the 'hotlines' that would be used if a crisis of any sort arose over the Y2K rollover period. I am aware that there have been a number of occasions when either the US or Russia have mistakenly believed that the other nation was in the process of launching a nuclear attack. With 3,600 Russian warheads on 700 missiles and 2,000 US warheads on 500 missiles, with each side capable to launch within roughly 20 minutes, this must never be allowed to happen, either over the Y2K 'rollover', or at any other time. The use of 5,600 warheads would certainly mean the end of what we call civilization, would likely mean the end of the human race and could possibly mean the end of all life. I therefore urge both you and the United States, to place all your nuclear forces in a status in which at least days not minutes, would be required to launch . The United Kingdom has, I understand, already done this. The immediate stakes are so high and the potential for global catastrophe is so great, that mutually verified de-alerting of nuclear forces in the face of the Y2K computer problem must take precedence over all other considerations of political and national security.' (Signed) etc. John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, Fax(61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Nov 1999 07:38:16 -0500 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Abolition Global Caucus Is this instead of igc.apc.org? Ellen At 04:39 PM 11/4/99 -0800, you wrote: >Dear Friends, > >I am happy to announce that Egroups.com will now host the Abolition Global >Caucus. ____________________________________________________________ * Peace Through Reason - http://prop1.org - Convert the War Machines! * ____________________________________________________________ - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 21:26:41 -0800 (PST) From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) US Nuclear Weapons Program I am trying to write a letter to the editor about our nuclear weapons program. What new nuclear weapons are we preparing to produce over the next few years? How many nuclear weapons will we produce, and for how much? (I have heard or read 80 nuclear weapons, and $24.6 billion per year for nuclear weapons, and $4.5 billion/year for the Stockpile Stewardship Program). What is the difference between Stockpile Stewardship, and the total nuclear weapons program? - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 22:02:38 -0800 (PST) From: Timothy Bruening Subject: (abolition-usa) Nuclear Weapons and 10th Anniversary Of End Of Cold War Below is a letter I sent to the editor about nuclear weapons: To the editor: November 9th is the 10th anniversary of the end of the Cold War and the opening of the Berlin Wall. On this 10th anniversary, I would like the great reporters of this great newspaper to ask President Clinton, Presidential candidates, and other politicians the following questions: I. Ten years after the end of the Cold War, both the US and Russia continue to keep the bulk of their nuclear missiles on high level "hair-trigger" alert, ready to launch on the mere warning of an attack. Within just a few minutes of receiving instructions to fire, a large fraction of the US and Russian land-based rockets (which are armed with about 2,000 and 3,500 warheads respectively) could begin their 25-minute flights over the North Pole to their targets. Less than 15 minutes after receiving the order to attack, six US Trident submarines at sea could fire about 1,000 warheads and several Russian ballistic missile submarines could launch between 300 and 400. Why do the U.S. and Russia still maintain thousands of nuclear warheads on hair trigger alert, ready to blow up each other within half an hour? Do you believe that such a situation enhances our security? II. 10 years after the end of the Cold War, the U.S. still deploys 6,000 nuclear warheads. Why do we still have so many nuclear weapons (when the Pentagon says that 5,000 would be enough, and it would take only a few hundred at most to devastate any nation in the world)? III. The U.S. has a "Stockpile Stewardship and Management" program, intended to maintain and expand U.S. nuclear weapons capabilities well into the next century. A DOE document admits that "The ability to design nuclear weapons is the core of DOE program and is utilized in all other aspects of the program ... The nuclear design capability will be maintained by pursuing an understanding of the underlying physics of nuclear weapons and exercising the process of design of nuclear weapons ... A limited number of new nuclear component design requirements are foreseeable in the future." (U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Defense Programs, Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan, February 29, 1996, unclassified version, p. VII-3). The Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program includes "subcritical" nuclear tests (7 since 1997, using amounts of plutonium too small to "go critical" and cause a nuclear explosion), supercomputer simulations of nuclear explosions, and the National Ignition Facility (which would use 192 lasers to cause small fusion explosions, helping weapons scientists advance their knowledge of nuclear explosions). During the next decade, taxpayers will spend about $45 billion for this program, an annual rate higher than the Cold War average. How can the U.S. expect other nations to not develop or test nuclear weapons if we conduct nuclear tests and continue to develop nuclear weapons? Why is the U.S. still developing new nuclear weapons, such as an earth penetrating warhead (B61-11)? With the USSR gone, who are we planning to use nuclear weapons against? IV. In response to our 7 subcritical nuclear tests (which the DOE claims is "fully consistent with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty"), the Russians have conducted their own subcritical nuclear tests at Novaya Zemlya. Opponents of the CTBT seized on the Russian subcritical tests as a reason to vote against the CTBT. How can U.S. subcritical tests be consistent with the CTBT and Russian subcritical tests be inconsistent with the CTBT? Isn't this hypocritical? V. Opponents of the recently rejected CTBT argued that it would prevent further US advances in nuclear weapons. This implies that they favor continued U.S. development of nuclear weapons. How do they expect other nations to not develop nuclear weapons if the U.S. continues to develop nuclear weapons? - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 16:51:12 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) letters, faxes, emails, burnout, and excess Lately I've been trying to revive a campaign to get people to send faxes to William Cohen, US defence secretary, and Yeltsin. This was preceded by a sign on letter to US Defence Secretary Cohen. The sign on letter was faxed with around 100 signatures on Saturday, Sydney time (18 hours ahead of US time, or 6 hours behind on the following day). The feedback I recieved is that people may not understand whay I am asking them to fax 'again'. This is the first time Cohen has been faxed. He has not been targeted before. He said not so long ago in Moscow that de-alerting was 'off the table', and as he is the responsible US official, this is bad news. He needs to hear, especially from US people, but from others also that this is a bad mistake and that he should put it back on the table very quickly. That's why I am asking people not only to sign on to the letter to Cohen, which has now gone, but also to fax him yourselves. I have certainly been persistent with this message but...yesterday was in fact the first time I had actually posted a request to people in the US to fax Cohen, and only the second time I have actually posted one to fax Yeltsin and Sergeyev. There have been many many requests to sign the big sign on letter. That is not the same thing. I will be posting similar requests at regular intervals till Mid december. Do please if you have not done so, don't just press delete until you have actually faxed or mailed either one or both of the folk I'm asking you to fax. This isn't meant to spam you, but to if possible, get nuclear weapons taken off alert. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #219 *********************************** - To unsubscribe to $LIST, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe $LIST" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.