From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #370 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 Thursday, August 31 2000 Volume 01 : Number 370 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 14:50:41 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) Final Faxing NMD/Star Wars Letter Saturday sign now John Hallam =46riends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord Street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, 2042 =46ax (61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd Over 300 organisations so far have signed this letter to stop NMD/Star Wars. Has yours signed it yet? (note that some very recent signatures may not be on this text yet) It has already been faxed once to Clinton, Cohen, Bush, Gore, and NATO prime ministers and foreign ministers. The final faxing is on Saturday. It will be released to media on september 6th in Sydney, Washington, London and Berlin. PLEASE SIGN BY EMAILING =46oE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign With your name, position, and organisational details including city AND COUNTRY. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, 1-202-456-2461, 1-202-456-2883, 1-202-456-6218, 1-202-456-6201, PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, +7-095-205-4330, +7-095-206-5173, +7-095-205-4219, PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR, 44-171-925-0918, PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC, +33-147-42-2465, PRIME MINISTER LIONEL JOSPIN +33-142-34-2677 GERMAN PRESIDENT, JOHANNES RAU, +49-030-20-00-19-99, CHANCELLOR GERHARD SCHROEDER, +49-228-56-2357, +49-30-4000-2357, PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN, YOSHIRO MORI, [FAX NO?] JEAN CHRETIEN, PRIME MINISTER, CANADA, +1-613-941-6900, KOSTAS SIMITIS, PRIME MINISTER OF GREECE, +301-671-6183 POUL NYRUP RASMUSSEN, PRIME MINISTER OF DENMARK, +45-33-11-1665 PRIME MINISTER DAVID ODDSSON, OF ICELAND, +354-622373, PRIME MINISTER MASSIMO D'ALEMA, OF ITALY, +39-6-678-3998 PRIME MINISTER JENS STOLTENBERG OF NORWAY, Fx:+47-2224-9500. +47-2224-2796 PRIME MINISTER WIM KOK, OF THE NETHERLANDS, +31-70-356-4683, CC US SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT +1-202-647-6047, US SECRETARY FOR DEFENCE, WILLIAM S. COHEN +1-703-695-1149, =46OREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA IGOR IVANOV, +7-095-247-2722, +7-095-293-3323, ROBIN COOK, UK MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, +44-171-829-2417, +44-171-270-2833, HUBERT VEDRINE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF FRANCE, +33-1-4317-5203, JOSCHKA FISCHER, FOREIGN MINISTER OF GERMANY +49-228-168-6662, +49-1888-171-928, +49-228-173-402, +49-30-201-861-924, YOHEI KONO, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF JAPAN, +81-3-3581-9675 LLOYD AXWORTHY, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, CANADA, +1-613-952-3904, +1-613-996-3546 LOUIS MICHEL, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF BELGIUM, +32-2-511-6385, THEODOROS PANGALOS, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF GREECE, +30-1-362-4195 George Bush Presidential Candidate, +1-512-637-8800. Al Gore, Presidential Candidate, +1-202-456-2461 Dear Presidents and Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers= , The undersigned NGO groups and Parliamentarians, representing millions of people, are writing: 1) To urge the US not to proceed with proposals for a National Missile Defence System (NMD), 2) To urge US allies to make the strongest representations in appropriate forums or bilaterally, to press the US government not to proceed with the deployment of NMD, and to maintain the integrity of the ABM Treaty. Proceeding with National Missile Defence threatens to undermine the basis of existing and future offensive nuclear arms reduction measures. We note the strong statements made on NMD by the Governments of France, Germany and Sweden, and the expressions of concern by other US allies including the UK, Canada, and the European Union. At the recent NPT Review Conference, the US together with 187 other countries, signed a final declaration that commits it to an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of its nuclear arsenal. Plans to deploy a missile defence system threaten that vital goal, to which the US is legally committed, together with all other NPT signatories. The final declaration of the NPT Review Conference expressly calls for: "the early implementation and entry into force of START-II and conclusion of START-III as soon as possible while preserving and strengthening the Antiballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty as a cornerstone of strategic stability and as a basis for further reductions of strategic offensive weapons in accordance with its provisions." We do not believe it is possible for this to be interpreted in a way that will allow the deployment of an NMD system, nor should it be so interpreted. We therefore urge the US and Russia instead to proceed to the negotiation of START-III at the lowest possible force levels and to the immediate implementation of START-II. We note that the UN Secretary-General, and representatives of Russia, China, the UK, France, Sweden, the European Community, the New Agenda Coalition and the Non-Aligned movement have expressed the view that the ABM treaty is the cornerstone of global strategic stability. The recent meeting of G8 foreign ministers has also expressed strong concern over the possibility that the ABM treaty may be abrogated to allow NMD to proceed, and has stated that they are 'deeply concerned' over missile proliferation as a result of NMD. The Australian Senate on June 29th, passed a motion in which it called on the US not to proceed with the deployment of an NMD system and in which it called for the implementation of START-II as soon as possible, and the negotiation of START-III at the lowest possible force levels. We note also recent expressions of concern within the US, by Congresspeople, Nobel laureates, and other distinguished and influential people and organizations. America should not simply ignore the strongly repeated opinion of governments and NGOs of the whole world, that NMD should not proceed, and that the integrity of the ABM treaty should be maintained. Missile defence schemes respond to an exaggerated perception of the missile threat from so-called 'Rogue States', (now termed 'States of Concern') are not the solution to missile proliferation, sabotage nuclear disarmament efforts to which the US is legally committed along with the rest of the world, and decrease overall US and international security. There are serious doubts whether this system, or whether any missile defence system, can ever work. The problems posed even by relatively simple decoys are probably technically insoluble. The Welch Panel, an independent team of scientists, released a report outlining the probability of NMD systems failure due to time and schedule constraints. Instead of pursuing missile defence, it is vital that the US focus on practical solutions to global strategic security. We therefore urge the US and Russia, as the highest priority, to proceed to the elimination of as many warheads as possible under any START-III agreement, the removal of obstacles to the implementation of START-II, and the removal of strategic missile forces from high alert status as advocated by the Canberra Commission, subsequent UN resolutions and the final NPT declaration. Yours Sincerely, (Signed) Carah Ong, Coordinator, Abolition 2000, Santa Barbara, Calif., USA., Ian Maddocks, Chair, Dr. Mary Wynne-Asford, Co-President, Dr. John Loretz, Program Director, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), BC Canada/Cambridge, USA., Colin Archer, Secretary-General, Kate Dewes, Vice-President, International Peace Bureau (IPB), Geneva/NZ Bernice Boermans, Executive Director, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), Neth., Dan Plesch, Director, British-American Security Information Council (BASIC), Washington/London, Bruna Nota, International President, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Geneva/NY., Dr. John Burroughs,Executive Director, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP), NY/NZ., Pol D'Huyvetter, For Mother Earth International, Ghent, Belgium, Michael L. Gold, VP North American Affairs, UN Envoy, International Association of Educators for World Peace,(IAEWP) (100 countries), Karen Talbot, International Centre for Peace and Justice (ICPJ) Ricardo Navarro, Chair, Friends of the Earth International (FOEI), El Salvador/Amsterdam, Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth El Salvador,(CESTA) El Salvador, Jarna Pasaren, Friends of the Earth Finland, Turku, Finland, Peep Mardiste, Friends of the Earth Estonia, Tartu, Estonia, Victor Khazan, MP, Friends of the Earth Ukraine, Member, Ukrainian Parliamen= t. Kika Kapela, Friends of the Earth Cyprus, Lonnenga Ginting, Campaign Director, Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI), Jakarta, Indonesia, =46ahmi Rizal, WALHI-Acheh, Daniel Sanchez, Amigos de la Tierra Espana, Madrid, Spain, Brent Blackwelder, President, Friends of the Earth United States, Washington, DC., USA., Commander Robert D. Green, RN (Retd.) Chair, World Court Project UK., NZ/UK.= , Dave Knight, Chair, Rae Street, Vice-Chair, CND UK., Dave Webb, Yorkshire CND, Yorks, UK., Jenny Maxwell, West Midlands CND, Birmingham, UK., R. Ralph Say, Woking Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), UK., Jill Stallard, CND-Cymru, Wales, Peter Nicholls, Acting Chair, Abolition-2000 UK, London, UK., Anni Rainbow and Lindis Percy, Campaign for the Accountability of US Bases, (CAAB), Yorkshire, UK., Dr. Chris Busby, Low-Level Radiation Campaign, UK., Liz Waterson, Gillian Reeve, Executive Director, MEDACT, UK., Jane Tallents, Trident-Ploughshares, UK. Caroline Nursey, Clerk, Quaker Peace and Service Central Committee, London, UK., =46rank Cook MP, Vice-President, NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Vice-Chair, Defence and Security Committee, David Drew MP, House of Commons., London, UK., Malcolm K. Savidge MP House of Commons, London, UK., Stephen Mc Closkey, One World Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Dr Heinz-Peter Romberg, Xanthe Hall, IPPNW-Germany, Berlin, Regina Hagen, Darmstadter Friedensforum, Darmstadt, Germany, Claus Biegert, Nuclear Free Future Award, Munich, Germany, Eva Quistorp, Women for Peace, Berlin, Germany, Manfred Stenner, Director, Network of the German Peace Movement, Bonn, Germa= ny, Wolfgang Schupp-Hauck, Friedens und Begegungsstaette Mutlangen, Mutlangen, Germany, Roland Blach, Non-Violent Action to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Kornwesthiem, Germany, Jan Gildemiester, Director, Action Committee Service for Peace (AGDEF), Bonn, Germany, Matthias Reichl, Centre for Encounter and Non-Violence, Bad Ischl, Austria, Plattform Gegen Atomgefahr, Linz, Austria, Daniel Durand, Secy, Mouvement de la Paix, Paris, France, Bruno Barrilot, Director, L'Obervatoire des Armes Nucl=E9aires Francaises, Lyons, France, Helene Connor, Director, HELIO International, Paris, France., Dr Josep Puig, Chair, Dr Joaquim Corominas, Vice-Chair, Scientists and Technologists Group for a Non-Nuclear Future, Barcelona, Spain, Grupo Autonomo di Volontariato Civile in Italia (GAVCI), Bolongna, Italy, Dr Joachim Lau, Italian Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA-Italy), =46lorence, Italy, Martin Schwander, Swiss Peace Movement, Basel, Switz., David Schmitter, Global Initiative for Immediate Disarmament, Switz, Dr Arthur Muhl, IPPNW Switzerland, Malla Kantola, Secretary-General, Committee of 100 in Finland, Helsinki, =46inland, Ulla Lehtinen, President, First Peoples, Turku, Finland., Bjorn Hilt, Chair, Kirsten Osen, Vice-Chair, Anne Grieg MD, IPPNW Norway, Horten, Norway., Thor Magnusson, Peace 2000 Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland, Gunnar Westberg, President,Swedish Physicians Against Nuclear War (SLMK) Sweden, Jorma Kahanpaa, Swedish Anti-Nuclear Movement, Agneta Norberg, Women for Peace, Sweden, Agneta Norberg, 'Living Future', Sweden, Agneta Norberg, Swedish Peace Committee,Sweden, Agneta Norberg, Swedish Womens Left Association,Sweden, Agneta Norberg, Peace in Kurdistan,Sweden, Agneta Norberg, Peace in Iraq,Sweden, Poul-Eck S=D8rensen, Peace Movement of Esbjerg, Denmark., =46inn Eckman, Liason Committee for Peace and Security, Copenhagen, Denmark, Karel Koster, Project on European Nuclear Nonproliferation (PENN - -Netherlands), Neth., Hans Lammerant, Forum Voor Vredesaktie, Antwerp, Belgium, Eloi Glorieux, MP, Flemish Regional Parliament, Belgium, Peter Vanhoutte, MP, Member of the Belgian Parliament, Brussells, Belg, Biljana Stevanovska, Association for Sustainable Development, Skopje, Macedonia, Vladimir Sliviak, 'ECODEFENSE', Russia, Alisa Nikoulina, Social-Ecological Union Antinuclear Campaign, Moscow, Galina Ragouzhina, World Information Service on Energy(WISE) Russia, Alexandra Koroleva, Baltic Research and Action Centre, Kaliningrad, Professor A.V. Yablokov, President, Centre for Russian Environmental Policy, Moscow, Russia, Andrei Laletin, Chair, Friends of the Siberian Forests, Russia, Nikolai Zubov, CEO, Krasnoyarsk Social-Ecological Union, Russia, Alla Shevchuck, Chairwoman, Odessa Branch Social-Ecological Union, Odessa, Ukraine, Paul Saoke, IPPNW, Kenya, Bahig Nassar, Coordinator, Arab Coordination Centre of NGO's, Egypt, Boaz Fyler, Campaign Director, Green Action, Tel Aviv, Israel, Roy Cabonegro, Secy-General, YSDA Phillipines, Losena T Salabula, Assistant Director Demilitarisation, Pacific Concerns Resource Centre(PCRC)/Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP), Suva, =46iji, Jean P. Patterson, Heredia Disarmament Committee, San Jose, Costa-Rica., Luis Guttierez Esparza, President, Latin American Circle for International Studies, Mexico City, Mexico, Dr Carlos Puzos, IPPNW Cuba, Grace De Haro, Suzanne Schultz, Lihue Association, Patagonia, Argentina, Alfred Felix Perez Aruaza, Environmental Strategic Research Council, Uruguay= , Alfredo Felix Perez Aruaza, Instituto de Estudios Estrategicos No Alineado Para la Paz Mundial, Uruguay, Eusebio Garcia Varela, Mesa Ambientista de San Jose de Mayo, Uruguay, Blanca Nivia Peirano, Corporacion Nacional de Ecologia y Turismo del Uruguay= , Gonzalo Ciganda, Instituto Naval de Arqueologica Subaciutica e Investigaciones Marinas del Uruguay, Psilink Uruguay, Mesa Social Coordinadora de NGO Independientes del Uruguay, Geovision Tercer Milenio, Grupo de Derechos Civiles del Uruguay, Comision Nacional de Solidaridad Uruguayo-Argentino, =46elix Perez Aruaza, South American Peace Committee, Uruguay, S. P. Udayakumar, South Asian Community Centre for Education and Research, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India, Dr Kamrul, Bangladesh Medical Association, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dr. Ronald Mc Coy, Chair, Malaysian Physicians Against Nuclear War (IPPNW), Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Siti Maimunah, Kappala Indonesia, East Java, Indonesia., Syafryzaldi, Walhi Sumbar, Padang, Indonesia., Rally Syumanda, deputy Director, ULAYAT, Bengkulu, Indonesia., Tanty Thamrin, Yayasan Pendidikan Rakyat Bulukumbu, Sulawesi, Indonesia, Berry Nahdian Forquian, Executive Director, Yayasan Cakrawala Hijau Indonesia, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Iwamatsu Shigetoshi, Chair, Japan Congress Against A and H Bombs (Gensuikin) Tokyo, Japan, Hiro Umebayashi, International Coordinator, Pacific Campaign for Disarmament and Security (PCDS), Japan., Sachiyo Oki, Japanese Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, (JPPNW), Hiroshima, Japan, Youk Kyung Sook, Coordinator, Green Korea United, Seoul, S. Korea, Chauyen Lai Shrestha, President, Youth Alliance for Development, Kathmandhu, Nepal, Senator Doug Roche, Senator, Ottowa, Canada., Niel Arya, President, Physicians for Global Survival,(PGS) Canada., Joyce Lydiard, WILPF-British Columbia, Canada., Gordon Edwards, President, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility,(CCNR), Canada, Dr. Rosalie Bertell, International Institute of Concern for Public Health,(IICPH) Toronto, Canada., David Morgan, President, Veterans Against Nuclear Arms, Canada., Dr. Joan Russow, National Leader, Green Party of Canada, Victoria, BC., Dave Greenfield, Green Party of Canada, Saskatoon Chapter, Dr. Desmond Berghofer, Institute for Ethical Leadership, Vancouver, Linda Murphy, Inter-Church Uranium Committee, Sask, Canada, Niel Sinclair, New Green Alliance, Sask, Canada, Tryna Booth, Canadian Peace Alliance, Toronto, Canada, Dr. Jennifer Allen Simons, President, Dr. Penelope Simons, Vice-President, The Simons Foundation, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Carol Hodgson, Coordinator, OPIRG-Carleton, Ottowa, Canada., Jacques Boucher, Centre de Ressources sur la Non-Violence, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Project Peacemakers, Winnipeg, Canada, Edward H. Schaffer, Veterans Against Nuclear Arms(VANA), Canada, Rear-Admiral Eugene J. Carroll Jr, US Navy (Retd), Vice-President, Centre for Defence Information,(CDI) Washington, USA., Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, Program Director, Federation of American Scientists, (FAS), NY, Sally Light, Nuclear Weapons Program Analyst, Tri-Valley CARES, Livermore, Calif., USA., Alice Slater, President, Global Resource Action Centre for the Environment (GRACE) NY, USA, Michael Marriott, Director, Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), Washington, USA., Bill Smirnow, Nuclear-Free New York, NY, USA., Ellen Thomas, Executive Director, Proposition One Committee, Washington DC., USA., Martin Butcher, Director of Security Programs, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), Washington DC, USA., Bruce Gagnon, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Gainesville, Florida., Randall Forsberg, Director, Institute for Defence and Disarmament Studies, Cambridge, Mass, Michael D. Intriligator, Vice-Chair, Economists Allied for Arms Reduction (ECAAR), UCLA, USA., Jennifer Olaranna Viereck, Director, HOME, Tecopa, Calif.., Bob Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force, Rocky Mountains Conference, United Church of Christ, Colorado, USA., Rev H.J. Grapes, Sanctuary of Light Healing and Spiritual Centre, NY., USA., Don Reeves, General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA., Ruah Swennenfeldt/Stan Becker Clerk, Friends Committee on Unity with Nature, Burlington Vermont USA., Steve Willey, Sandpoint Friends Meeting, Idaho, USA., Rev. William J. Morton SSC, Coordinator, Columban Mission Office, El Paso, Texas, USA., Rev Leland P. Stewart, Unity-and Diversity World Council, Los Angeles, CA., Lori Redhair-Martin, Planetary Transformations, Grover Beach, CA, USA., Ross Mc Cluney PhD, Principal Research Scientist, Florida Solar Energy Centre, Florida,(pers. capy) Mark Colby, Office Manager, Solar Energy International, Colo, USA., John Reese, Community Action Network, Seattle, Wash, USA., Terry Gips, President, Alliance for Sustainability, Minneapolis, Mn,USA., John M. Laforge, 'Nukewatch', Wisconsin, USA., Paige Knight, Hanford Watch, Portland, Ore, USA., Barbara Weidener, Grandmothers for Peace International, Calif.., Alan Moore, Peace and Justice Commission, City of Berkley, Alan Moore, Patch Adams Peace and Justice Centre, Alan Moore, Butterfly Gardeners Association, Anthony Guarisco, Alliance of Atomic Veterans, USA., Phyllis S. Yingling, Chair, Kay Camp, Former Chair, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) USA., Yoshiko Ikuta President, Women Speak out for Peace and Justice,(WILPF-Cleveland), Cleveland Ohio, Margo Schepart, Coordinator, NO ESCAPE, NY, USA., Lynn Sims, Don't Waste Oregon, Portland, Ore, USA., Deb Katz, Citizens Awareness Network, Shelburne, Mass, USA., Sherry Larsen-Beville, Livermore Conversion Project, Livermore, USA., Mary Byrd-Davis, Yggdrassil Institute, Georgetown, KY, USA., Paul Williams, Green Party of New Jersey, Atlantic City, NJ., Samara Dun, Just Act: Youth Action for Global Justice, San Francisco, Calif., USA., Corrinne Carey, Don't Waste Michigan, Grand Rapids, Mich, USA., Michael J. Keegan, Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes, Monroe, Mich., Keith Gunter, Citizens Resistance at Fermi-Two, Monroe, Michigan, John M. Laforge, Nukewatch, Wisconsin, USA., Mary-Anne Zepettello, Peace Action Central New York., Susan Shaer, Womens Action for New Directions, (WAND), Arlington, MA, USA., Lt-Col WC Holmberg (Retd), President, Global Biorefineries, Wash, DC., Tracy Moavero, Peace Action Education Fund, USA., Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, Project EDNA, Brooklyn, NY., USA., Corbin Harney, Shundahai Network, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA., Jon Naar, New York Solar Coalition, Steve Jambeck/Joan Flynn, Envirovideo, Queens, NY., Motoki Hashima., President, American University Coalition for a Nuclear-Free World, American University, Washington DC., Alfred L. Marder, President, United States Peace Council, Joanie Misrack, Pathways to Peace, Larkspur, CA., USA., Diane Bader, Grandmothers for Peace, Wilton, CA, USA., Dr Kathleen Sullivan, Project EDNA (Engaged Democracy for the Nuclear Age), Brooklyn, NY, USA., Marcus P. Blaise-Paige, Nevada Desert Experience (NDE), Las Vegas, Nev/Calif, USA, Sandi Brockway, President/Founder, Macrocosm USA., Ca, USA., Richard L. Salvador, Pacific Island Association of NGOs, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA., Marion Hancock, Coordinator, Peace Foundation, Aotearoa/NZ., Auckland, NZ, Kate Dewes, Disarmament and Security Centre, (DSC), Christchurch, NZ., Dr. R. E. White, Deputy Director, Centre for Peace Studies, University of Auckland, NZ., Jim Holdom, CORSO, Hamilton, NZ., Megan Hutching, Secy, Dame Laurie Salas, WILPF-Aotearoa, Wellington, NZ/Aotearoa Leona Fay, Womens International League for Peace (WILPF), Christchurch, NZ, Carol-Anne Bradford, Coalition for Gun Control, Auckland, NZ., Richard Frizzell, Nelson Peace Group, Nelson, Aotearoa/NZ., Gerry Coates, Founder, Engineers for Social Responsibility, Wellington, NZ., Larry Ross, New Zealand Nuclear-Free Peacemaking Association, Christchurch, NZ., Ian Shearer, Sustainable Energy Forum, Wellington, New Zealand, Stewart Sontier, FAIR-NZ, Auckland, NZ., Dame Laurie Salas, Abolition 2000 NZ., Dame Laurie Salas, National Consultative Committee on Disarmament NZ., John Urlich, President, Peace Council of Aotearoa, Wellington, Aotearoa/NZ., Kieth Locke, MP, Greens, Aotearoa/NZ Dr. Carmen Lawrence MP, ALP Federal Member for Fremantle, W.A., Anthony Albanese MP, ALP Federal Member for Grayndler, NSW., Tanya Plibersek, ALP Federal Member for Sydney, NSW., Allan Morris MP, ALP Federal Member for Newcastle, NSW., Daryl Melham MP, ALP Federal Member for Banks, NSW., Kelly Hoare MP, ALP Federal Member for Charlton, NSW, Warren Snowdon MP, ALP Federal Member for the Northern Territory, Jan Mc Farlane, ALP Federal Member for Stirling, W.A., Colin Hollis, ALP Federal Member for Throsby, NSW., Senator Bob Brown, Australian Greens Senator for Tasmania, Senator Vicky Bourne, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson for the Democrats, Democrat Senator for NSW., Senator George Campbell, ALP Senator for NSW, Senator Chris Schacht, ALP Senator for SA., Senator Brian Grieg, Democrat Senator for W.A., Cheryl Davenport, MLC, Member for South Metropolitan, W.A., Norm Kelly MLC, Member for North Metropolitan, W.A., Lee Rhiannon MLC (Greens) NSW., Richard Jones MLC, (Ind) NSW., Kerrie Tucker MLA, Greens Member for Molonglo ACT, Don Nardella MLA, ALP Member for Melton, Vic., Gis Watson MLC, Member for North Metropolitan, W.A., Ralph Clark, ALP State Member for Ross Smith, SA., Robyn Geraghty, ALP State Member for Torrens, SA., =46rank Pangallo, Mayor, Queenbeyan City Council, Gareth Smith, Nuclear Disarmament Party, Vic., Dr. Susan Wareham, Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW) Canberra, Dr Rachel Darken, MAPW Queensland, Irene Gale AM, Australian Peace Committee, Adelaide, SA, Babs Fuller-Quinn, Australian Peace Committee Sydney, Jack Forward, Central Coast Peace Forum, Doreen Burrows, South Coast Peace Committee, George Gotsis, Greek Peace Committee, (Sydney) Brian Miller, Hiroshima Day Committee Sydney Jo Vallentine, People For Nuclear Disarmament (PND) W.A., Scientists and Technologists Against Nuclear Dumping (STAND) W.A., Robin Chapple, Anti-Nuclear Alliance of W.A., Hannah Middleton, Anti-Bases Campaign, Denis Doherty, Pax Christi NSW Reverend Professor James Haire, President, Uniting Church in Australia, Rev. Greg Thompson, St Johns Anglican Church Darlinghurst, NSW., Anne Wharton, Christians for Peace, Darwin, NT., Pauline Mitchell, Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament, (CICD) Melb, Vic., Jacob Grech, Earthworker, Trades Hall, Melb., Cherie Hoyle, Urban Ecology Australia, Kirsten Blair, Coordinator, Environment Centre of the Northern Territory (ECNT), Darwin, NT, Rowena Skinner, Environment Centre of W.A.(ECWA), Perth, W.A., Glenn Marshall, Arid Lands Environment Centre (ALEC), Alice Springs, NT., Dave Sweeney, Nuclear Campaigner, Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), Melb., Alec Marr, Campaign Director, The Wilderness Society,(TWS), Canberra, Hon. Dr Doug Everingham, Member, NCCPD, Qld, Margaret Reynolds, United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA), John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Australia Sydney, Australia, John Hallam =46riends of the Earth Sydney, 17 Lord Street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, 2042 =46ax (61)(2)9517-3902 ph (61)(2)9517-3903 nonukes@foesyd.org.au http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd - - 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: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 09:52:54 +0100 From: Sally Light Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: [abolition-caucus] (SAAN Post) Lessons from the 'kursk' Catastrophe Dear Mr. Kapoor, Thank you for posting this excellent article. In view of the dreadful history of nuclear subs, the recent Russian tragedy and the potential for numerous additional disasters, perhaps now is the time to create a sign-on letter to Putin, Clinton and other government officials to remove all nuclear subs from operation. Would anyone care to draft and circulate such a letter (a la John Hallam of FOE in Sydney, Australia)? Sally Light Executive Director Nevada Desert Experience Harsh Kapoor wrote: > -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> > GET A NEXTCARD VISA, in 30 seconds! Get rates > of 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Ongoing APR* and no annual fee! > Apply NOW! > http://click.egroups.com/1/7872/3/_/91925/_/967721008/ > ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> > > |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| > South Asians Against Nukes Post > 31 August 2000 > |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| > > Appeared in "The Times of India", August 30, 2000 > > PLAYING WITH NUCLEAR FIRE > > LESSONS FROM THE 'KURSK' CATASTROPHE > > By PRAFUL BIDWAI > > In March 1994, Aleksandr Nikitin, then a 44 year-old former submarine > captain, published a report on the appalling state of safety in Russia's > Northern Fleet, which handles the bulk of the country's nuclear-powered > submarines. Using publicly available information, he painstakingly > documented the Fleet's declining operation and maintenance standards, > accumulating and overflowing radioactive waste, steeply falling budgets and > morale, and the growing scarcity of spares, and warned of a series of > disasters. Nikitin was arrested in February 1995 and charged with espionage > and treason, punishable with death. Detained for months without trial, > Nikitin was not allowed to choose his own lawyer. Finally, last year, he > was acquitted by the courts, but now faces another trial on the same charge. > > Welcome to the Kafkaesque world of nuclear weapons and submarines! The > Kursk tragedy hasn't ended. The submarine's two nuclear reactors, with a > 380 MW output, still lie108 metres deep inside a damage hull amidst > torpedoes, high explosives and other hazardous material. They contain an > estimated 1,200 kg of highly enriched uranium, mostly U-235, with a > half-life of a mind-boggling 710 million years. Therefore, huge quantities > of the radioisotope will continue to menace the marine environment and > humans for millions of generations to come. Even assuming that the reactors > were not damaged by the explosives that sank the sub, which seems unlikely, > dismantling the potent cocktail of uranium, hundreds of fission products > including deadly plutonium, and chemical explosives, will entail large > radioactivity exposures. The job will be incomparably more onerous than > accessing the sub's rear hatch--a week-long, super-expensive, > multi-national effort. Abandoning the sub would mean leaching radioactivity > into the environment. > > The Kursk is only one disaster that Nikitin forecast. "Much bigger ones > are waiting to happen around Murmansk and Severomorsk", he told me two > months ago in Stockholm. This severely depressed area of the Kola Peninsula > holds 21,000 nuclear fuel assemblies and one-fifth of the world's 1,200 > nuclear reactors--in patently unsafe, rapidly deteriorating, conditions. > More than 200 reactors are literally rotting aboard 110 submarines which > have been taken out of service. (About 180 Russian subs have been > decommissioned). The Fleet, which receives less than half its designated > minimum budget, has no money to dismantle the nuclear cores. Indeed, "it > often lacks money to buy rations for the crew", says Nikitin, whose case > this writer has followed since 1995. The result: scores of subs are > corroding and sinking as their reactor compartments fill with > water--presaging an ecological catastrophe. As bankrupt Russia's military > budgets shrink--now to less than half the level of India's--training, > maintenance and safety norms plummet further, making disaster likelier in > the world's largest nuclear arsenal. > > Russia's specific troubles are only one part of the nuclear submarine > story. The other two parts are generic. Nuclear submarines everywhere are > extraordinarily disaster-prone. And nuclear establishments everywhere > operate secretively, irrationally and in paranoid ways. Nuclear subs have > had serious accidents ever since they drove the Cold War's most furious > phase of arms racing, in which safety hardly mattered. Today, wreckages of > American and British as well as Russian subs lie on the earth's ocean > floor. There have been numerous accidents aboard US, France, British and > Russian submarines. "Greenpeace" has documented 121 "incidents" in the last > case, 10 of which caused reactor damage. There were also two core > meltdowns--a nuclear reactor's maximum accident--in 1979 and 1989. Nuclear > subs have inherent safety problems because they (like bombs) pack huge > amounts of energy in small volumes and operate in conditions much harsher > than civilian power reactors, themselves seriously accident-prone. A small > error gets magnified into a big crisis. > > The authorities' handling of the Kursk crisis further compounded the > catastrophe. They first denied, and then tried to deflect attention from, > its gravity. For four critical days, they refused offers of foreign > assistance out of hubris and "national pride". President Putin refused to > cut short his holiday. The British and Norwegians too delayed sending in > assistance. Russia's nucleocracy refused to disclose relevant information, > including the sailors' names, the sub's location, and the accident's > circumstances. According to independent sources, there were two internal > explosions, not a major collision, as claimed. Journalists had to bribe > naval officers to get the victims' list. Their number too was raised > without explanation from 116 to 118. When relations confronted them, the > bosses used KGB/CIA-style methods: forcibly injecting sedatives to silence > questioners. > > Such sordid behaviour is typical of all nuclear establishments. Whether in > the US or USSR, France or Iraq, China or Pakistan, these all-male "Dr > Strangelove outfits" are marked by excessive secrecy and dominated by > unaccountable "experts" who cynically exploit their privileged access to > information. Secrecy cuts across the democracy-dictatorship barrier. For 40 > years, the US refused to divulge facts about its terrifying radiation > experiments on humans, including injections of poisons. The N-5 have always > suppressed or denied unpleasant facts about their nuclear programmes. > Transparency and nuclear activities just don't jell. Nuclearism, with its > bellicose "national security" mindset, its crude male-supremacism, its > coarse social-Darwinism, its abiding faith in violence and mass > destruction, has little use for effete, "effeminate" or "idealistic" things > like human rights, social/gender justice or decency. Nuclear weapons and > democratic accountability are mutually antagonistic. > > All this applies a fortiori to India. The Atomic Energy Act (1962) betrays > utter contempt for accountability. It allows arbitrary suppression of all > information > --patently unconstitutional, according to V.K. Krishna Iyer. The atomic > energy department (DAE) is easily one of our most secretive. It has much to > hide: uranium mining hazards in Jadugoda, excessive irradiation of > power-plant workers, waste mismanagement, numbers regarding explosive > yields...Worse, we have our own Nikitin: former Captain B.K. Subba Rao who > too was charged in 1988 with spying and jailed for 20 months--until fully > exonerated by three courts. His real crime? Questioning the DAE's nuclear > sub (Advanced Technology Vessel) project, a spectacular Rs. 2,000 crore > failure. Evidence of "espionage"? His IIT-Bombay Ph.D thesis. > > However, we have an additional, special problem: unacceptably poor, > sub-Russian safety and reliability in India's nuclear and defence > establishments--witness 202 Air Force plane crashes in nine years, the Main > Battle Tank project mess, the Purulia arms drop, the distinction of having > six of the world's 10 dirtiest nuclear reactors; or for that matter, > industrial and road accident rates four to 12 times the OECD average. It > won't do to deny, Russian-style, India's poor safety culture and > disaster-proneness. We can't even run power-grids and surface transport > safely. It would be disastrous to let hubris drive us towards nuclear > catastrophe. We must freeze our nuclear and missile programmes and return > to the global disarmament agenda.--end-- > > To subscribe to the Abolition Global Caucus, send an email from the account you wish to be subscribed to: "abolition-caucus-subscribe@egroups.com" > > Do not include a subject line or any text in the body of the message. - - 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: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 08:15:15 -0400 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews 00/08/31 - Daybook; Presidential Candidates; Announcement - --=====================_109777818==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable 1) Washington Daybook - August 30, 2000 - Washington Times, Agence France-Presse http://www.washtimes.com/national/daybook-200083122253.htm 8:30 a.m. =97 Nuclear Regulatory Commission holds a meeting of the= Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards. Location: Conference Room T-2B3, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville. Contact: 301/415-6805. =20 Naval forces' capability discussion =97 all day =97 The National Academy= of Sciences hosts a meeting on "Naval Forces' Capability for Theater Missile Defense." Location: Cecil and Ida Green Building, 2001 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Contact: 202/334-3523. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson travels to Vladivostok, Russia to meet= with government and naval officials and attend commissioning ceremonies for cooperative work done at Russian Navy sites to enhance protection of nuclear materials - CONTACT: 202-586-5806 2) Presidential Candidates - - Vice President Al Gore - Seattle, WA August 31, 2000 11 a.m. - Promotes a real enforceable Patient's Bill of= Rights with vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman, Westlake Park, 4th Avenue and Pine Street, Seattle, WA; CONTACT: 202-456-7035 - - G.W BUSH - Toledo, OH and Louisville, KY Toledo, Ohio:=20 10:00 a.m. - 100th School Visit, Springfield High School, 1470 South McCord Road, Holland, Ohio, (419) 867-5633=20 Louisville, Kentucky:=20 1: 45 p.m. - 101st School Visit, Location: Butler Traditional High School, 2222 Crumf Lane, Louisville, Kentucky, (502) 485-8220=20 3) Announcements - Colorado Senator Allard and Rep. Udall announced a press conference to= be held at 2pm on Thursday, 8/31 at the east side of Rocky Flats, in the buffer zone, to announce the joint legislation for a National Wildlife Refuge at= the defunct nuclear weapons facility. This is not a site for a future petting= zoo. It needs to be off limits for perpetuity, as the contamination will outlive= our civilization. Environmental Information Network suggests that this area be called the Rocky Flats Nuclear Reserve, and to have very restricted access - permanently. This should preclude any further development or road= construction immediately adjacent to this facility. As researchers having worked on this issue for over 15 years, EIN is happy to provide information resources for interested parties, and can be contacted at: pelofson1@home.com, or (303) 233-6677.=20 - - New book by Noam Chomsky http://www.southendpress.org/books/rogue.shtml In his newest book, Chomsky holds the world=92s superpowers to theirown= standards of the rule of law=97and finds them appallingly lacking. "Chomsky contends= that the U.S. (and, sometimes, its allies) has ... behaved as the biggest rogue state, ignoring international laws and norms and acting only in the richest American's interests.... Chomsky's research can bring home disturbing issues that the mainstream media miss.... Chomsky has delivered another impressive argument that the U.S. flouts international law when it finds it convenient= to do so."=97Publishers Weekly ___________________________________________________ Today's News and Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm Submit URL/Article: mailto:NucNews@onelist.com OneList Archives: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews (subscribe online) Subscribe to NucNews Briefs: mailto:prop1@prop1.org Quick Route to U.S. Congress: http://www.senate.gov/senators/index.cfm (Senators' Websites) http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html (Representatives' Websites) http://thomas.loc.gov/ (Pending Legislation - Search) Presidential Candidates' Websites (a-z): George W. Bush - http://www.GeorgeWBush.com -= http://64.92.133.170/Calendar.asp Pat Buchanan - http://www.gopatgo2000.com/default.htm Al Gore - http://www.algore2000.com/ Ralph Nader - http://www.votenader.org/press.html (Please send other sites of qualified candidates.) Other Excellent News-Collecting Sites - Downwinders - http://www.egroups.com/group/downwinders DOE Watch - http://www.egroups.com/group/doewatch Online Petition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons - http://www.PetitionOnline.com/prop1/petition.html Distributed without payment for research and educational=20 purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. - --=====================_109777818==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable 1) Washington Daybook - August 30, 2000 - Washington Times, Agence France-Presse
http://www.washtimes.com/national/daybook-200083122253.h= tm

    8:30 a.m. =97 Nuclear Regulatory Commission holds a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards. Location: Conference Room T-2B3, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville. Contact: 301/415-6805.
 
    Naval forces' capability discussion =97 all day = =97 The National Academy of Sciences hosts a meeting on "Naval Forces' Capability for Theater Missile Defense." Location: Cecil and Ida Green Building, 2001 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Contact: 202/334-3523.

   Energy Secretary Bill Richardson travels to Vladivostok, Russia to meet with government and naval officials and attend commissioning ceremonies for cooperative work done at Russian Navy sites to enhance protection of nuclear materials - CONTACT: 202-586-5806

2) Presidential Candidates

- - Vice President Al Gore - Seattle, WA
August 31, 2000 11 a.m. - Promotes a real enforceable Patient's Bill of Rights with vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman, Westlake Park, 4th Avenue and Pine Street, Seattle, WA; CONTACT: 202-456-7035

- G.W BUSH - Toledo, OH and Louisville, KY
Toledo, Ohio:
        10:00 a.m. - 100th School Visit, Springfield High School, 1470 South McCord Road, Holland, Ohio, (419) 867-5633
Louisville, Kentucky:
        1: 45 p.m. -  101st School Visit, Location: Butler Traditional High School, 2222 Crumf Lane, Louisville, Kentucky, (502) 485-8220

3) Announcements

 -  Colorado Senator Allard and Rep. Udall announced a press conference to be held at 2pm on Thursday, 8/31 at the east side of Rocky Flats, in the buffer zone, to announce the joint legislation for a National Wildlife Refuge at the defunct nuclear weapons facility. This is not a site for a future petting zoo. It needs to be off limits for perpetuity, as the contamination will outlive our civilization. Environmental Information Network suggests that this area be called the Rocky Flats Nuclear Reserve, and to have very restricted access - permanently. This should preclude any further development or road construction immediately adjacent to this facility. As researchers having worked on this issue for over 15 years, EIN is happy to provide information resources for interested parties, and can be contacted at: pelofson1@home.com, or (303) 233-6677.

- New book by Noam Chomsky
http://www.southendpress.org/books/rogue.shtml
In his newest book, Chomsky holds the world=92s superpowers to theirown standards of the rule of law=97and finds them appallingly lacking. "Chomsky contends that the U.S. (and, sometimes, its allies) has ... behaved as the biggest rogue state, ignoring international laws and norms and acting only in the richest American's interests.... Chomsky's research can bring home disturbing issues that the mainstream media miss.... Chomsky has delivered another impressive argument that the U.S. flouts international law when it finds it convenient to do so."=97Publishers Weekly

     ___________________________________________________

Today's News and Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm
Submit URL/Article: mailto:NucNews@onelist.com
OneList Archives: http:/= /www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews (subscribe online)
Subscribe to NucNews Briefs:  mailto:prop1@prop1.org

Quick Route to U.S. Congress:
http://www.senate.gov/senators/index.cfm (Senators'= Websites)
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html= (Representatives' Websites)
http://thomas.loc.gov/ (Pending Legislation -= Search)

Presidential Candidates' Websites (a-z):
George W. Bush - http://www.GeorgeWBush.com - http://64.92.133.170/Calendar.asp
Pat Buchanan - http://www.gopatgo2000.com/default.htm
Al Gore - http://www.algore2000.com/
Ralph Nader - http://www.votenader.org/press.html
(Please send other sites of qualified candidates.)

Other Excellent News-Collecting Sites -
Downwinders - http://www.egroups.com/group/downwinders
DOE Watch - http://www.egroups.com/group/doewatch

Online Petition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons - http://www.PetitionOnline.com/prop1/petition.html

   Distributed without payment for= research and educational
purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.


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