Guest essay by Robert Koehler* Planet Earth is in desperate need of an honest discussion about the elimination of nuclear weapons and, God help us, ultimately transcending war. What is democracy but platitudes and dog whistles? The national direction is quietly predetermined — it’s not up for debate. The president’s role is to sell it to the public; you might say he’s the public-relations director in chief: “. . . my Administration will seize this decisive decade to advance America’s vital interests, position the United States to outmaneuver our geopolitical competitors, tackle shared challenges, and set our world firmly on a path […]
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Horrifying “Small” Talk about Nuclear Weapons
By John LaForge Editor’s Note: Originally published in CounterPunch.org on November 7, 2022. John is co-director of Nukewatch, a peace and environmental justice group in Wisconsin, and is co-editor with Arianne Peterson of “Nuclear Heartland, Revised: A Guide to the 450 Land-Based Missiles of the United States.” Gideon Rachman reported October 31 in a Financial Times column that, “… senior U.S. officials point out that the smallest tactical nuclear weapons might kill hundreds of people, rather than thousands — and devastate and irradiate just a few square miles.” Rachman’s use of the phrases “might kill hundreds” and “just a few square miles” is outrageous […]
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Biden Administration releases aggressive nuclear strategy envisioning “first use” of nuclear weapons in wars like Ukraine
EDITOR’s NOTE: This is a Press Release issued earlier today by Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Working Group Contact: Greg Mello, 505-265-1200 office, 505-577-8563 cell Permalink * Prior press releases Albuquerque, NM — Today the Department of Defense (DoD) released its long-awaited National Defense Strategy (NDS), Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), and Missile Defense Review (MDR). In the interest of time, this press release addresses the NPR only. Detailed comparison with past NPRs will also need to come later, as may be warranted. A classified version of the NPR has long been available to Congress and has helped shape this […]
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Death by Nationalism
By Robert C. Koehler (originally published in Common Wonders on Wednesday, October 12th, 2022) The game may be almost over. Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies put it this way: “The irresolvable dilemma facing Western leaders is that this is a no-win situation. How can they militarily defeat Russia, when it possesses 6,000 nuclear warheads and its military doctrine explicitly states that it will use them before it will accept an existential military defeat?” Neither side is willing to let go of its commitment: to protect, to expand, a piece of the whole planet, no matter what the cost. The […]
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From nuclear sub commander to nuclear weapons abolitionist
Only way to prevent their use, says Tom Rogers – Get rid of them By Patrick Mazza; Originally published in The Raven; October 7, 2022; https://theraven.substack.com/p/from-nuclear-sub-commander-to-nuclear From handling nuclear weapons to protesting them Tom Rogers knows his way around a nuclear weapon. At various points of his career as a U.S. Navy submarine officer, he oversaw safety and security of nuclear weapons on board, conducted disaster drills, and was part of the team that would authenticate orders to use them. Rising to captain a sub, he was responsible for the whole picture. Later in his career, Rogers began to raise […]
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