On Faith: Guest Voices: The End of WMDs

The End of WMDs
The Washington Post 19 Dec 08 Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan,This month I was privileged to join a distinguished group of 100 international political, military, business and civic leaders in Paris to launch Global Zero, a campaign to mobilize decisive momentum for the global elimination of nuclear weapons. Global Zero is combining public outreach with high-level policy work to develop a step-by-step plan for phased, verified reduction of the world’s estimated 27,000 nuclear weapons down to zero…………………..In recent months, a growing chorus of world leaders of nuclear nations including U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minster Vladimir Putin have called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons. The United States and Russia are among 189 countries that have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Not surprisingly, the idea has overwhelming public support. A recent Global Zero poll of 21 nuclear and non-nuclear countries found that an average 76 percent of respondents favor an international agreement that would achieve zero nuclear weapons according to a set timetable that would include compliance monitoring.

I am personally committed to Global Zero as an international public servant, a Muslim, a citizen of the Middle East, and as a mother and grandmother………………As a Muslim, my faith strengthens my resolve to eradicate these evil indiscriminate killers. The Islamic Laws of Just War, first enunciated in the 7th Century CE, share with international humanitarian law the fundamental principles of non-initiation of war, and of the sacrosanct protection of non-combatants and civilians even in defensive conflicts (especially including women, children, the elderly and the sick), as well as the forbidding of wanton destruction of animals, the natural environment, medical institutes and places of worship. Thus nuclear weapons and other WMD are in every sense inherently un-Islamic weapons of war in Islamic thought, as they do not distinguish between military and civilians and non-combatants, and they destroy and kill en masse indiscriminately………………………

All Arab countries have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and over the past 30 years have pursued intensive diplomatic efforts to bring Israel into the treaty.

My husband King Hussein, a Hashemite direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), steadfastly called for removing nuclear weapons from the Middle East, calling them “One of the most dramatic examples of the gaps between the world’s technological progress and moral rectitude.” “Nuclear war is not a military problem. It is a moral dilemma,” he said……………………….So I add my humble voice to so many others around the world, citizens of all nations, devout followers of all faiths, in declaring that now is the time to renew our collective commitment to a nuclear-weapon free world. We truly have no other choice.

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, urasium, radioactive