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Malcolm Fraser | nuclear weapons disarmament | Gustav Nossal, Barry Jones, Peter Gration, John Sanderson

It’s time to get serious about ridding the world of nuclear weaponsMalcolm Fraser, Gustav Nossal, Barry Jones, Peter Gration, John Sanderson Brisbane Times April 8, 2009 – “……………………………

For the first time a US president has been elected with a commitment to abolish nuclear weapons. Barack Obama needs all the support and encouragement in the world. Unlike the last opportunity, at the end of the Cold War, this one must not be squandered. An increasingly resource- and climate-stressed world is an ever more dangerous place for nuclear weapons. We must not fail.

Abolishing nuclear weapons is a paramount challenge for the entire world – a precondition for survival, sustainability and health for our planet and future generations. Both in the indiscriminate devastation they cause, and in their persistent, spreading, genetically damaging radioactive fallout, nuclear weapons are unlike any other “weapons”. They cannot be used for any legitimate military purpose. Any use or threat of use violates international humanitarian law.

The notion that nuclear weapons can ensure anyone’s security is fundamentally flawed. They most threaten those who possess them, or – like Australia – claim protection from them, because they become the preferred targets for others’ nuclear weapons. Accepting that they have a legitimate place – even for “deterrence” – means being willing to accept the incineration of tens of millions of fellow humans and radioactive devastation of large areas, and is fundamentally immoral…………………………………….The most effective, expeditious and practical way to abolish nuclear weapons is to negotiate a comprehensive, irreversible, binding, verifiable treaty – a nuclear weapons convention…………………..Achieving a world free of nuclear weapons will require not only existing arsenals to be progressively dismantled and destroyed, but production of the fissile materials from which nuclear weapons can be built – separated plutonium and highly enriched uranium – to cease, and existing stocks eliminated or placed under secure international control.

Malcolm Fraser | nuclear weapons disarmament | Gustav Nossal, Barry Jones, Peter Gration, John Sanderson

April 8, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized