Dr Helen Caldicott’s call for an end to nuclear weapons

President Obama needs our support in doing the right thing, in taking this first step all the way to the end of a journey where nuclear disarmament is more than a campaign promise. He needs to hear our voices, strong, around him. Once again 80% of Americans must rise up and demand the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Obama Nuclear Weapons and the Future of the Planet, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Helen Caldicott:, 23 April 2010, “……….the Nuclear Policy review recently published by the Pentagon exhibits no evidence that the U.S. Military establishment intends to decrease its essential reliance upon nuclear weapons, which remain the cornerstone of its military arsenal.

$5.5 billion dollars have been allocated to Los Alamos Labs to continue the development of new plutonium pits for new nuclear weapons scheduled for production in the future. The U.S. missile defense program stands unabated, and is forging ahead using Iran and North Korea as its raison d’être.

In this scenario we are only, ever, minutes away from Armageddon and the truth is the world is sick and tired of being held hostage by nuclear warriors whose 20th century mindset cannot seem to comprehend this. They insist on maintaining thousands of hydrogen bombs in ground, and sea, based missiles, on high alert, ready to be launched within minutes leaving us vulnerable to human or computer error, to hackers (domestic and foreign), and to the sheer adrenalin and anxiety of political crisis…..

Ninety-five percent of the approximately 23,000 nuclear weapons in the world are owned by the United States and Russia. Despite the extreme secrecy surrounding military information we must assume from available information that at any given minute 15-40 hydrogen bombs target New York, and Washington D.C, Moscow, Leningrad, and more of the worlds major cities. The effect of one 550 kt weapon on a city like Washington D.C. would be devastating. Imagine 40 and start doing the math. In fact, there is at least one hydrogen bomb targeting most towns with populations of over 100,000. This is true in Russia, China, Europe, Canada, and the U.S.

The stark truth is that one single failure of nuclear deterrence could end human history. The operational and deployed nuclear arsenals of Russia and the U.S. hold the human race and all other species captive and at nuclear ransom….
President Obama needs our support in doing the right thing, in taking this first step all the way to the end of a journey where nuclear disarmament is more than a campaign promise. He needs to hear our voices, strong, around him. Once again 80% of Americans must rise up and demand the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Helen Caldicott: Obama Nuclear Weapons and the Future of the Planet