nuclear-news

Nuclear deterrence – an ineffective no-win policy for all countries

The question, however, is how far can the deterrence policy deter a jihadi?…..The Concerned Scientists established the Nuclear Nights and Nuclear Winter paradigm in 1985, declaring that a nuclear war cannot be fought, nor can it be won.

Do nations need nuclear weapons?, The Hindu, Dhirendra Sharma, 9 Aug 2010, “………….Once a nuclear war begins, there will be no struggle between good and evil, the jihadis and the infidels, dharma and adharma. “Survivors will envy the dead,” as Nikhita Khrushchev warned……
The question, however, is how far can the deterrence policy deter a jihadi? Would a rapid deployment n-force pre-empt a suicide bomber who might carry a nuclear device in a laptop cover?…….
While the scientific community appears meek and docile, a whistleblower risks being called unpatriotic. In the U.S., Robert Oppenheimer was penalised for opposing the nuclear arms race. In the Soviet Union, Andrey Sakharov, “the father of Hydrogen bomb,” paid the price for opposing nuclear weapons. But it was his campaign against the WMDs that eventually guided Mikhail Gorbachev to bring the Cold War to an end. The history of science recorded Sakharov’s courageous role.

The Concerned Scientists established the Nuclear Nights and Nuclear Winter paradigm in 1985, declaring that a nuclear war cannot be fought, nor can it be won. Moscow and Washington, having signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, nevertheless face the costly problem of keeping thousands of decommissioned nuclear warheads safe. New Delhi and Islamabad can still stay off the nuclear abyss. The problem, however, is how to overcome the outdated jingoism prevailing on both sides of the divide…………

The nuclear path will lead us to a point of no return from the nuclear night and nuclear winter lasting a thousand years. We may be divided. But peace and friendship are the only alternative for the survival of the civilisation. We call upon the leaders of India and Pakistan to “remember your humanity and forget the rest,” as pointed out by the Russell-Einstein Manifesto. We appeal to Parliament to declare the South Asian sub-continent a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone. If India takes the step, Pakistan will have no choice.

(Professor Dhirendra Sharma is convenor, Committee for Sane Nuclear Policy.) The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Do nations need nuclear weapons?

August 10, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear weapons, peace, peaceful