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The secret history of how the West helped Israel develop its nuclear arsenal

The truth about Israel’s secret nuclear arsenal    Israel has been stealing nuclear secrets and covertly making bombs since the 1950s. And western governments, including Britain and the US, turn a blind eye. But how can we expect Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions if the Israelis won’t come clean?  The Guardian, Thursday 16 January 2014.……..”Despite the fact that the Israel’s nuclear programme has been an open secret since a disgruntled technician, Mordechai Vanunu, blew the whistle on it in 1986, the official Israeli position is still never to confirm or deny its existence.

When the former speaker of the Knesset, Avraham Burg, broke the taboo last month, declaring Israeli possession of both nuclear and chemical weapons and describing the official non-disclosure policy as “outdated and childish” a rightwing group formally called for a police investigation for treason
Meanwhile, western governments have played along with the policy of “opacity” by avoiding all mention of the issue. In 2009, when a veteran Washington reporter, Helen Thomas, asked Barack Obama in the first month of his presidency if he knew of any country in the Middle East with 
nuclear weapons, he dodged the trapdoor by saying only that he did not wish to “speculate”.
UK governments have generally followed suit. Asked in the House of Lords in November about Israeli nuclear weapons, Baroness Warsi answered tangentially. “Israel has not declared a nuclear weapons programme. We have regular discussions with the government of Israel on a range of nuclear-related issues,” the minister said. “The government of Israel is in no doubt as to our views. We encourage Israel to become a state party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT].”

But through the cracks in this stone wall, more and more details continue to emerge of how Israel built its nuclear weapons from smuggled parts and pilfered technology. Continue reading

January 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

China tackling air pollution with a boost for renewable energy

China to Boost Renewable Energy to Curb Air Pollution, CCTV Says http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-15/china-to-boost-renewable-energy-to-curb-air-pollution-cctv-says.html By Bloomberg News  Jan 14, 2014 China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, will quicken the development of solar and wind energy this year to help curb air pollution, state television said.

The nation plans to install 14 gigawatts of solar capacity and 18 gigawatts of wind power as well as approve 20 gigawatts of hydroelectric plants, China Central Television reported, citing the National Energy Administration.

The plan surpasses a forecast by Bloomberg New Energy Finance for China’s wind and solar capacity addition in 2014. The nation may install as much as 13.3 gigawatts of solar power and 14.7 gigawatts of wind this year, BNEF estimates. The efforts are targeted at curbing coal power plant emissions to ease smog.

China plans to reduce preferential prices forrenewable energy and achieve parity with coal-fired power by 2020, CCTV reported.

January 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Federal Class Action Lawsuit by US sailors exposed to Fukushima radiation

Fukushima Toll: US Sailors Who First Responded to Disaster Complain of Radiation Related Sicknesses, To File Federal Class Action Lawsuit , International Business Times By Esther Tanquintic-Misa | January 15, 2014 They were the very first who responded to the call for help when the Fukushima nuclear power plant got hit by a massive tsunami on March 2011. But never did the sailors aboard USS Ronald Reagan thought that they too would become victims of the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

An alarming number of US Navy sailors have now started coming out to publicly air their grievances against what happened to their health as they conducted their jobs while in Japan waters three years ago.

Close to 100 U.S. sailors with ailments such as thyroid cancer, brain tumors and leukemia have filed a lawsuit against the Tokyo Electric Power Company. But its progress has been stalled because many more sailors want to join into the lawsuit, according to Bay area lawyer Charles Bonner.

Mr Bonner said they would need to wait until early February to refile the lawsuit accommodate a constant influx of sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and other American ships.

Petitions supporting the sailors have likewise started circulating online on a global scale at nukefree.org, MoveOn, Avaaz and Roots Action, among others.

The suit alleged TEPCO, operator of the crippled Fukushima, purposely withheld information of the release of the radioactive plume. Sailors could have stood a chance and the Ronald Reagan could have escaped the deadly cloud had TEPCO warned the upper authorities……..

The sailors claimed that on their first day at Fukushima, they got drenched in radioactive fallout. They noticed a cloud of warm air with a metallic taste poured over the Reagan.

They thought it was a snow storm. Responding U.S. Navy sailors disregarded it and continued working and helping and rescuing. Some worked 18-hour shifts in the open air throughout a four-day mission, re-fueling and repairing helicopters, loading them with vital supplies and much more. Some even jumped into the ocean just offshore to pull victims to safety.

Worse, all drank and bathed in waters that although had been desalinated, were surely greatly contaminated by radioactive fallout and runoff. When the warm cloud occurred, they even joked it’s a “radioactive snow” which ironically proved to be true. When the USS Ronald Reagan had left the Fukushima area, it was found to be so radioactive that ports in Japan, South Korea and Guam rejected its entry. It’s currently docked in San Diego.

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: e.misa@ibtimes..com.au

To contact the editor, e-mail: editor@ibtimes.com      http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/534359/20140115/fukushima-navy-sailors-radiation-sickness-lawsuit-thyroid.htm#.UtgY3NJDt9U

January 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Book “Command and Control” examines danger of the nuclear arsenal

Our Nuclear Dilemma, Mehroz Baig  HUFFINGTON POST 01/15/2014 “It’s hard to imagine fallible human beings creating machines that are infallible,” Eric Schlosser said in reference to nuclear weapons. Schlosser is an investigative journalist and author of Fast Food Nation and, most recently, Command and Control, which examines nuclear risk. “Nuclear weapons are highly complicated machines and like all machines, they can go wrong,” he added.

Schlosser’s book documents some of the mishaps that have taken place in our history of owning and expanding our nuclear arsenal. However, as Schlosser admits and Walter Russell Mead in a review of his book in The New York Times points out, there hasn’t been a nation that has yet to face the consequences of an accidental nuclear disaster.

Schlosser warned that the likelihood of an accident happening increases every day that there isn’t an accident. “I think we were lucky [that we haven’t had an accident], and there’s no guarantee that that luck will last,” he said.

Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund and author of Nuclear Nightmares: Securing the World Before It’s Too Late, joined Schlosser at the Commonwealth Club for a discussion recently on nuclear safety. He noted another argument for reducing our nuclear arsenal: the sheer cost of maintaining and updating nuclear weapons. A report by the Ploughshares Fund estimates that the United States will spend anywhere between $620 and $661 billion dollars on nuclear weapons in the next 10 years……..

the argument that Schlosser, Cirincione, and Benedict make is that the thousands of nuclear weapons we currently possess are an unnecessary source of danger, not only physically but also economically. Cirincione noted that in order to use nuclear weapons as a deterrent, the United States only needs about 500 of them, not the estimated 7,700 we currently have. “Several hundred seems to be what many military and national security experts think will serve our deterrence needs,” he said during his discussion at the Commonwealth Club.

Mead agrees, noting in his review, “[Schlosser’s] core recommendation that the United States explore the possibilities of operating a minimal deterrent, the smallest number of nuclear weapons needed to prevent adversaries from contemplating a nuclear attack on us, may be the most hopeful direction in which we can look.” The United States is slowly moving in that direction, having signed the New START treaty with Russia, which aims to reduce the nuclear arsenals of both nations. The treaty’s duration is 10 years and reduces the number of weapons to 1,550. And though the president is working toward further reducing our nuclear arsenal along with that of Russia’s, we’ll have to wait to see how long it takes, and hope that the luck that’s kept a nuclear accident from happening up until now comes along for the ride. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mehroz-baig/our-nuclear-dilemma_b_4591980.html

January 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

US Nuclear missile officers cheated on proficiency test

safety-symbol1US suspends 34 nuclear missile officers over cheating on exam JANUARY 16, 2014 THE US military has suspended 34 officers in charge of launching nuclear missiles for cheating on a proficiency test, Air Force leaders have announced.
The scandal at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana marked the latest in a series of damaging revelations dogging the country’s nuclear force, including a separate probe into illegal drugs that came to light last week.”There was cheating that took place with respect to this particular test,” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told a news conference. “Some officers did it. Others apparently knew about it, and it appears that they did nothing, or at least not enough, to stop it or to report it.”

The Air Force has come under growing scrutiny over a spate of embarrassing setbacks linked to the nuclear force, amid persistent reports of low morale among the troops assigned to the mission.http://www.news.com.au/world/us-suspends-34-nuclear-missile-officers-over-cheating-on-exam/story-fndir2ev-1226802881502

 

January 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Iraq veteran’s rare disease may be caused by depleted uranium

Iraq veteran Katrina Brown’s race to fund cancer therapy  Western Daily Press    January 15, 2014 By Tristan Cork “……..The 31-year-old is now an Army wife based in South Cerney, near Cirencester, but served as a medic in Iraq and was exposed to depleted uranium. After years of failing health, she was eventually diagnosed with systemic sclerosis, a debilitating condition so rare and mysterious that neither the NHS nor the MoD recognise it and will not treat it………

“I’ve booked the treatment, although I have not paid for it. It involves taking my stem cells and giving them a massive blast of chemotherapy, and then replacing them and sort of tricking the immune system into thinking there is nothing wrong, like a reboot of the whole thing.

“It can potentially kill me, I’ll be left with literally no immune system. I know that, but I don’t have much choice. But I’ve seen the other people who’ve had what I have and they’ve had the treatment, and they are a real inspiration. It’s a recognised treatment over there, which the medical insurers in America are prepared to pay for.”

The fundraising is continuing, and must step up a pace to meet the newly-imposed deadline. Anyone wanting to find out more, or donate, can do so online at www.katrinasfuture.org or by sending cheques to “Katrina’s Stem Cell Fund” to the appeal headquarters at 74 Dyer Street, Cirencester, Glos GL7 2PW.  http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Iraq-veteran-s-race-fund-cancer-therapy/story-20443334-detail/story.html#ixzz2qaCdMIQ7

January 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hospital accused of inadequate care for workers in radiation imaging

Inadequate shielding exposed workers to excess radiation at MMC imaging center, lawsuits allege Oak Ridge Today, JANUARY 15, 2014 BY JOHN HUOTARI   Methodist Medical Center says it will ‘vigorously’ refute allegations  Five lawsuits filed in Anderson County on Monday allege that X-ray and radiologic technologists, including two who were pregnant, were exposed to excess radiation for several years at Methodist Medical Center because some walls in and around a radiology imaging center in the new emergency department were built without the required lead shielding, elevating the workers’ risk of health problems, including cancer.

The five lawsuits allege the walls in the emergency department, which opened in February 2006 as part of a hospital remodel, did not have the required protective radiological shielding because of building, design, and inspection errors.

Lead-lined walls are required in radiological areas to limit radiation exposure under local and federal regulations and construction and health standards, the lawsuits say……..

Filed in Anderson County Circuit Court on Monday, the lawsuits allege that the high doses of radiation received by the plaintiffs may cause radiation injury or increased risks of long-term radiation effects, including the increased risk of cancers. The plaintiffs are seeking general damages, to be determined at trial; loss of earnings; and past and future economic damages, including the costs of medical care, monitoring, and treatment………….

The lawsuits allege that two of the plaintiffs—Phillips and Raby—now have thyroid problems, headaches, sleeping problems, and other health issues. Gillis has seizures and memory loss, his complaint says.

The plaintiff complaints say. If they develop cancer in the future, the plaintiffs could lose earnings and earning capacity, and suffer other economic damages, the complaints allege…..

The lawsuits allege violations of state and federal rules, regulations, and standards, including radiation safety requirements of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Oak Ridge Today has asked TDEC for comment but has not yet received a response. http://oakridgetoday.com/2014/01/15/inadequate-shielding-exposed-workers-to-excess-radiation-at-mmc-imaging-center-lawsuits-allege/

January 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

New funding models drive renewable energy investment

Financial innovations spur renewable energy investment in global markets PV Magazine 15 Jan 14 Investment firms, financiers and energy companies around the globe are introducing innovative new funding vehicles aimed at renewable energy investment.

Recent financing innovations for solar PV and other sustainable projects show a clear trend for new funding models, tools and practices that are propelling the renewable energies sector into the mainstream.

Financing and investment firms are also integrating climate change into new financial products. The following three cases from both sides of the Pond exemplify the trend.

United States……..

France…….

United Kingdom……. http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/financial-innovations-spur-renewable-energy-in-global-markets_100013942/#axzz2qaPEhEX5

January 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Nuclear Hotseat #134: NIRS New Head Tim Judson + India’s Kumar Sundaram

regarding the nuclear that Japan has sold overseas; that in the case of a nuclear accident, it is the Japanese taxpayers that are obliged to pay (inevitably billed for) damages. The boys in the manga are like, "Wh...What?!"

Regarding the nuclear that Japan has sold overseas and wants to sell to India: in the case of a nuclear accident, it is the Japanese taxpayers who are obliged to pay (be inevitably billed for) damages. The boys in the manga are like, “Wh…What?!”

LISTEN HERE:

DOWNLOAD HERE:

http://lhalevy.audioacrobat.com/download/f6d50b6e-8387-69b7-4fb0-1dd602808c06.mp3 

INTERVIEW:  Long-time anti-nuclear activist Tim Judson took over as Executive Director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) on the first of the year.   Hear what this long-time anti-nuclear activist sees as the strategies our movement can use against entrenched, monied nuclear interests, as well as a fascinating revelation about Entergy that exposes the vulnerable underbelly of that underfinanced nuclear slumlord.  

Tim Judson, Executive Director of NIRS

Tim Judson, Executive Director of NIRS

Kumar Sundaram, anti-nuclear firebrand and organizer in India, offers insights into the upcoming nuclear-fueled visit to India of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo “Pinnochio” Abe-baby and shows us how to join the massive protests by way of a poster and a selfie.  FULL INFO HERE:

https://www.facebook.com/events/262774790547186/

Take a selfie w/this poster and send it to Kumar for the anti-nuke demonstrations in India when Abe-baby comes to town.

Take a selfie w/this poster and send it to Kumar Sundaram for the anti-nuke demonstrations in India when Abe-baby comes to town.

NUMNUTZ OF THE WEEK:  Shinzo “Pinnochio” Abe-Baby.  Prime Ministers say the darndest things! 

PLUS:

  • SPECIAL OCEAN REPORT, with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Ken Buessler organizing a crowdsourced Pacific Ocean water sampling project to determine radionuclides in the water.  To participate, go to:  www.whoi.edu
  • Race for governor of Tokyo heats up w/former Prime Minister and now anti-nuclear candidate Hosokawa joining the fight;
  • New Japanese study confirms what we’ve known all along: there’s no way to evacuate from a nuclear disaster before the radiation plume hits;
  • and between the Fort Calhoun and St. Lucie nuclear reactors, nukes can’t seem to keep operating if it snows or rains.  What a wimpy, flawed technology!  
  • RadCast w/Mimi German, of course!

LINKS:

  • BONUS:  How Radioactive is Your Gourmet Jam?  Cesium 127 found in European gourmet and organic fruit preserves.  Full story from Enformable and Lucas Hixon here:  http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/?p=12058

January 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Fukushima Parents “Stop having students practice outside ! Don’t cause any more students to have leukemia !”

Posted by Mochizuki on January 15th, 2014

http://fukushima-diary.com/2014/01/twitter-info-parents-stop-having-students-practice-outside-dont-cause-any-more-students-to-have-leukemia/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FukushimaDiary+%28Fukushima+Diary%29

Following up this article.. High schooler leukemia→School had students “clean” the swimming pool last summer [URL]

 

On 1/13/2014, a Japanese columnist posted on Twitter. He commented the parents’ association of this high school posted this notice.

 

<Translate>

A student had leukemia in a school of Fukushima. This school had the students clean (decontaminate) the pool. The parents are angry.

In this country, they leave the decontamination waste soil in a park and serve food for school lunch, which was labelled as “safe” from the manipulated safety standard. TV doesn’t even report this leukemia case, but broadcast cooking program.

(The post reads)

Stop having the students practice outside ! Don’t cause any more students to have leukemia !

<End>

[Twitter info] Parents' association "Stop having students practice outside ! Don't cause any more students to have leukemia"

Fukushima – School students forced to clean swimming pool without proper safety equipment! – 未成年が除染作業を強いられている-福島県郡山市

 

Published by nuclear-news.net

by Arclight2011

10 May 2013

h/t Mia

HAS THE UN “OPTIONAL PROTOCOL” FAILED

FOR THE CHILDREN OF

FUKUSHIMA?

…On a more technical point, it was explained that annual exposure to radiation was at the level advised by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)….

Japanese government delegation statement to the UN concerning the Fukushima Nuclear disaster April 2013

High school students were forced to clean their swimming pool!

未成年が除染作業を強いられている-福島県郡山市

Image

Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture

The students were allowed to clean the swimming pool (Gieger showing 0.51 uSv/h) without wearing any safety equipment. They just had their school uniforms for protection!

Image

Nearby were students doing vigorous exercise, as dust and moisture droplets were being made airborne.

Image

The Reading here was 0.50 mcSv/h, an air reading taken approximately 1 metre off the ground.

Screenshot from 2013-05-10 14:09:52

This is the video footage from the high school in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture showing the work being done;

Published on 8 May 2013

2013年5月8日
福島県立郡山高等学校の生徒が教諭の命令によりプールの除染作業を強いられています。

The Japanese Government has allowed decontamination work to be done by minors!

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considers Report of Japan

Committee on Economic, Social
  and Cultural Rights

30 April 2013

[Extracts]

[…]

Regarding those that survived the atomic bombing, their medical needs related to their exposure was subsidised and this would allow them to maintain a suitable level of living. 

Read more »

 

January 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Very slowly, the world moves away from nuclear weapons

antinuke-worldSmThe long slog toward a nuclear-free world http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-long-slog-toward-a-nuclear-free-world/2014/01/13/0071b0c2-796c-11e3-b1c5-739e63e9c9a7_story.html  By , January 13  EFFORTS BY Iran and North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons have been at the forefront of diplomacy and international concern over the past few years, and justifiably so. Neither country has been convincingly stopped, although Iran is negotiating. Elsewhere, though, there has been progress toward preventing nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands. Continue reading

January 15, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Japan’s energy and nuclear program delayed, as public anti nuclear sentiment rises

flag-japanAs Nuclear Concerns Rise, Japan Delays Energy Plan WSJ, By MARI IWATAThe Japanese government has delayed a planned announcement on the country’s long-term energy strategy amid signs of rising public concern about a return to nuclear power.

“We are hoping to proceed as soon as possible, but we have received about 19,000 public comments,” said industry minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Tuesday in a regular post-Cabinet meeting press conference. “We shouldn’t decide on it too hastily,” he said.

The draft of the new energy plan, disclosed in early December, calls nuclear power a way to “stabilize Japan’s energy supply-demand structure.” The pro-nuclear stance overturns a plan by the previous government to phase out nuclear power, a decision taken after the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The plan under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration was due to be announced in mid-January.

“We also have to think more about nuclear waste,” Mr. Motegi said, touching on one of the concerns among anti-nuclear activists over what Japan will do with itsgrowing stockpile of spent nuclear fuel. He also said the strategy will not discuss the issue of whether Japan should build any new nuclear plants.

Despite the continued popularity of the pro-nuclear Mr. Abe, polls show a majority of the nation remains against the use of nuclear power. In a poll conducted Jan. 4-5 by major broadcaster Fuji television, 52% of 1,000 respondents said they support Mr. Abe’s cabinet, but 60% of them said they oppose restarting any of Japan’s 50 currently idled nuclear reactors……http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/01/14/as-nuclear-concerns-rise-japan-delays-energy-plan/

January 15, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Two former Japanese Prime Ministers against nuclear power

flag-japanJapan’s Koizumi backs fellow ex-PM in opposing nuclear power TOKYO First Post,15 Jan 14 (Reuters) – Two former Japanese prime ministers challenged incumbent Shinzo Abe’s pro-nuclear power policy on Tuesday, with charismatic Junichiro Koizumi backing ex-premier Morihiro Hosokawa’s bid to become Tokyo governor on a platform opposing atomic energy. Hosokawa’s candidacy could turn the local election into a referendum on Abe’s energy policies and boost the anti-nuclear movement, which has lost momentum after a surge following the March 2011 Fukushima disaster, the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years…….

Asked why he was coming out of retirement to seek the Tokyo governor post, Hosokawa, 76, told reporters: “Because I have a sense of crisis that Japan faces various problems, especially nuclear power that could imperil the fate of the country…….
“What Hosokawa and Koizumi show is that the anti-nuclear hopes are not held just by left-wing radicals, but also by a good number of middle class including even those who are conservative otherwise.” A survey by the local Tokyo newspaper showed that about two-thirds of Tokyo voters want to exit nuclear power sooner or later, while just over nine percent back the government policy…..http://www.firstpost.com/world/japans-koizumi-backs-fellow-ex-pm-in-opposing-nuclear-power-1340309.html

January 15, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists calls on world leaders to act on climate change, nuclear weapons

doomsday-clockTop scientists ask UN leaders to act on nuclear weapons, climate change Bulletin of the Atomic globe-warmingScientists: It is still 5 minutes to midnight—and much too close to doomsday CHICAGO — The Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists today called on the United States and Russia to restart negotiations on reducing their nuclear arsenals, to lower alert levels for their nuclear weapon and to scrap their missile defense programs.

The Board also implored world leaders to take immediate action to combat climate change as it announced that the minute hand of the Bulletin’s iconic Doomsday Clock will remain at five minutes to midnight because “the risk of civilization-threatening technological catastrophe remains high.”

The Board’s annual announcement on the status of the Doomsday Clock was addressed this year to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and members of the UN Security Council. In the announcement, the Bulletin’s Board of leading science and security experts acknowledged that 2013 included positive developments in negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program and in the production of renewable energy.

But, the Board noted, those developments came within a “business-as-usual” context that has stalled efforts to shrink nuclear arsenals and reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions. And beyond the threats of nuclear weapons and climate change lie a host of emerging technological dangers—including cyber weapons and killer robots—that further endanger humanity, the Board said…….

he Bulletin’s science and security experts focused on the failure of world leaders to take action that would reduce the possibility of catastrophe related to nuclear weapons and climate change……..

HOW THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK WAS SET

The January 14, 2014 Doomsday Clock decision followed an international symposium held in November 2013 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC. The Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, in consultation with the Governing Board and the Board of Sponsors, which includes 18 Nobel Laureates, reviewed the implications of recent events and trends for the future of humanity with input from other experts on nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, climate change, and emerging threats. The Clock hand has been moved 20 times over the past 65 years, since its appearance in 1947 on the first cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Click HERE for the Science and Security Board’s Clock announcement.

Click HERE to watch video of the November Doomsday Clock symposium.
Read more at http://americanlivewire.com/top-scientists-ask-un-leaders-act-nuclear-weapons-climate-change/

 

January 15, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

End Iran sanctions, there is no nuclear weapon threat from Iran – says Dubai

Dubai Calls for End to Iran Sanctions, Says no Nuclear Threat (includes videohttp://www.juancole.com/2014/01/sanctions-nuclear-threat.html  By  | Jan. 14, 2014 Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum of Dubai has called in a BBC interview for an end to economic sanctions on Iran if the civilian character of their nuclear enrichment program can be proved. He pointed out that the sanctions also inflict economic pain on the United Arab Emirates, a major financial center attempting to recover from the 2008 global crash.

Sheikh al-Maktoum said he asked former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about the possibility of an Iranian atomic bomb. The Iranian leader replied, he said, “how many Palestinians would I kill?” in a hypothetical nuclear exchange between Iran and Israel. Moreover, he said, the US and the Europeans would nuke Iranian cities in reprisal attacks.
The views of Ahmadinejad reported by Sheikh Maktoum are consistent with his public pronouncements, as well. Contrary to what American politicians and even press organs have frequently alleged, no Iranian leader has said that Iran wants nuclear weapons and all have disavowed them.

 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader and religious guide, has repeatedly affirmed that making, stockpiling and using nuclear weapons is forbidden in Islamic law because WMDs indiscriminately kill large numbers of non-combatants. In the medieval Islamic law of just war, fighters must avoid killing women, children and male non-combatants.

Ahmadinejad’s successor as president, Hassan Rouhani, is even more of a nuclear dove, and his agreement to reduce Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to 19.75%, initially developed to fuel its medical reactor for isotopes useful in combating cancer, is a good indication of his lack of interest in weaponizing the enrichment program.

The Iranian allegation to Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum that nuclear weapons are useless as offensive weapons is correct, and this principle is recognized in Security Studies.

January 15, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment