Ex-PM Ehud Barak Confirms Israel Has Nuclear Weapons: Why it Matters
Israel has maintained a strict policy of never confirming or denying it possesses nuclear weapons.
By Pesach Benson | Apr 9, 23, https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/ex-pm-ehud-barak-confirms-israel-has-nuclear-weapons-why-it-matters/
(TPS) Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak broke Israel’s policy of ambiguity and tweeted his confirmation that Israel possesses nuclear weapons last Tuesday.
While commenting on the fallout from the governing coalition’s judicial reform initiative, Barak tweeted:
“It sounds weird to us. But in Israelis’ conversations with political parties in the West, their deep concern emerges about the possibility that, if the coup d’état in Israel succeeds, a messianic dictatorship will be established in the heart of the Middle East, possessing nuclear weapons, and fanatically wishing for a confrontation with Islam centered on the Temple Mount. In their eyes – it’s really scary. not going to happen. Happy holiday”
Israel has maintained a strict policy of never confirming or denying it possesses nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, it has been widely believed that Israel possesses them, with foreign reports estimating the nuclear arsenal’s size from dozens to hundreds of bombs.
Barak, a former Defense Minister and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff, argued in a Sept. 2021 op-ed that Israel should review its policy of nuclear ambiguity, suggesting disclosure could be a better deterrent against Iran’s nuclear program.
Proponents of ambiguity say it protects Israel from being forced to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty or possibly facing international sanctions. Signing the NPT would require Israel to open its nuclear facilities to international inspection.
Meanwhile, the US reportedly floated a proposal with Israel and other allies in February to resume nuclear talks with Iran in which Tehran would not enrich uranium above 60 percent purity in exchange for sanctions relief. The White House has neither confirmed nor denied those reports.
The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in March that Iran has enriched uranium to 83.7 percent purity, far higher than the 3.67% necessary for a civilian nuclear program. Nuclear weapons require uranium enriched to 90% purity.
It is widely believed that Iran could finish enriching enough uranium to produce an atomic bomb in about four weeks.
Iran and the US agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015 along with France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China. Under the terms of the JCPOA, Iran was supposed to limit its uranium enrichment under UN supervision in exchange for the US lifting economic sanctions. Israel opposed the agreement, saying it wasn’t strong enough.
In 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the agreement. Restoring the JCPOA has been a key foreign policy goal of the Biden administration.
Israel and its Gulf allies oppose a resumption of the nuclear talks.
US deploys nuclear submarine to West Asia as influence plummets
As China and Russia expand their influence in West Asia, and Arab nations move to reconcile with Iran and Syria, Washington has seen its grip on the region weaken significantly
The Cradle – April 08 2023
The Pentagon announced on 8 April that it deployed the USS Florida — a nuclear-powered, guided-missile submarine — to the Red Sea in support of the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet…………………………….
“It is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and is deployed to US 5th Fleet to help ensure regional maritime security and stability,” US Commander Timothy Hawkins said in a statement.
In a rare move, the Pentagon released a picture of the Ohio-class submarine as it transited the Suez Canal to the Persian Gulf. Washington usually keeps the locations of its submarines private while they are at sea.
Experts see the public show of force by the Pentagon as an attempt to beef up its forces in the region and deter resistance groups from targeting the US occupation army and its allies………………………………. more https://thecradle.co/article-view/23448/us-deploys-nuclear-submarine-to-west-asia-as-influence-plummets
Northampton nuclear weapons activist Ira Helfand wins peace award
Helfand said the two biggest threats to the planet are climate change and nuclear weapons, which has a much simpler solution.
“I think we can absolutely do it in 10 years,” he said. “It will take two to three years of talks and six to seven years to dismantle the weapons.”
Apr. 09, 2023,
By Jeanette DeForge | jdeforge@repub.com
NORTHAMPTON — After 45 years of fighting for the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons, a local physician believes the solution could be no more than 10 years away.
Dr. Ira Helfand, a retired doctor who most recently worked at the Family Care Medical Center in Springfield, is the recipient of Morehouse College’s Gandhi-King-Ikeda Community Builder’s Award for his creation and activist work with the Back from the Brink.
While honored by the award, which is designed to recognize someone who promotes peace and social transformation in a positive and non-violent way, Helfand said he is hoping the prize will help call attention to the effort to end nuclear weapons. He will be the keynote speaker at the April 13 awards ceremony at the college in Atlanta.
“Nuclear weapons don’t make us safe. They are the greatest threat to security and we have to get rid of them,” he said. “Our message is the problem never went away after the Cold War.”
The issue has returned to the forefront this year with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A week ago, President Vladimir Putin announced he would move nuclear weapons close to the border of Belarus and in February he delivered a warning to the West over Ukraine by suspending a landmark nuclear arms control treaty.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has made it clear that we can no longer afford to deny the danger of nuclear war,” Helfand said. “We have a very short window of opportunity to eliminate these weapons—before they eliminate us. But we can do that. We made these weapons with our own hands. We know how to take them apart. We just need to create the political will to do that.”
A precedent has already been set. Negotiations over nuclear weapon disarmament, even among hostile countries, have had successes in the past, he said.
The threat of nuclear war in the 1980s initiated Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev to propose talks with U.S. President Ronald Regan. More than two years of negotiations and ups and downs led to the historic 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that had both countries reduce nuclear arms.
The 2017 International Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was signed, bringing the world another step toward eliminating nuclear weapons.
The world has about 13,000 warheads across nine countries. Leaders have already destroyed 50,000 over different treaties, he said.
But that simply isn’t enough. There have been at least six different real threats to nuclear war in the past that are known and the consequences of one will be horrific and felt worldwide, he said.
Helfand said the two biggest threats to the planet are climate change and nuclear weapons, which has a much simpler solution.
“I think we can absolutely do it in 10 years,” he said. “It will take two to three years of talks and six to seven years to dismantle the weapons.”……………………………………………… https://www.masslive.com/news/2023/04/northampton-nuclear-weapons-activist-ira-helfand-wins-peace-award.html
Absolutely disingenuous – DARC – the Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability – Australia to join USA’s plan for Space as a War-fighting Domain.
“So, what worries me most is China’s use of space to complete the kill chain necessary to generate long-range precision strikes against the maritime and air components scheme of maneuver. That’s what concerns me the most,” Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir, commander of Space Forces Indo-Pacific, said.
By COLIN CLARKon April 07, 2023
SYDNEY — The vast landmass of Australia, possessed of clear skies free of city lights or pollution, is the perfect spot to place the most acute space situational awareness systems. Which is why Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir, the head of Space Forces Indo-Pacific says it’s “absolutely critical” to get a new radar system there as quickly as can be.
“When you look at a place like Australia as a landmass, you have a lot of opportunity to contribute to that space picture,” Mastalir told Breaking Defense during an interview during the Sydney Dialogue, put on by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. “The Australians, the defense Space Command folks and the acquisition arms, they absolutely understand that, so they’re moving aggressively to embrace some of these opportunities and bring systems like DARC — deep space radar capability — here on the continent.”
DARC, officially the Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability, was designed by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory to provide global monitoring of geosynchronous orbits in all kinds of weather and during daylight. According to the APL, it relies heavily on commercial technology. The Space Force received DARC technology from APL last year, with demonstrations taking place at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
Ultimately, the operational DARC program calls for three transmit/receive sites, spaced at mid-latitudes around the world, to detect and track satellites. Northrop Grumman won a $341 million contract from US Space Force’s Space Systems Command last February to begin building the global system, with the first location in Australia targeted for calendar year 2025. That will be followed by one in Europe and a third in the US, with those locations yet to be announced.
FY24 budget justification documents show $174M requested for DARC in the next fiscal year. It further states that “The total cost of the DARC Rapid Prototype Middle Tier of Acquisition (MTA) effort is 844.6M. DARC Site 1 is not fully funded across the Future Years Defense Program.” $40 million is set aside for early work on sites 2 and 3.
“The DARC program will field a resilient ground-based radar providing our nation with significantly enhanced space domain awareness for geostationary orbit,” Pablo Pezzimenti, vice president for integrated national systems at Northrop Grumman said in a statement announcing the first contract award. “While current ground-based systems operate at night and can be impacted by weather conditions, DARC will provide an all-weather, 24/7 capability to monitor the highly dynamic and rapidly evolving geosynchronous orbital environment critical to national and global security.”
Discussions are underway about where to locate the system in Australia once it’s ready. Before anything can be released officially, negotiations must conclude on a treaty level document known as the Technology Safeguards Agreement. Negotiations began in mid-2021. Mastalir declined to discuss the talks, noting they are led by the Department of Commerce.
Russia And China Remain Top Concerns
During the panel Mastalir appeared on at the Sydney Dialogue, the general said that Russia had clearly possessed space superiority at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine but had lost it. After the panel, Breaking Defense asked him to explain his remarks.
“Russia clearly is a dominant space power, relative to Ukraine. So they entered that conflict in that position,” he said. “Now you see no less than seven or eight different commercial entities, everything from GPS jammer detection, communications to tactical ISR that are bringing products to bear to support the Ukrainians. And has Russia been able to deny the adversary, in this case, Ukraine, from benefiting from space? And the answer, I think, is no — not really.”
His assessment is that the two countries have reached perhaps the most dangerous state for two militaries slugging it out on the battlefield: parity.
“Now parity, parity is dangerous, right? Because when you have parity — and I think this is what we’re kind of seeing play out — you have these prolonged conflicts, and a lot of destruction and death. And that’s not a situation that we ever want to be in as the United States.”
Asked if there are lessons for the United States military and intelligence community in light of what he called “a potential paradigm shift.” the general said it raises many difficult policy and operational questions.
That includes the question of how commercial operators are protected, or not, by the government if they are being used for military operations.
“Number one, who’s going to defend those assets? Is there a responsibility for the United States to protect and defend commercial on-orbit capability that’s assisting the US military?” The related issue is, “to what extent should we integrate commercial across all of our space capabilities?”
Given these complexities, what keeps the general up at night in this region?
So, what worries me most is China’s use of space to complete the kill chain necessary to generate long-range precision strikes against the maritime and air components scheme of maneuver. That’s what concerns me the most,” Mastalir said. “I have to have the ability to deny China in this situation, as a potential adversary, the ability to do that. And so those are the kinds of things that that you know, worry me the most now.”
He stressed that the simple possession of such capabilities “doesn’t mean it’s wrong. But if you look at our efforts to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific, you quickly run into a situation where our ends, and what we see in terms of behavior coming from China, their ends don’t necessarily align.”
Theresa Hitchens in Washington contributed to this report.
Ukrainian forces mount highly dangerous attack on Zaporizhzhia site
In the dead of night last October a Ukrainian special forces team boarded a
40ft armoured patrol boat, taking up positions at its three heavy
machineguns and Mk19 automatic grenade launcher. They were among nearly 600
elite troops scattered along the north bank of the Dnipro River, which
carves through Zaporizhzhia region.
The teams boarded more than 30 vessels
bristling with weapons, formidable gifts from friends in the West. Their
orders: to launch an assault to recapture the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power
plant from the Russians on the opposite bank.
Kyiv has never acknowledged
attacking Europe’s largest nuclear power station but Ukrainian special
forces, military intelligence and navy personnel involved have revealed to
The Times details of the highly dangerous operation to recover the site.
Times 7th April 2023
DID THE UK DEPLOY A NUCLEAR-ARMED SUBMARINE TO THE FALKLANDS CONFLICT?
Evidence suggests Britain sent one of its Polaris submarines, which carried 16 ballistic missiles with thermonuclear warheads, to the Falklands during the 1982 war.
RICHARD NORTON-TAYLOR, 6 APRIL 2023 Declassified UK
The war in Ukraine has provoked concern about the use of nuclear weapons, heightened by Russia’s plan to base tactical nuclear arms in Belarus.
While the US and Russia have kmade no secret of their development of these dangerous, indeed potentially devastating, additions to traditional nuclear arsenals, British military planners have also been in on the act – rather more quietly.
The British government, far from taking measures to reduce nuclear tensions in recent years, itself announced, in 2021, that it planned to increase the cap on Britain’s nuclear stockpile to 260 warheads, a 40 per cent increase on previous commitments.
More recently, Britain has refused to comment on reports of a planned new deployment of US tactical nuclear weapons to the American air force base in Lakenheath in Suffolk.
With the exception of the Scottish National Party and Green Party, all British political parties are backing, with growing enthusiasm, the policy of maintaining a Trident missile submarine “continuously at sea”, at an initial estimated cost – not disputed by the Ministry of Defence – of more than £200bn.
The deployment of British nuclear weapons was belatedly highlighted during the 1982 Falklands conflict after the government failed to cover up their presence on ships in the naval task forces. Declassified revealed last year that British warships deployed to the South Atlantic were secretly carrying 31 nuclear depth charges.
But there have been repeated suggestions, never convincingly denied, that even more devastating weapons were deployed during the conflict.
A number of sources have indicated that a submarine equipped with Polaris strategic nuclear missiles – then Britain’s major nuclear weapons system and the forerunner to the current Trident – was diverted to the South Atlantic within range of Argentina.
Polaris
The claims were originally spelled out in a paper on “Sub Strategic Trident” by the widely respected academic, Paul Rogers, emeritus professor of peace studies at Bradford University………………………………………………………..
….the implications of the analysis – that the Thatcher government was prepared to threaten nuclear use against a non-nuclear state………………………………………………….
First use
This was all more than 40 years ago, but is still relevant today, given that the UK has maintained a nuclear posture that includes first-use of nuclear weapons since at least the 1960s. ……………………………….
Confusion, uncertainty
Successive British governments have deliberately used confusion – they call it uncertainty – over the circumstances in which nuclear weapons would be used to boost their argument that they are a “credible” deterrent. …………………………………………
Putin’s deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus has been condemned by NATO. But as Daniel Hogsta, executive director of ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, has pointed out, the US stations nuclear weapons in five European countries – Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Turkey, and now in Britain as well, it seems – and is currently modernising its arsenal.
……………………………………… Putin’s earlier implied threats to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine is rightly viewed as a dangerous and destabilising position to take. It is also uncomfortably close to the UK’s position during the Falklands War over 40 years ago. https://declassifieduk.org/did-uk-deploy-nuclear-armed-submarine-to-falklands-conflict/
More warheads, more nuclear waste to New Mexico. Santa Fe fearful, as Carlsbad leaders support efforts
“legacy waste” from past programs still waiting for disposal at Los Alamos was being disregarded in favor of the new streams the NNSA intended to generate.
“It’s heart-wrenching when you hear the young people concerned with manufacturing bombs.”
Adrian Hedden, Carlsbad Current-Argus 6 Apr 23,
Two meetings on nuclear waste were held in New Mexico this week, on different sides of the state with very different reactions from attendees.
On Tuesday, a townhall-style meeting was held in Santa Fe which more than 300 persons attended and about 200 participated online.
Most expressed fears and concerns that a federal plan to transport surplus plutonium to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad would endanger local communities along the transportation routes.
The next night at a meeting at the city golf course in Carlsbad, about 30 business leaders, elected officials and invited guests took a much warmer tone with the federal government and its plans for New Mexico and the nearby WIPP site.
Under the federally proposed plan, surplus plutonium would move via truck from the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in northern New Mexico for processing, then to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina for additional preparation before finally heading to WIPP for disposal.
By then, the 34 metric tons of plutonium set for disposal would meet characterization standards for transuranic (TRU) nuclear waste, meaning the program would not result in any waste of a higher radioactivity than that which the repository was intended to store.
But the program would see waste traveling through New Mexico, and especially the northern portion of the state, multiple times.
That’s a problem for Santa Fe County Commissioner Anna Hansen, who moderated the Tuesday meeting at the Santa Fe Convention Center with the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) – the agency devising the plan – and argued it could burden her community with the risk of exposure.
At the same time, the NNSA also was planning to ramp up the production of plutonium pits, the triggers for nuclear warheads, at Los Alamos and Savannah River site, hoping to produce up to 80 pits a year by 2030.
Some of the waste from that program would also be destined for WIPP as it’s the only deep geological repository in the U.S. for nuclear waste.
“People feel betrayed,” Hansen said in an interview with the Carlsbad Current-Argus, arguing the two NNSA programs marked an “expansion” of WIPP’s operations beyond what New Mexico originally agreed to when the facility was developed.
She said “legacy waste” from past programs still waiting for disposal at Los Alamos was being disregarded in favor of the new streams the NNSA intended to generate.
“They still feel frustrated that the legacy waste at LANL has not been cleaned up and new waste is being generated and also going to WIPP,” Hansen said of attendees at the Santa Fe meeting. “It’s heart-wrenching when you hear the young people concerned with manufacturing bombs.”
Jack Volpato, chair of the Carlsbad Mayor’s Nuclear Task Force, commended the NNSA and the WIPP project at the Wednesday meeting in Carlsbad for supporting the local community, its workforce and economy in the decades since the site was opened……………………………………………………………………………
Hansen, the Santa Fe County commissioner, said the NNSA’s plans were extraneous to WIPP’s original mission and what should be its primary purpose: to get nuclear waste “off the hill” in Los Alamos.
That’s the only true benefit to the people of New Mexico who host the WIPP site, she said.
“It’s a complete expansion of WIPP’s mission to be putting new and generated waste,” Hansen said. “It’s insanity to move surplus plutonium around the country. We don’t want to continue being left behind. Waste from all over the country has been coming here.”………………………………………………… https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/2023/04/06/nuclear-waste-new-mexico-santa-fe-carlsbad-nuke-plutonium-department-energy-bombs-nuke-warhead/70080266007/
Failed Ukrainian nuclear plant attack revealed – The Times
An elite force tried to seize the Zaporozhye NPP last autumn, the newspaper’s sources have claimed.
A “highly dangerous” Ukrainian operation to capture the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant last year ended in failure due to heavy Russian resistance, The Times reported on Friday, citing sources.
According to Kiev’s military personnel interviewed by the British newspaper, the attack involved some 600 elite Ukrainian soldiers who tried to cross the Dnieper River on October 19 by boat.
The operation hinged on the presumption that Moscow’s troops would not be able to fire artillery so close to the nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe, one officer told The Times.
However, the paper’s sources said the team met unexpected resistance. Moscow’s forces had “mined everything” and “even pulled up tanks and artillery” to fire on Kiev’s forces while they were on the water, the officer added.
The assault was supported by Ukrainian artillery, including US-made HIMARS systems, but Russian resistance resulted in only a fraction of the Ukrainian force coming ashore. After a three-hour firefight on the outskirts of Energodar, where the plant is located, the Ukrainian soldiers were forced to retreat, the report says.
Some senior Ukrainian officials viewed the offensive as controversial, with the president of Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom, Pyotr Kotin, telling The Times: “it is very dangerous to do such things near nuclear material. Any damage will bring radiation to the people and to the whole world.”
The report corroborates a Russian Defense Ministry statement at the time claiming that on October 19 Kiev’s forces attempted – without success – to mount an amphibious operation in the area, involving up to two Ukrainian companies and a total of 37 boats. The military claimed Ukraine lost over 90 soldiers in the operation.
Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the Zaporozhye NPP, which has been under Moscow’s control since last February. Russian officials have on numerous occasions warned that Kiev’s attacks could trigger a nuclear disaster.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has called on both parties to create a safe zone around the facility, but the negotiations on the matter have failed to achieve a breakthrough.
In late March, Rafael Grossi, the nuclear watchdog’s chief, said the idea was no longer being considered. Instead of establishing a safe zone, the IAEA now wants Kiev and Moscow to promise not to target the plant, or use it for staging attacks.
Ukraine will eventually reveal ‘horrible’ losses – ambassador
https://www.rt.com/russia/574421-ukraine-losses-horrible-russia/ 9 Apr 23
The true number of casualties will be acknowledged only once the conflict is over, Vadim Pristaiko has said.
Ukraine will reveal the extent of its “horrible” losses once its conflict with Russia is over, Vadim Pristaiko, Kiev’s ambassador to the UK, said in an interview released on Friday.
Asked by British tabloid the Daily Express to comment on casualties among Ukrainian military personnel and civilians, Pristaiko said “it has been our policy from the start not to discuss our losses.”
When the war is over, we will acknowledge this. I think it will be a horrible number,” he added.
Pristaiko dismissed any possibility of talks between Moscow and Kiev – at least until Russia withdraws its troops from the territories Ukraine claims as its own. “So, we have to fight to the very last of them or, very unfortunately, the last of us as well,” the envoy said.
The ambassador also commented on the assault brigades that Ukraine says it has assembled for a much-anticipated spring offensive against Russia. “Whoever says there are 40,000 men in these brigades, I would like to point out that we have mobilized a million men,” Pristaiko stated.
Both sides of the Ukraine conflict rarely provide data on their losses. However, last autumn, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put Kiev’s fatalities at 100,000, a claim that was disputed by Ukraine and later removed from the official’s website. In December, Mikhail Podoliak, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, put the death toll among Kiev’s military at between 12,000 and 13,000 people.
Russia has not officially updated its losses since last September, when Moscow’s Ministry of Defense estimated that 5,937 service members had died.
Pristaiko’s comments come as Ukrainian and Western officials claim that Ukraine will launch a counteroffensive in the coming weeks. Commenting on statements about a potential Ukrainian push, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that the Russian military “thoroughly tracks all the relevant information” on the matter.
Many Speakers Voice Concern over Increase in Dangerous Nuclear Weapons Rhetoric amidst Ongoing War against Ukraine, as Disarmament Commission Opens Session
United Nations 3 Apr 23
The Disarmament Commission’s 2023 substantive session began today by bringing into sharp focus the nuclear risks faced by the international community, as speakers stressed the alarming increase of dangerous nuclear rhetoric amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine and the crucial need to prioritize disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control measures.
Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, delivering opening remarks, issued a warning that the risk of a nuclear weapon being used, whether intentionally or by mistake, is currently higher than it has been at any point since the height of the cold war.
“I want to be clear: risk reduction is not a substitute for nuclear disarmament, indeed the only way to eliminate the risks associated with nuclear weapons is to completely eliminate the nuclear weapons themselves,” she stressed.
The Under-Secretary-General emphasized that the acquisition of more nuclear weapons, as well as the development of more sophisticated delivery systems, do not reduce the risk of a nuclear incident. She underscored that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is the foundation of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, expressing concern over the erosion of confidence and trust in the critical framework……………………………………………………………….
During the discussion, multiple speakers called on Member States to align themselves with the conclusions of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction. They highlighted that the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East is crucial for achieving peace in that region.
In addition to nuclear proliferation, cyber and space are increasingly becoming critical to international security, many speakers pointed out, with Portugal’s representative warning that the development of space-based weapons poses significant risks to destabilizing the international security environment. These weapons could potentially target critical space infrastructure such as satellites used for communication and navigation and threaten daily life………………………………………. more https://press.un.org/en/2023/dc3847.doc.htm
‘Brink of nuclear war’: North Korea warning on military drills
Aljazeera, 6 Apr 23,
Pyongyang’s state media publishes warning as United States and South Korea continue joint military exercises.
North Korea has accused the United States and South Korea of escalating tensions “to the brink of nuclear war” through their joint military drills and promised to respond with “offensive action,” according to state media KCNA.
A commentary published by KCNA on Thursday criticised the continuing exercises as “a trigger for driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the point of explosion.”
…………………… US and South Korean forces have been conducting a series of annual springtime exercises since March, including air and sea drills involving a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as well as B-1B and B-52 bombers, and their first large-scale amphibious landing drills in five years. On Wednesday, B52s were deployed for their first use on the peninsula in a month.
……………………. North Korea views such exercises as a rehearsal for invasion.
Pyongyang carried out a record number of weapons tests last year and has been ramping up its military activity in recent weeks. It has unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads, fired its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile – the Hwasong 17 – and tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone that is under development. It also fired cruise missiles from a submarine…………………………………… https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/6/brink-of-nuclear-war-north-korea-warning-on-military-drills
—
Researchers simulate damage from nuclear weapons use in Northeast Asia
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230407_41/ A group of researchers from Japan and other countries have simulated direct casualties and delayed deaths that could be caused by the use of nuclear weapons in Northeast Asia.
Nagasaki University in western Japan and other bodies, including a US research institution, jointly conducted a simulation analysis taking into account nuclear strategies of countries concerned and situation in the region.
The joint research project is aimed at ensuring that nuclear weapons are never used again.
The researchers have looked at five possible cases of nuclear weapons use in Northeast Asia and ran a simulation of what could follow if nuclear weapons are used.
In one case, it is assumed that in the Korean Peninsula, three nuclear weapons are used by North Korea and the United States.
In another case involving two nuclear powers fighting over Taiwan, it models what might happen after a total of 24 nuclear weapons are used, including high-yield bombs.
The researchers have quantified the number of deaths based on an analysis of effects such as heat flow caused by a nuclear explosion and radioactive fallout.
Even if only one nuclear weapon is used, the simulation shows 220,000 people, or about 25 percent of the population of the targeted area, would die within several months.
The use of a large number of nuclear weapons, including high-yield ones, could result in deaths of 2.6 million people.
The researchers also simulated effects of firestorms which are multiple fires caused by heat flow merging over a large area driven by powerful wind forces created by the thermal updraft. They found that firestorms could cause a large number of casualties over a wide area.
Radioactive fallout could reach an extensive area depending on weather conditions. Up to 920,000 people could die of cancer over the course of a few decades.
Professor Suzuki Tatsujiro at Nagasaki University’s Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition warns that misunderstanding and a lack of communication between rival nations could lead to the use of nuclear weapons. He says that even if only one is used, it would inevitably cause devastating damage.
Suzuki urges leaders of nuclear powers to face the potential risks and review their defense strategies that rely on nuclear deterrence.
B1 US Navy sends nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine to Middle East
The US Navy has deployed a guided-missile submarine capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk missiles to the Middle East, a spokesman said Saturday.
The Navy rarely acknowledges the location or deployment of submarines. Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet based in the Gulf nation of Bahrain, declined to comment on the submarine’s mission or what had prompted the deployment……………………………………… more https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2023/04/08/US-Navy-sends-nuclear-powered-guided-missile-submarine-to-Middle-East-Statement
Worst-kept secret? In tweet, ex-PM Barak seems to confirm Israel has nuclear weapons
Says Western officials fear judicial overhaul will turn country into ‘messianic dictatorship that possesses nuclear weapons,’ thirsting for confrontation with Islam at Temple Mount.
By TOI STAFF4 April 2023 https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-tweet-ex-pm-barak-seems-to-confirm-israel-has-nuclear-weapons/
—
Former prime minister Ehud Barak appeared to confirm on Twitter Tuesday that Israel has nuclear weapons — something Israeli officials have heavily implied but avoid publicly confirming as a matter of policy.
“In conversations between Israelis and Western diplomatic officials, there are deep concerns raised of the possibility that if the coup in Israel succeeds, a messianic dictatorship — that possesses nuclear weapons and fanatically wishes for a confrontation with Islam centered on the Temple Mount — will be established in the heart of the Middle East,” tweeted Barak in his latest criticism of the government’s judicial overhaul effort.
One of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s aides tweeted last week that the overhaul “will eventually lead to a freedom-protecting and God-fearing DAVIDIC MONARCHY [akin to the] UAE,”
Since the government’s unveiling of its plan to radically curb the High Court of Justice’s power three months ago, Barak has become a leading voice in the protests against the plan.
He has warned that Israel risks devolving into a dictatorship, adding that people are duty-bound to refuse orders by “an illegitimate regime.”
In February, Barak likened President Isaac Herzog’s proposal to the government for compromise on the judicial plan to former British premier Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement efforts vis-à-vis Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, in a post to social media he later deleted.
He accused the Netanyahu government of pursuing a “coup d’état” and said the overhaul plan was an “attack on the Declaration of Independence” and did not serve the interests of the public or the country.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report fails to mention military or conflict emissions.
The IPCC’s failure to mention military or conflict emissions in its
recent synthesis report points to a deeper problem. Ellie Kinney explains
why solving it will require a concerted effort from states, researchers and
civil society. As the IPCC has made clear, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Conflict & Environment Observatory 3rd April 2023
1 This Month
26 April – Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown airs on National Geographic on Sunday 26th April from 4pm
29 April – Nuclear Expert Webinar #1 – Radiation Impacts on Families with Mary Olson and Cindy Folkers
- 12:15 PM MT – 1:45 PM MT
- Location: Virtual – REGISTER TODAY
4 May -West Suburban Peace Coalition to discuss Iran war at May Educational Forum
Monday, May 4, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
Title: : How Trump’s Narrative Tries to Shape the Reality of the War on Iran.
Contact Walt Zlotow, zlotow@hotmail.com 630 442 3045 for further information
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
Pine Ridge Uranium is the real threat, not Tehran- Tell Burgum: Stop the Extraction.
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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