Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
posted by Kaihsu Tai on May 17th, 2005
Last February, I attended a day school on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) here in Oxford, organized by the Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; it was helpful and made me start working with fellow activists.
Today, Dr John Sloboda of the Oxford Research Group gave a short report to the United Nations Association’s Oxford Branch to update us on the 2005 Review Conference of the NPT, taking place this month in New York. The group produced very good briefings on the topic.
He said:
Many commentators see the NPT Conferences as being primarily a vehicle for the USA to grandstand its views on Iran, and to block substantive progress on any other issue. It is far too late now for civil society to affect the outcomes in New York. Our next opportunity to influence the UK government comes with the debates on replacement of Trident and our nuclear power stations, which have already begun.
This is what the Labour Manifesto 2005 said before the recent election:
We are also committed to retaining the independent nuclear deterrent and we will continue to work, both bilaterally and through the UN, to urge states not yet party to non-proliferation treaties, notably the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to join.
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back-link from Indymedia
George Monbiot: The treaty wreckers. “In just a few months, Bush and Blair have destroyed global restraint on the development of nuclear weapons.” Guardian 2005-08-02.
The August 2005 issue of Physics World has some relevant articles from the viewpoints of scientists.
Green Euro-MP calls for nuclear-free world on Hiroshima anniversary (2005-08-03): Caroline Lucas MEP urges U.K. to halt Trident programme.
Euro-MP Caroline Lucas has called on the UK to scrap its Trident nuclear weapons programme in a statement to mark Hiroshima Day this Sunday, the 60th anniversary of the August 1945 nuclear attacks on Japan.
And he said it.
Today, the scientific journal Nature 438:13 (3 November 2005) reports that physicists worldwide are signing a petition opposing a USA policy that would permit the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear nations. The petition was spawned by a talk at my alma mater, the University of California, San Diego.
The November 2005 issue of Le Monde diplomatique has a series of articles about nuclear weapons and nuclear energy.
Khatami: Religious leaders must fight nuclear arms. USA Today, 2005-11-14.
Here’s what I found scary today in an article at the nytimes.com today about the “Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad” banning all western music on Iranian state radio and tv. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iran-Music-Ban.html
This was the very last paragraph and combined with all the recent Israeli talk about pre-emptive strikes it really scares me. “The prohibitions mirror those imposed in neighboring Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, which imposed a strict version of Islamic law, including a ban on music and film. The Taliban was ousted by a U.S.-led coalition in late 2001.” Two sentences that really draw some serious parallels.
Of course I think their position is ridiculous. I would certainly never been in favor of outlawing persian music for example. But then I don’t think it’s worth killing them over either. I mean if I don’t want a coca cola I don’t buy one. Same with music.
It’s my current nightmare scenario, we get drawn into a fight over on the border with the Iranians and then we and the Chinese start tossing nukes at each other. All of a sudden I understand why the “born agains” been studying Revelations so hard the past few years. I am personally not for this end of time scenario just yet. I have too many children.
I worry about war with Iran, too. Sometimes it seems to me like this worrying is silly, that such a war would be ludicrous. But I remember I started to vigil with a NO WAR ON IRAQ sign in Spring 2002, worried about a war but thinking, “They’ll never start another war with Iraq. That just wouldn’t make any sense! Maybe I need a reality check.”
The first secretary of the Iranian embassy in London wrote in the Guardian this Friday: “Iran’s energy needs will not be met by oil alone: The international pressure over our nuclear plants is unfair and unjustified, says Hamid Babaei.”