Bulletin #8 - February 2008
"In some respects, the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons is like the top of a very tall mountain. From the vantage point of our troubled world today, we can't even see the top of the mountain, and it is tempting and easy to say we can't get there from here. But the risks from continuing to go down the mountain or standing pat are too real to ignore. We must chart a course to higher ground where the mountaintop becomes more visible."
- Shultz, Perry, Kissinger and Nunn, Wall Street Journal, 15/1/08
The former US cold war warriors have used the New Year to renew their call for action on nuclear weapons. Read the full article. They note that in 2007, many other influential people supported their call for nuclear weapons abolition.
See what others said in 2007 about nuclear weapons - watch our short video what they said in 2007.
In this issue:
ICAN ACT - things to do
URGENT: Block India nuclear deals
ICAN NEWS
New DVD - Busting nuclear weapons myths
NUKES NEWS
People want a nuclear weapons free world - new surveys
Reliable Replacement Warhead - rejected by US Congress
Colombia ratifies Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Gordon Brown: UK must lead nuclear disarmament
WE CAN - new ICAN partners
ICAN ACT - things to do this month
PALM SUNDAY: Block out your diary for Sunday 16 March, Palm Sunday. Click here for further details of Palm Sunday events around Australia.
URGENT- IMPORTANT: Help block India's access to further nuclear material.
Write letters to newspapers voicing your support for the ALP Government in refusing to sell uranium to India unless India signs the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.
Write to Foreign Minister Steven Smith calling on him to BLOCK India's access to nuclear material through international Nuclear Suppliers Group. Stephen.Smith.MP@aph.gov.au fax: (02) 6273 4112
Background:
The Nuclear Suppliers Group is considering allowing India access to nuclear material (including equipment and uranium), regardless of whether the US deal goes ahead. The new Australian Government said they are undecided about whether to block the deal in this Nuclear Suppliers Group (Read Story), while the UK Government has just announced that it will not block the deal (Read Story).
WIN A TRIP TO GENEVA! Students for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World are organising a conference in Geneva in mid 2008. They are organising an essay contest for students, the prize being an expenses paid trip to the conference. Visit the Disarmament Hub for more information
Join the Peace Walk, London to Geneva via France, April 26-July 16. More information see: footprints for peace
SIGN THE ICAN PETITION
Facebook: sign up to the ICAN ‘Cause', or join the group.
Myspace: become an ICAN friend.
BOOK an ICAN speaker for your next event. E-mail jessica@icanw.org
Sign up celebrities to ICAN: Add faces to the growing personal endorsements of ICAN - statespeople, politicians, musicians and others. If you know any 'famous' people who may want to endorse ICAN - we can provide information to approach them with.
Join your organisation with ICAN. ICAN partners commit to building the campaign. Could your union, church, professional group, social group or other become an ICAN partner?
ICAN NEWS
WATCH OUR LATEST VIDEO! We've created a video which debunks six common myths about nuclear weapons. View it here.
International News
Click here for the January 2008 International bulletin.
Australian News
Government. ICAN will be in Canberra next week to talk with politicians across the political spectrum about their plans to advance nuclear weapons abolition. We are particularly keen to hear how the Government's commitment to lead the drive for a Nuclear Weapons Convention will be implemented.
Community. ICAN board and staff members have been part of: a National nuclear strategy weekend; the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies seminar New Directions in Conflict Intervention: What Works and What Doesn't? and the Global Alliance for the Prevention of War in Brisbane this weekend.
Resources. ICAN has been boosted by volunteers Tim Wright and Moritz Kuett working hard producing wonderful resources for ICAN. We have nearly finished a new small and snappy fold out brochure which will be available in the thousands; a comprehensive education manual; a fact sheet on plutonium and a summary of Australia's contribution to the NPT.
Adam Dempsey, our webmaster, has also been developing our website - please check it out.
ICAN IN THE NEWS!
Nuclear voting at the UN General Assembly: ICAN Australia board member John Langmore and intern Moritz Kuett published a summary of the UN General Assembly nuclear votes in Online Opinion. The incoming Labor Government indicated it did not have time to reconsider the votes, so Australia failed to support a number of significant initiatives. Read article
NUKES NEWS
Good news...
Mayors for Peace reach 2020 members - and more!
Mayors for Peace succeeded in their aim for 2020 Mayors by the end of 2007, boosting their numbers by over 400 last year (including 5 from Australia!). Read more.
Surveys around the world show people want a nuclear free world:
- GetUp Survey-Australia: 45% say nukes is very important. In an online survey, GetUp have found that the nuclear issue is very important to 45% of their members. For 20% of them, it is in the top 3 issues. Read article and make a comment on the blog.
- Canada: When it comes to nuclear weapons, 88 per cent of Canadians believe they
make the world a more dangerous place, while just six per cent believe they
make it safer. Read more. - Russian and US Citizens: The November World Opinion poll showed that 73% of US citizens, and 63% of Russians support the elimination of nuclear weapons. Read the poll.
Colombia ratifies Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
The ratifying of this treaty reduces to 9 the countries left to sign the treaty before it can come into force. Read article. China also indicated at the Conference on Disarmament this week that it is also close to ratifying.
Conference on Disarmament . The first session of the Conference on Disarmament has been addressed by the Secretary General of the UN, the British Foreign Minister and many other senior dignitaries. This appears to reflect a renewed interest in gaining traction at this body. Both the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Fissile Material Cut Off Treaty have been hot topics for discussion. See the Reaching Critical Will reports for more information.
Kiwi Will Raise Pacific Disarmament Issues In UN Role
A prominent Christchurch anti-nuclear campaigner appointed as a disarmament adviser to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says she will use the post to raise the profile of Pacific Island issues, reports Stuff NZ . Read article.
Reliable Replacement Warhead - rejected by US Congress. Despite powerful lobbying by the Bush administration, Congress rejected funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead. Read article. However disarmament experts warn that this may only be a symbolic victory, as US Administrations often hide this spending in their black budget. Read article. This has been reflected in a Department of Energy report this week that sought $40 million in the nuclear budget for the Reliable Replacement Warhead itself.
Gordon Brown tells India that UK must lead disarmament. In a recent visit to India, Gordon Brown is reported to have said that Britain would play a leading role in speeding up nuclear disarmament "to ultimately achieve a world free from nuclear weapons". Read article.
Bad news...
FAMILIES of Australian and British soldiers used as guinea pigs in nuclear testing programs 50 years ago will suffer health problems for up to 20 generations. Read article.
U.S. overstates non proliferation success: watchdog. A US program established to employ Russian scientists following the collapse of the Soviet Union overstated its success. Read article.
Former NATO Generals suggest use of nuclear weapons. The report "Towards a Grand
Strategy for an Uncertain World" released last month suggested using nuclear weapons for ‘damage limitation' - similar to the argument for using them in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Read report.
News on Iran...
The chief of the nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, urged Iran to accelerate their cooperation with the body, during a recent visit. Read article. Subsequently Iran's leaders pledged to provide a full report in four weeks. Read article.
News on North Korea...
North Korea misses December 31 Deadline: North Korea failed to meet a year-end deadline to declare all its nuclear programs under an aid-for-disarmament deal brokered following its nuclear weapon test in October 2006. Read article.
Washington Post Opinion Piece: Slowly but surely Pyongyang is moving
News on Israel...
Israel tests new long-range missile: Israel successfully tested a new long-range missile defence officials said, and reports indicate the missiles might be capable of being armed with nuclear warheads Read article
Israel's nuclear whistleblower back in court
Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli nuclear technician and former Sydney resident who revealed to the world Israel's nuclear stockpile, has been back in court this month.
Released in 2005 after spending 11 years in jail for his original disclosures, Vanunu has ongoing restrictions to his free speech and movement. Since then he has been arrested several times for violations of those restrictions, including giving various interviews to foreign journalists and attempting to leave Israel.
This month's appeal is against a 6month sentence for talking to a foreign journalist.
Watch you-tube video based on Vanunu's revelations
While Israel attempts to recruit new workers to their nuclear plant
Israel's secretive nuclear facility is trying to recruit new workers with a rare glimpse of the interior of the reactor complex. "It's very pretty inside," a spokeswoman for the Israel Atomic Commission said Wednesday. Read article.
Thanks to the following organisations that joined ICAN this month:
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
CLEAN (Climate Landcare Environment Action Network Inc)
