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abolition-usa-digest    Thursday, November 4 1999    Volume 01 : Number 217




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999 13:11:36 -0600
From: "Boyle, Francis" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) RE: Stopping Malicious Looping

Mailinglist 'Citizens Inspections to Prevent War Crimes'
- -------------------------------------------------------

 At first I too thought that using the Reply to All button   was the
problem. But my original messages have also been multiplied for each list.
In addition, as far as I can tell,  at least one other message has been put
into this loop-- by Tracey Moavero, which i have gotten several times
already today, as indicated below. Also, these problems have NOT occurred on
any of the other lists that i have been posting on today. So my conclusion
is that someone else has maliciously  set up an automatic loop. fab.

Dear friends,

Below is the final edition of the sign-on letter to support the New Agenda
resolution and the International Court of Justice resolution at the U.N.
General Assembly. We have 160 organizations in 22 countries signed on. Thank
you to all of our signers. We are in the process of getting this delivered
to all the First Committee delegations, which should be completed by today.
Keep the pressure up on your governments for positive votes!

All the best,

Tracy Moavero
Peace Action International Office


November 1, 1999



Your Excellency,

As citizens' organizations working to end the threat of nuclear war, we urge
your government to support two important resolutions which are before the
United Nations General Assembly First Committee for consideration.

The "Towards a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World: The Need for a New Agenda"
resolution reflects our concerns about the urgent need for complete nuclear
disarmament. The concrete steps in it lay important groundwork for moving
stalled processes and creating new opportunities for progress. Far from
hindering any existing efforts, this resolution strengthens them by taking
them out of isolation and bringing them together to create momentum. The
sponsors' commitment to building consensus is clear from this year's text,
which takes into consideration concerns raised by some delegations when this
resolution was considered last year.

We also support the resolution affirming the 1996 advisory opinion of the
International Court of Justice that there exists a legal obligation to
pursue and conclude nuclear disarmament negotiations. As the United Nations
becomes increasingly important in enforcing the rule of law to build and
keep peace, this resolution strengthens the position of the U.N. in that
regard. Anything less than a strong affirmative vote would send an ambiguous
message about respect for international law.

The timing of these resolutions is crucial. We are distressed not only by
the slow pace of progress toward disarmament, but also by the disturbing
signs that nuclear arsenals are becoming even more entrenched in the
security policies of some nations. Failure of the U.N. General Assembly to
strongly support these resolutions at this time would send a dangerous
signal to those who are trying to invigorate nuclear weapons programs.

We recognize the vital role of the United Nations in fostering nuclear
disarmament and see ourselves as partners in those efforts. While the
undersigned organizations are from many different parts of the globe, we are
working together to build support for these resolutions. NGO representatives
will be using the Internet to send up-to-the-minute updates, allowing
organizations around the world to closely follow First Committee proceedings
and plan their work accordingly.

We were pleased that the fifty-third session of the General Assembly
overwhelmingly adopted these resolutions, confirming the broad support -
among both civil society and governments - for swift and concerted action
for complete nuclear disarmament. We await similar and even stronger results
this year.

Nuclear disarmament is often noted as an "ultimate goal." The time has come
for that "ultimate goal" to be realized.


Sincerely,

(See attached list of Civil Society Organizations)

Contact: Tracy Moavero
Peace Action International Office
866 United Nations Plaza, Room 4053
New York, NY 10017-1822
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Signatures to the letter supporting the New Agenda and International Court
of Justice resolutions

Total 160
in 22 countries

INTERNATIONAL (15)
British-American Security Council (BASIC)
For Mother Earth International
Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space
Grandmothers for Peace International
Greenpeace International
International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA)
International Peace Bureau (IPB)
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
International Student Movement for the U.N.
Pacific Campaign for Disarmament and Security
Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (PIANGO)
Pax Christi International
Women's Environment and Development Organization
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
Working Group Eurobomb/Project on European Nuclear Non-Proliferation (PENN)

AUSTRALIA (6)
Australian Peace Committee (South Australian Branch)
Australian Peace Committee National Office
Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament
Friends of the Earth Australia
People for Nuclear Disarmament (Western Australia)
Medical Association for Prevention of War (MEDACT SA) South Australian
Branch

BELGIUM (1)
War Resisters International / Flemish section

CANADA (6)
Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Centre De Ressources Sur La Non-Violence
The Simons Foundation of Canada
Physicians for Global Survival
Physicians for Global Survival Calgary Chapter
No Nukes!

DENMARK (2)
Enhedslisten Aalborg
Green Party

FRANCE (3)
Appel des Cent Pour la Paix
- -----Original Message-----
From: [e-mail] [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 1999 1:04 PM
To: [e-mail]; [e-mail]; 'Abolition
Caucus List (E-mail)'; [e-mail]; 'TP2000';
[e-mail]
Subject: Re: Stopping Malicious Looping


The problem appears to be that personal responses are being made by replying
to "all" rather than just the sender. Personal messages addressed to all are
creating a heavy load. Some people are on multiple lists and therefore
recieve duplicate (or more) messages.

Scott P.


- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu,  4 Nov 1999 16:39:45 -0800 (PST)
From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Abolition Global Caucus

Dear Friends,

I am happy to announce that Egroups.com will now host the Abolition Global
Caucus.  For those who were previously subscribed to the list hosted by
IGC, you have automatically been subscribed to the new egroups list.  Below
is some information concerning the new list.  Please feel free to contact
me if you have any questions.

Anyone may join the global caucus.  To join, simply do one of the following:

1. Send a message to the list moderator at [e-mail]

2. Visit the Abolition-caucus website (shown below) and submit a membership
form.

3. Visit the Abolition 2000 website and submit a membership form.

4. Send an e-mail to:  [e-mail]  (leave the
subject line and body of the message blank).

To post a message to the caucus, send a message to:
[e-mail]

Only members of the Abolition Global Caucus may submit a message.

Messages can now be accessed from the internet.  To view any posted
messages or to find any other group information, please visit:

    http://www.egroups.com/list/abolition-caucus/


Yours In Peace,
Carah Lynn Ong


Carah Lynn Ong
Coordinator, Abolition 2000
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1
Santa Barbara CA 93108

Phone [phone]  FAX[phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website http://www.wagingpeace.org/abolition2000


Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly
receive updates about the Abolition movement.  Both caucus' also provide a
forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used
to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition.



To subscribe to the Abolition Global Caucus, please do one of the following:

1. Send a message to the list moderator at [e-mail]

2. Visit the Abolition-caucus website (shown below) and submit a membership
form.

3. Visit the Abolition 2000 website and submit a membership form.

4. Send an e-mail to:  [e-mail]  (leave the
subject line and body of the message blank).


To post a message to the Abolition Global Caucus, send your message to:

[e-mail]


To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no
subject) to:
[e-mail]
In the body of the message, write:
"subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks)

To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to:
 [e-mail]



- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 10:39:45 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) 24 HOURS TO SIGN Y2K NUKE WEAPONS DE-ALERT LETTER TO  US DEFENCE SECY COHEN

John Hallam
Friends of the Earth Sydney,
17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia,
Fax[phone] ph (61)(2)9517-3903
[e-mail]    http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html

DEAR ALL: THIS LETTER IS TO BE FAXED THIS COMING SATURDAY SYDNEY TIME.
(18 hours before US time, so friday US time).

YOU THEREFORE HAVE ROUGHLY 24 HOURS IN WHICH YOUR ORGANISATION CAN SIGN IT.

Please sign it by emailing [e-mail], with your organisations
physical address and your title.

It asks  US Defence Secy Cohen to take nuclear weapons off alert over the
y2K rollover period. If you think it's insane to have 2,000 US warheads
(and 3.600 Russian ones) capable of being launched over 20 minutes, over
the Y2K rollover, let secretary Cohen know.

If you want to sign on to a similar letter to Yeltsin and Sergeyev, please
sign the existing Yeltsin/Clinton sign on, on
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html

As above, sign this letter by emailing me at:

[e-mail]

A global fax campaign will commence (or re-commence - one already exists)
on Sunday November 7.

My apologies for the inevitable double-postings.

TO:
WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE,
[phone],

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON,
WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US,
[phone], [phone].

Y2K AND DE-ALERTING OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS


Dear President Clinton and Secretary for Defence Cohen,
I am writing  to urge your administration to take US nuclear forces off
'hairtrigger alert' even if only during the Y2K rollover period.

It is particularly disturbing that you are reported as having stated in
Moscow that de-alerting of nuclear forces is 'off the table' as a stability
building measure. You have also been quoted as saying  that 'The better
course is reduction, limiting the number of weapons, and establishing
shared early warning centers'.

These measures are not in competition with each other. All of them -
reductions in the number of weapons, the establishment of shared early
warning centers and de-alerting - are equally vital to the reduction of
tension and the establishment of strategic stability.

This is particularly the case in view of the uncertainties posed by the
millennium date change (Y2K).

As you are well aware, the largest and oldest computer system complexes in
the world are those that control nuclear weapons systems.

We are  well aware that the chief of Stratcom, Admiral Mies has said in
congressional testimony in April and July 1999 that the defence department
is well advanced in terms of its Y2K-remediation program.

The Y2K problem is such that it is just not possible to be as certain as
Mies is in his testimony. This is because  very nature of this kind of
problem prohibits you from being certain that every possible programming
glitch is truly fixed. In fact no - one will be completely certain until
the real date change itself,  and indeed until well into the new year.

And even if you are able to  convincingly prove that US strategic nuclear
computer systems are truly Y2K compliant and that they are 'fail safe', you
will be well aware of the great concern that has been voiced over the Y2K
readiness of Russia.

Russia has, until recently, made little effort to even  acknowledge the Y2K
problem, let alone fix it. It is therefore quite possible that Russian
computerized control systems are not Y2K compliant and that they will
experience widespread failures during the Y2K rollover period.

Even more disquieting is the fact that that the Russians have constructed
the system known as 'Perimeter', or the 'dead hand'.

Perimiter seems to offer additional pathways by which Y2K -related  command
and control failures could lead to an accidental launch of missiles,
possibly by Y2K - related failures in sensors combined with system blackout
fooling the system into thinking that  an attack had taken place.

The establishment of a Y2K strategic stability center in Colorado is
certainly an advantageous move and an absolutely essential one.

However, it does not entirely remove the danger of an accidental launch of
nuclear weapons.

The fact that the Center is scheduled, as far as the public is aware, to
come into operation only on December 27th, four days prior to the rollover,
is itself far from reassuring. A four day delay will render it useless.

Similarly, the center itself will depend on the availability of
ultra-reliable hotlines between it and Moscow. The recently admitted Y2K
vulnerabilities  discovered, according to Reuters reports of congressional
testimony, in six of the seven hotlines established during the cold war
period are also cause for deep concern.

If nuclear weapons are removed from a status in which they can be launched
within minutes, and placed in one which would require at least days to
launch, the risk of an accidental missile launch induced by Y2K or other
errors in command and control systems will be virtually eliminated.

This  has been done by the UK, which has moved the 'notice to fire' for its
missile forces from minutes to days.

De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra
Commission in 1996 as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust
between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's
and  this years text of the New Agenda Resolution in the UN General
Assembly.
In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the
Australian Senate on 12 August and 20September.

(Text of these resolutions has been passed on to you by the deputy
president of our Senate, Senator Sue West.)

Mr. Clinton and Mr. Cohen, we believe that in taking De-alerting 'off the
table', the United States is making a serious error. We believe that
failure to take nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K
'rollover' period is an error that has the potential of causing unthinkable
consequences.

The probability of this may be low but it  will never be zero as long as
nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert.

In a letter in response to a sign on letter from over 270 (now 460) NGOs,
Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov  said that:
"The questions of removing from the military duty of Russian and American
nuclear armaments which you mention in your appeal may become the matter
for discussion between the two countries in the context of negotiations on
further limitation of the strategic nuclear weapons"

This hardly indicates that De-alerting is 'off the table' as far as the
Russian Government is concerned.  It should be very much on the table as
far as your administration is concerned.

(Text of the Russian reply with english translation to our letter is
enclosed).

In a previous administration, President Bush took strategic bomber forces
off alert. We urge you to do this with all US nuclear forces.

Signed
John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Sydney.
Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance, The Hague,
Tom Mc Donald, British-American Security Information Council,(BASIC) London,
Marion Hancock, Aotearoa Peace Foundation, Auckland, NZ.,
Alice Slater, Global Resource and Action Centre for the Environment, NY.,
Ellen Thomas, Proposition-1 Committee, Washington DC.,
Marylia Kelley, Executive Director, Tri -Valley CAREs, (Communities Against
a Radioactive Environment), Livermore, CA,
Laurie grossman, Y2K-WASH,(World Atomic Safety Holiday) San Francisco,
Carah Ong, Abolition 2000 Coordinator,



- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu,  4 Nov 1999 17:46:59 -0800 (PST)
From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Listserve Difficulties

Dear All,

The Abolition Global Caucus listserve was infected by an individual.  I did
find the culprit and removed the email address from the list, but not
before a worm had infected the server.  Due to technical difficulties, the
Abolition Global Caucus will now be hosted at Egroups.com.  Thank you for
your concern. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

>Mailinglist 'Citizens Inspections to Prevent War Crimes'
>-------------------------------------------------------
>
>Dear Cara and Francis,
>
>The problem is clearly with the "[e-mail]"
>list, since when I post to Pol and to other names using that list, I get back
>the multiple replies. I've deleted NUKENET from this response, and tp20000
>because they use different providers and don't seem to be the problem (and
>I've had confirmation from them that I am not on their lists and therefore
>can't be getting mail from them.
>
>I'm also not getting posts directly from the Abolition nets - 2000 and USA.
>Only when "motherearth" is in the list do I find the posts went to them.
>
>Don't know who has access to or control over the motherearth net but the
>problem clearly is on that list.
>
>Thanks for your help,
>
>David McReynolds
>
><< Subj:     RE: (abolition-usa) Listserve Difficulties
> Date:  11/4/99 4:34:39 PM Eastern Standard Time
> From:  [e-mail] (Boyle, Francis)
> Sender:    [e-mail]
> To:    [e-mail]
>('[e-mail]'), [e-mail],
>[e-mail] ('TP2000'), [e-mail]
>('[e-mail]'), [e-mail] ('[e-mail]')
>
> Mailinglist 'Citizens Inspections to Prevent War Crimes'
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dear Carah:
>    I also think that person put some type of worm in there that has
> infected the other anti-nuclear lists as well. Francis.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation [mailto:[e-mail]]
> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 1999 3:31 PM
> To: [e-mail]; [e-mail]
> Subject: (abolition-usa) Listserve Difficulties
>
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> As the list moderator for the Abolition Global Caucus and the Abolitio-USA
> listserves, please allow me to apologize for the inconveniences caused by
> the recent multiple postings of the same messages from certain senders.  I
> am currently on the phoone with our technical support and we are
> determining who has infected the list serve.  Consequently, the person who
> set the automatic loop will be removed from the listserve.  I appreciate
> your patience in this matter.  If you have any questions or concerns,
> please feel free to contact me.  Thank you for your continued support.
>
> Yours In Peace,
> Carah
>
>
> Carah Lynn Ong
> Coordinator, Abolition 2000
> Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
> 1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1
> Santa Barbara CA 93108
>
> Phone [phone]  FAX[phone]
> Email: [e-mail]
> Website http://www.wagingpeace.org/abolition2000
>
>  >>



Carah Lynn Ong
Coordinator, Abolition 2000
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1
Santa Barbara CA 93108

Phone [phone]  FAX[phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website http://www.wagingpeace.org/abolition2000


Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly
receive updates about the Abolition movement.  Both caucus' also provide a
forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used
to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition.



To subscribe to the Abolition Global Caucus, please do one of the following:

1. Send a message to the list moderator at [e-mail]

2. Visit the Abolition-caucus website (shown below) and submit a membership
form.

3. Visit the Abolition 2000 website and submit a membership form.

4. Send an e-mail to:  [e-mail]  (leave the
subject line and body of the message blank).


To post a message to the Abolition Global Caucus, send your message to:

[e-mail]


To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no
subject) to:
[e-mail]
In the body of the message, write:
"subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks)

To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to:
 [e-mail]



- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999 15:33:59 -0600
From: "Boyle, Francis" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: (abolition-usa) Listserve Difficulties

Mailinglist 'Citizens Inspections to Prevent War Crimes'
- -------------------------------------------------------

Mailinglist 'Citizens Inspections to Prevent War Crimes'
- -------------------------------------------------------

Dear Carah:
    I also think that person put some type of worm in there that has
infected the other anti-nuclear lists as well. Francis.

- -----Original Message-----
From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 1999 3:31 PM
To: [e-mail]; [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Listserve Difficulties


Dear Friends,

As the list moderator for the Abolition Global Caucus and the Abolitio-USA
listserves, please allow me to apologize for the inconveniences caused by
the recent multiple postings of the same messages from certain senders.  I
am currently on the phoone with our technical support and we are
determining who has infected the list serve.  Consequently, the person who
set the automatic loop will be removed from the listserve.  I appreciate
your patience in this matter.  If you have any questions or concerns,
please feel free to contact me.  Thank you for your continued support.

Yours In Peace,
Carah


Carah Lynn Ong
Coordinator, Abolition 2000
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
1187 Coast Village Road PMB 121, Suite 1
Santa Barbara CA 93108

Phone [phone]  FAX[phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website http://www.wagingpeace.org/abolition2000


Join the Abolition-USA or Abolition-Global Caucus list serve to regularly
receive updates about the Abolition movement.  Both caucus' also provide a
forum for conversation on nuclear-related issues as well as they are used
to post important articles and information pertaining to nuclear abolition.


To subscribe to the Abolition-USA listerve, send a message (with no
subject) to:
[e-mail]
In the body of the message, write:
"subscribe abolition-usa" (do not include quotation marks)

To post a message to the Abolition-USA list, mail your message to:
 [e-mail]

To subscribe to the International Abolition-caucus, send a message (with no
subject) to: [e-mail]
In the body of the message, write:
"subscribe abolition-caucus" (do not include quotation marks)

To post a message to the International Abolition list, mail your message to:
[e-mail]



- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.


- -
 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 10:39:45 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) 24 HOURS TO SIGN Y2K NUKE WEAPONS DE-ALERT LETTER TO  US DEFENCE SECY COHEN

John Hallam
Friends of the Earth Sydney,
17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia,
Fax[phone] ph (61)(2)9517-3903
[e-mail]    http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html

DEAR ALL: THIS LETTER IS TO BE FAXED THIS COMING SATURDAY SYDNEY TIME.
(18 hours before US time, so friday US time).

YOU THEREFORE HAVE ROUGHLY 24 HOURS IN WHICH YOUR ORGANISATION CAN SIGN IT.

Please sign it by emailing [e-mail], with your organisations
physical address and your title.

It asks  US Defence Secy Cohen to take nuclear weapons off alert over the
y2K rollover period. If you think it's insane to have 2,000 US warheads
(and 3.600 Russian ones) capable of being launched over 20 minutes, over
the Y2K rollover, let secretary Cohen know.

If you want to sign on to a similar letter to Yeltsin and Sergeyev, please
sign the existing Yeltsin/Clinton sign on, on
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html

As above, sign this letter by emailing me at:

[e-mail]

A global fax campaign will commence (or re-commence - one already exists)
on Sunday November 7.

My apologies for the inevitable double-postings.

TO:
WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE,
[phone],

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON,
WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US,
[phone], [phone].

Y2K AND DE-ALERTING OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS


Dear President Clinton and Secretary for Defence Cohen,
I am writing  to urge your administration to take US nuclear forces off
'hairtrigger alert' even if only during the Y2K rollover period.

It is particularly disturbing that you are reported as having stated in
Moscow that de-alerting of nuclear forces is 'off the table' as a stability
building measure. You have also been quoted as saying  that 'The better
course is reduction, limiting the number of weapons, and establishing
shared early warning centers'.

These measures are not in competition with each other. All of them -
reductions in the number of weapons, the establishment of shared early
warning centers and de-alerting - are equally vital to the reduction of
tension and the establishment of strategic stability.

This is particularly the case in view of the uncertainties posed by the
millennium date change (Y2K).

As you are well aware, the largest and oldest computer system complexes in
the world are those that control nuclear weapons systems.

We are  well aware that the chief of Stratcom, Admiral Mies has said in
congressional testimony in April and July 1999 that the defence department
is well advanced in terms of its Y2K-remediation program.

The Y2K problem is such that it is just not possible to be as certain as
Mies is in his testimony. This is because  very nature of this kind of
problem prohibits you from being certain that every possible programming
glitch is truly fixed. In fact no - one will be completely certain until
the real date change itself,  and indeed until well into the new year.

And even if you are able to  convincingly prove that US strategic nuclear
computer systems are truly Y2K compliant and that they are 'fail safe', you
will be well aware of the great concern that has been voiced over the Y2K
readiness of Russia.

Russia has, until recently, made little effort to even  acknowledge the Y2K
problem, let alone fix it. It is therefore quite possible that Russian
computerized control systems are not Y2K compliant and that they will
experience widespread failures during the Y2K rollover period.

Even more disquieting is the fact that that the Russians have constructed
the system known as 'Perimeter', or the 'dead hand'.

Perimiter seems to offer additional pathways by which Y2K -related  command
and control failures could lead to an accidental launch of missiles,
possibly by Y2K - related failures in sensors combined with system blackout
fooling the system into thinking that  an attack had taken place.

The establishment of a Y2K strategic stability center in Colorado is
certainly an advantageous move and an absolutely essential one.

However, it does not entirely remove the danger of an accidental launch of
nuclear weapons.

The fact that the Center is scheduled, as far as the public is aware, to
come into operation only on December 27th, four days prior to the rollover,
is itself far from reassuring. A four day delay will render it useless.

Similarly, the center itself will depend on the availability of
ultra-reliable hotlines between it and Moscow. The recently admitted Y2K
vulnerabilities  discovered, according to Reuters reports of congressional
testimony, in six of the seven hotlines established during the cold war
period are also cause for deep concern.

If nuclear weapons are removed from a status in which they can be launched
within minutes, and placed in one which would require at least days to
launch, the risk of an accidental missile launch induced by Y2K or other
errors in command and control systems will be virtually eliminated.

This  has been done by the UK, which has moved the 'notice to fire' for its
missile forces from minutes to days.

De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra
Commission in 1996 as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust
between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's
and  this years text of the New Agenda Resolution in the UN General
Assembly.
In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the
Australian Senate on 12 August and 20September.

(Text of these resolutions has been passed on to you by the deputy
president of our Senate, Senator Sue West.)

Mr. Clinton and Mr. Cohen, we believe that in taking De-alerting 'off the
table', the United States is making a serious error. We believe that
failure to take nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K
'rollover' period is an error that has the potential of causing unthinkable
consequences.

The probability of this may be low but it  will never be zero as long as
nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert.

In a letter in response to a sign on letter from over 270 (now 460) NGOs,
Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov  said that:
"The questions of removing from the military duty of Russian and American
nuclear armaments which you mention in your appeal may become the matter
for discussion between the two countries in the context of negotiations on
further limitation of the strategic nuclear weapons"

This hardly indicates that De-alerting is 'off the table' as far as the
Russian Government is concerned.  It should be very much on the table as
far as your administration is concerned.

(Text of the Russian reply with english translation to our letter is
enclosed).

In a previous administration, President Bush took strategic bomber forces
off alert. We urge you to do this with all US nuclear forces.

Signed
John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Sydney.
Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance, The Hague,
Tom Mc Donald, British-American Security Information Council,(BASIC) London,
Marion Hancock, Aotearoa Peace Foundation, Auckland, NZ.,
Alice Slater, Global Resource and Action Centre for the Environment, NY.,
Ellen Thomas, Proposition-1 Committee, Washington DC.,
Marylia Kelley, Executive Director, Tri -Valley CAREs, (Communities Against
a Radioactive Environment), Livermore, CA,
Laurie grossman, Y2K-WASH,(World Atomic Safety Holiday) San Francisco,
Carah Ong, Abolition 2000 Coordinator,



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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 10:39:45 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) 24 HOURS TO SIGN Y2K NUKE WEAPONS DE-ALERT LETTER TO  US DEFENCE SECY COHEN

John Hallam
Friends of the Earth Sydney,
17 Lord street, Newtown, NSW, Australia,
Fax[phone] ph (61)(2)9517-3903
[e-mail]    http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html

DEAR ALL: THIS LETTER IS TO BE FAXED THIS COMING SATURDAY SYDNEY TIME.
(18 hours before US time, so friday US time).

YOU THEREFORE HAVE ROUGHLY 24 HOURS IN WHICH YOUR ORGANISATION CAN SIGN IT.

Please sign it by emailing [e-mail], with your organisations
physical address and your title.

It asks  US Defence Secy Cohen to take nuclear weapons off alert over the
y2K rollover period. If you think it's insane to have 2,000 US warheads
(and 3.600 Russian ones) capable of being launched over 20 minutes, over
the Y2K rollover, let secretary Cohen know.

If you want to sign on to a similar letter to Yeltsin and Sergeyev, please
sign the existing Yeltsin/Clinton sign on, on
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html

As above, sign this letter by emailing me at:

[e-mail]

A global fax campaign will commence (or re-commence - one already exists)
on Sunday November 7.

My apologies for the inevitable double-postings.

TO:
WILLIAM COHEN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE,
[phone],

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON,
WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, US,
[phone], [phone].

Y2K AND DE-ALERTING OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS


Dear President Clinton and Secretary for Defence Cohen,
I am writing  to urge your administration to take US nuclear forces off
'hairtrigger alert' even if only during the Y2K rollover period.

It is particularly disturbing that you are reported as having stated in
Moscow that de-alerting of nuclear forces is 'off the table' as a stability
building measure. You have also been quoted as saying  that 'The better
course is reduction, limiting the number of weapons, and establishing
shared early warning centers'.

These measures are not in competition with each other. All of them -
reductions in the number of weapons, the establishment of shared early
warning centers and de-alerting - are equally vital to the reduction of
tension and the establishment of strategic stability.

This is particularly the case in view of the uncertainties posed by the
millennium date change (Y2K).

As you are well aware, the largest and oldest computer system complexes in
the world are those that control nuclear weapons systems.

We are  well aware that the chief of Stratcom, Admiral Mies has said in
congressional testimony in April and July 1999 that the defence department
is well advanced in terms of its Y2K-remediation program.

The Y2K problem is such that it is just not possible to be as certain as
Mies is in his testimony. This is because  very nature of this kind of
problem prohibits you from being certain that every possible programming
glitch is truly fixed. In fact no - one will be completely certain until
the real date change itself,  and indeed until well into the new year.

And even if you are able to  convincingly prove that US strategic nuclear
computer systems are truly Y2K compliant and that they are 'fail safe', you
will be well aware of the great concern that has been voiced over the Y2K
readiness of Russia.

Russia has, until recently, made little effort to even  acknowledge the Y2K
problem, let alone fix it. It is therefore quite possible that Russian
computerized control systems are not Y2K compliant and that they will
experience widespread failures during the Y2K rollover period.

Even more disquieting is the fact that that the Russians have constructed
the system known as 'Perimeter', or the 'dead hand'.

Perimiter seems to offer additional pathways by which Y2K -related  command
and control failures could lead to an accidental launch of missiles,
possibly by Y2K - related failures in sensors combined with system blackout
fooling the system into thinking that  an attack had taken place.

The establishment of a Y2K strategic stability center in Colorado is
certainly an advantageous move and an absolutely essential one.

However, it does not entirely remove the danger of an accidental launch of
nuclear weapons.

The fact that the Center is scheduled, as far as the public is aware, to
come into operation only on December 27th, four days prior to the rollover,
is itself far from reassuring. A four day delay will render it useless.

Similarly, the center itself will depend on the availability of
ultra-reliable hotlines between it and Moscow. The recently admitted Y2K
vulnerabilities  discovered, according to Reuters reports of congressional
testimony, in six of the seven hotlines established during the cold war
period are also cause for deep concern.

If nuclear weapons are removed from a status in which they can be launched
within minutes, and placed in one which would require at least days to
launch, the risk of an accidental missile launch induced by Y2K or other
errors in command and control systems will be virtually eliminated.

This  has been done by the UK, which has moved the 'notice to fire' for its
missile forces from minutes to days.

De-alerting of nuclear forces was strongly recommended by the Canberra
Commission in 1996 as a way to develop strategic stability and build trust
between the US and Russia. It has also been incorporated into last year's
and  this years text of the New Agenda Resolution in the UN General
Assembly.
In addition it has been the subject of two resolutions passed by the
Australian Senate on 12 August and 20September.

(Text of these resolutions has been passed on to you by the deputy
president of our Senate, Senator Sue West.)

Mr. Clinton and Mr. Cohen, we believe that in taking De-alerting 'off the
table', the United States is making a serious error. We believe that
failure to take nuclear forces off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K
'rollover' period is an error that has the potential of causing unthinkable
consequences.

The probability of this may be low but it  will never be zero as long as
nuclear forces remain on hair-trigger alert.

In a letter in response to a sign on letter from over 270 (now 460) NGOs,
Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov  said that:
"The questions of removing from the military duty of Russian and American
nuclear armaments which you mention in your appeal may become the matter
for discussion between the two countries in the context of negotiations on
further limitation of the strategic nuclear weapons"

This hardly indicates that De-alerting is 'off the table' as far as the
Russian Government is concerned.  It should be very much on the table as
far as your administration is concerned.

(Text of the Russian reply with english translation to our letter is
enclosed).

In a previous administration, President Bush took strategic bomber forces
off alert. We urge you to do this with all US nuclear forces.

Signed
John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Sydney.
Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance, The Hague,
Tom Mc Donald, British-American Security Information Council,(BASIC) London,
Marion Hancock, Aotearoa Peace Foundation, Auckland, NZ.,
Alice Slater, Global Resource and Action Centre for the Environment, NY.,
Ellen Thomas, Proposition-1 Committee, Washington DC.,
Marylia Kelley, Executive Director, Tri -Valley CAREs, (Communities Against
a Radioactive Environment), Livermore, CA,
Laurie grossman, Y2K-WASH,(World Atomic Safety Holiday) San Francisco,
Carah Ong, Abolition 2000 Coordinator,


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 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
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 "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.

------------------------------

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #217
***********************************

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