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abolition-usa-digest    Thursday, December 16 1999    Volume 01 : Number 236




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

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 19:55:35 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) LETTER RESPONSE TO YELTSIN COMMENTS PLS SIGN IN NEXT 24 HOURS

LETTER RESPONSE TO YELTSIN COMMENTS PLS SIGN IN NEXT 24 HOURS

Dear All,

A copy of this letter is to be given to Russian foreign minister Ivanov in
the next 24 hours.

It is adressed to Ivanov and Sergeyev rather than Yeltsin himself, as those
individuals are more likely to be in control and may be more reasonable.

It is now open to organisations signatures.

(Individuals, please send your own faxes direct to US defence secy Cohen
and Sergeyev and Clinton on [phone] (Cohen)
[phone] (Sergeyev)
[phone] (Clinton))

It's been revised in accordance with comments from a number of people and
the text is now frozen unless someone picks up some absolutely egregious
error.

Please do sign both this and if you have not already done so, the large
'Bill and Boris' sign on which now has 460+  organisations signed on to it.
That letters text can be found on
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd/nuclear/bbletter.html



Y2K WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY INTERNATIONAL
Y2K WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY TOKYO
Y2K CITIZENS NETWORK JAPAN
WORLD COURT PROJECT, U.K.,
INTERNATIONAL PEACE BUREAU, GENEVA
WOMEN FOR PEACE, BERLIN, GERMANY,
GLOBAL ANTI-NUCLEAR ALLIANCE, NETH.,

WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY NEW YORK,
NUCLEAR- FREE NEW YORK,
NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE (NIRS) USA,
TRI - VALLEY CARES, LIVERMORE, CALIF, USA,
Y2K WORLD ATOMIC SAFETY HOLIDAY USA,
PHYSICIANS FOR GLOBAL SURVIVAL CANADA,
SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL UNION, MOSCOW,

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRALIA,
AUSTRALIAN PEACE COMMITTEE,
C.I.C.D., MELBOURNE,
ANTI-BASES CAMPAIGN COALITION, SYDNEY,

DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY CENTRE, NZ.,

ATTN IGOR SERGEYEV,
DEFENCE MINISTER OF RUSSIA,
7-095-247-2722, 7-095-293-3323

IVAN IVANOV,
FOREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA,
7-095-244-3276, 7-095-244-2203,
cc
WILLIAM S. COHEN,
UNITED STATES SECRETARY FOR DEFENCE [phone]

PRESIDENT CLINTON [phone]

Dear Igor Sergeyev and Ivan Ivanov,

We are writing to you as co-organisers of the international campaign to
take nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert before the Dec. 31/Jan 1 Y2K
'rollover', and as co-organizers of the large letter, now signed by over
460 organizations, which has been faxed to you many times, asking for
nuclear weapons to be taken off hairtrigger alert over the Y2K period.

We read with considerable alarm,  statements by President Yeltsin recently
that the US should remember that 'Russia is a great power that possesses a
full nuclear arsenal', combined with a deployment of ten new Topol-M
missiles.

It is especially alarming to read that these new missiles are being put on
full alert status, when the world is demanding that nuclear weapons be
taken off alert status especially over the Y2K period.

There is, we think, no doubt in anyone's mind as to the capability of
either Russia or the US to wreak irreparable destruction to the life
systems of the entire planet.

The use of all or a portion of the 5,600 warheads in land - based ICBM
systems in the US and Russia will in all probability mean the complete
annihilation of both sides of the exchange and  the end of human
civilization.

No conceivable political or military purpose would be served by such
catastrophic destruction. Neither Russia nor the US is threatened in any
fundamental way.  However, any nuclear exchange, accidental or otherwise,
would bring about the prompt and complete destruction of both parties and
the rest of the world.

In addition, the International Court of Justice in 1996 declared that  the
use or threat of nuclear weapons is  contrary to international law.  It is
arguable that under international law, even the imminent destruction of a
nation cannot justify recourse to nuclear weapons.

There is nothing in current US/Russian relations that cannot be solved by a
willingness to talk and to make mutual accommodations in good faith.

With the approach of the Y2K rollover,  the chances of an accidental
nuclear war, due to Y2K related computer problems in command and control
systems,  are greater than ever.

We note that Russia and the US have established a joint Y2K strategic
stability centre, but it is also essential that both sides refrain from
provocative statements and actions over this sensitive period.

The strategic stability centre, while absolutely essential, is inadequate
by itself to ensure strategic stability. That can only be done by nuclear
weapons systems being placed in a status such that immediate launch, or
launch on warning, is no longer possible.

This move has been termed "de-alerting" and has been called for now by two
resolutions last year in the United Nations General Assembly, two
resolutions this year in the UN, by the Australian Senate and by the
European Parliament last Nov. 18th.

The safety and stability of the world depends on Russia and the US taking
the necessary technical measures to ensure prevention of a nuclear launch.
We are well aware that recent moves by  NATO and the US, especially with
regard to the ABM treaty may be viewed as provocative, but  no political
goal and no strategic interest is important enough to risk the possibility
of ending human civilization and possibly all human life.

We call on you therefore to place your nuclear forces in a de-alerted
configuration in which immediate launch or launch on warning is impossible.
We ask that you make the year 2000, already designated by the UN as the
International Year of the Culture of Peace, the first year of a millennium
free from the threat of nuclear destruction.

Yours Sincerely,

Yumi Kikuchi, World Atomic safety Holiday International,
Gen Morita, Y2K Citizens Network, Kamogawa,
Commander Robert Green, RN (retd.), Chair, World Court Project, UK,
Colin Archer, International Peace Bureau, Geneva,
Eva Quistorp,(former MEP) Women for Peace, Berlin, Germany,
Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance, The Hague, Netherlands.
Bill Smirnow, Nuclear-Free New York, World Atomic Safety Holiday, NY.,
Mary Olson, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Y2K-WASH, USA,
Mary Beth Branagan/James Heddle, Y2K WASH, USA,
Sally Light, Tri-Valley CARES, Livermore, USA,
Alan F. Phillips, MD, Physicians for Global Survival Canada,
Vladimir Slivyak, International Nuclear Campaigner, Social-Ecological
Union, Moscow,

Kate Dewes, Director, Disarmament and Security Centre, Christchurch, NZ.,
Irene Gale AM, Australian Peace Committee
Pauline Mitchell, Campaign for International Cooperation and Development,
Melb, Australia,
Dennis Doherty, Sydney Anti-Bases Campaign Committee,
John Hallam, Nuclear Campaigner, Friends of the Earth


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


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 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 20:37:20 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Russian Nukes

Thursday, 16 Dec 1999 at 05:32am; Category: Overseas News; High priority;
Story No. 0650.
Commander: Russia could only use nukes if attacked
Russia Nuclear
   MOSCOW, Dec 15 AP - Russia would only consider using its nuclear
weapons if it is attacked and the existence of the country becomes
at risk, a top commander said today.
   "Nuclear arms can only be used if an armed aggression is
launched against Russia," first deputy chief of the General Staff,
Gen Valery Manilov, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news
agency. "Nuclear arms can only be used if a question arises whether
the state can continue to exist or not."
   Riled by Western criticism of the Russian offensive in the rebel
republic of Chechnya, officials in Moscow have been reminding the
world of Russia's nuclear arsenal in tough speeches in recent days.
   Russia "will not allow (Western) reprimands and will use all
diplomatic and military-political levers in its disposal," Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin said while attending a test-firing of a
Topol-M strategic missile Tuesday.
   Putin's warning followed last week's statement from President
Boris Yeltsin, who reminded US President Bill Clinton that "Russia
is a great power that possesses a nuclear arsenal." Yeltsin was
reacting to US criticism over the Chechnya campaign.
   Manilov said Russia's new military doctrine includes "no crucial
changes" in the sections regarding Russia's position on nuclear
arms, Manilov said.
   Russia's conventional forces are in serious decay because of
financial troubles since the Soviet collapse. But analysts say
Russia could not use its nuclear forces without incurring total
annihilation from retaliatory strikes.
   Manilov also rejected worries about possible malfunctions in
computer systems controlling Russia's strategic missile forces
during the year 2000 changeover.
   "All systems have been checked and double-checked," he said.
"The systems guarantee 100 per cent reliability."
   AP bdm

16-12 0532

Thursday, 16 Dec 1999 at 09:18am; Category: Overseas News; Low priority;
Story No. 0860.
CIS:EU ready to give 400 million euros to Chernobyl replacement
Ukraine nuclear ( KIEV)
   The European Union is ready to put $A650 million towards two new
reactors to replace Ukraine's notorious Chernobyl nuclear power
station.
   Chernobyl's reactor number four went into meltdown in 1986,
spreading a radioactive cloud over much of Europe and killing
between 3,000 and 12,000 people.
   An EU envoy says the money is conditional on Ukraine and other
donors finding the other $A1.3 billion needed for the reactors.
   ANDRE VANHAEVERBEKE, the European Commission's representative in
Ukraine, says Ukraine must also boost safety in its power stations
and include members of the Green party in the government.
   Ukraine promised in 1995 to close Chernobyl in 2000 in return
for $A5 billion in international aid.
   But the deal has been held up by the reluctance of several
European countries to finance Ukraine's shaky nuclear sector.
   AFP RTV wjf/rt   n

16-12 0918



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 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, 16 Dec 1999 21:26:16 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) The Most Important Issue of the next 15 days: But then, nothing might happen - or else....

At the end of the next 15 days, the largest, oldest, most complex, most
deeply interconnected, and previously least Y2K - compliant computer
command and control systems in the world will experience Y2K.

These are of course, the systems that perform command, control,
communications, and monitoring for nuclear weapons systems.

There are some 2,000 warheads in 500  land-based minuteman ICBMs in the US,
and some 3,600 warheads in land- based ICBMs in Russia, on permanent 24
hour hairtrigger alert, with gyros spinning ready for launch at a moments
notice. That doesn't count warheads in SLBMs or bombers.

The launch of all 5,600 warheads could end all human life, and certainly
would end civilisation, and would do irreperable and very profound damage
to the entire web of life on earth.

The Pentagon has spent over $4 billion and it says it is totally confident
its systems will cope.

The Russians say their control systems for their nuclear weapons do not
utilise the date and will cope.

Privately however, US officers worry about blank screens, false data, and
communications blackouts.

The Canberra Commission reccommended as far back as 1996 that as a first
step toward nuclear abolition, nuclear weapons be taken off hairtrigger
alert. The Tokyo Forum has also called for this to be done.

Two UN resolutions passed this year and another two passed this year have
called for de-alerting.

Two resolutions of the Australian Senate and a resolution passed
unanimously by the European Parliament have called for nuclear weapons to
be taken off alert over the Y2k rollover.

Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin and their secretaries of defence have been
the recipients of a very large number of letters from NGOs all round the
world calling for nuclear weapons to be taken off alert.

So far there is no indication that they will do this.

Instead, Yeltsin has threatened the US, saying they should remember that
Russia has a large nuclear arsenal and has deployed ten of the latest
Topol-M missiles.

Nontheless, there are indications that the campaign has at least been noticed.

And what will actually happen on the night of the rollover has implications
that are about as ultimate as they could be.

Hopefully nothing at all will happen.

However, what will determine the future of us all and of all life is
exactly how a possible false alert will be dealt with.

That is why it is essential for the Pentagon and the Kremlin to hear our
voices over the next 15 days.

That is why I am asking everybody I can to place the Y2K de- alert campaign
at the top of their priority lists for the next 15 (or more realistically
the next 10) days.

There are lots of campaigns that are important.

There are lots of campaigns that have much more profound long term
implications than this one.

But we have to get through the Dec31/Jan1 rollover at the very least. Its
all a bit pointless if we accidentally make the planet uninhabitable by a
simple and utterly mindless computer glitch.

And of course it has been pointed out to me that  there may be Y2K -
related glitches in command and control systems for months or even years
afterwards.

The danger from all of this would disappear almost completely of course if
the 5.600 weapons now on 24 hour hairtrigger alert in the US and Russia
(land - based ICBMs only) were taken off alert.

With luck all this will prove to have been without foundation.

We'll turn out to have been a lot of nervous nellies and paranoid doom
- -mongers, and there will really have been nothing to worry about.

Realistically, what we are dealing with is a classic 'High-Consequence,
low- probability' event.

But there is nothing to lose. A massive manifestation of global concern,
focussed on the Kremlin and the Pentagon is the best shot we have at giving
the world the best chance of getting through the new year.

And with luck nothing whatsoever will happen, and we'll all be wrong - till
the next hairraising near miss.

I'll be posting a proper alert with  updated sample letters tomorrow.

Seriously, I am asking everyone to consider whether the possible risk and
the possible stakes over the rollover even if the risk turns out to be very
small indeed, don't warrant your concerted effort for at least the next
week, so that we are sure we will be around for those high- priority, long
- - term, deeper implication, campaigns.

Think about it. But not for too long.

In the meantime,
The fax number of US Defence Secy William Cohen is [phone]
Bill Clinton's fax is [phone]
The Kremlin fax is [phone]
Igor Sergeyev, the Russuan defence minister is on [phone] (but you
may need to try quite a few times).

The cost of a single page A4 fax to Russia, as counted on a telephone bill
from Australia is $1.00-$1.50, but public fax agencies charge an arm and a
leg just to dial the number.

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







- -
 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, 16 Dec 1999 20:37:20 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Russian Nukes

Thursday, 16 Dec 1999 at 05:32am; Category: Overseas News; High priority;
Story No. 0650.
Commander: Russia could only use nukes if attacked
Russia Nuclear
   MOSCOW, Dec 15 AP - Russia would only consider using its nuclear
weapons if it is attacked and the existence of the country becomes
at risk, a top commander said today.
   "Nuclear arms can only be used if an armed aggression is
launched against Russia," first deputy chief of the General Staff,
Gen Valery Manilov, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news
agency. "Nuclear arms can only be used if a question arises whether
the state can continue to exist or not."
   Riled by Western criticism of the Russian offensive in the rebel
republic of Chechnya, officials in Moscow have been reminding the
world of Russia's nuclear arsenal in tough speeches in recent days.
   Russia "will not allow (Western) reprimands and will use all
diplomatic and military-political levers in its disposal," Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin said while attending a test-firing of a
Topol-M strategic missile Tuesday.
   Putin's warning followed last week's statement from President
Boris Yeltsin, who reminded US President Bill Clinton that "Russia
is a great power that possesses a nuclear arsenal." Yeltsin was
reacting to US criticism over the Chechnya campaign.
   Manilov said Russia's new military doctrine includes "no crucial
changes" in the sections regarding Russia's position on nuclear
arms, Manilov said.
   Russia's conventional forces are in serious decay because of
financial troubles since the Soviet collapse. But analysts say
Russia could not use its nuclear forces without incurring total
annihilation from retaliatory strikes.
   Manilov also rejected worries about possible malfunctions in
computer systems controlling Russia's strategic missile forces
during the year 2000 changeover.
   "All systems have been checked and double-checked," he said.
"The systems guarantee 100 per cent reliability."
   AP bdm

16-12 0532

Thursday, 16 Dec 1999 at 09:18am; Category: Overseas News; Low priority;
Story No. 0860.
CIS:EU ready to give 400 million euros to Chernobyl replacement
Ukraine nuclear ( KIEV)
   The European Union is ready to put $A650 million towards two new
reactors to replace Ukraine's notorious Chernobyl nuclear power
station.
   Chernobyl's reactor number four went into meltdown in 1986,
spreading a radioactive cloud over much of Europe and killing
between 3,000 and 12,000 people.
   An EU envoy says the money is conditional on Ukraine and other
donors finding the other $A1.3 billion needed for the reactors.
   ANDRE VANHAEVERBEKE, the European Commission's representative in
Ukraine, says Ukraine must also boost safety in its power stations
and include members of the Green party in the government.
   Ukraine promised in 1995 to close Chernobyl in 2000 in return
for $A5 billion in international aid.
   But the deal has been held up by the reluctance of several
European countries to finance Ukraine's shaky nuclear sector.
   AFP RTV wjf/rt   n

16-12 0918


- -
 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, 16 Dec 1999 21:26:16 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) The Most Important Issue of the next 15 days: But then, nothing might happen - or else....

At the end of the next 15 days, the largest, oldest, most complex, most
deeply interconnected, and previously least Y2K - compliant computer
command and control systems in the world will experience Y2K.

These are of course, the systems that perform command, control,
communications, and monitoring for nuclear weapons systems.

There are some 2,000 warheads in 500  land-based minuteman ICBMs in the US,
and some 3,600 warheads in land- based ICBMs in Russia, on permanent 24
hour hairtrigger alert, with gyros spinning ready for launch at a moments
notice. That doesn't count warheads in SLBMs or bombers.

The launch of all 5,600 warheads could end all human life, and certainly
would end civilisation, and would do irreperable and very profound damage
to the entire web of life on earth.

The Pentagon has spent over $4 billion and it says it is totally confident
its systems will cope.

The Russians say their control systems for their nuclear weapons do not
utilise the date and will cope.

Privately however, US officers worry about blank screens, false data, and
communications blackouts.

The Canberra Commission reccommended as far back as 1996 that as a first
step toward nuclear abolition, nuclear weapons be taken off hairtrigger
alert. The Tokyo Forum has also called for this to be done.

Two UN resolutions passed this year and another two passed this year have
called for de-alerting.

Two resolutions of the Australian Senate and a resolution passed
unanimously by the European Parliament have called for nuclear weapons to
be taken off alert over the Y2k rollover.

Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin and their secretaries of defence have been
the recipients of a very large number of letters from NGOs all round the
world calling for nuclear weapons to be taken off alert.

So far there is no indication that they will do this.

Instead, Yeltsin has threatened the US, saying they should remember that
Russia has a large nuclear arsenal and has deployed ten of the latest
Topol-M missiles.

Nontheless, there are indications that the campaign has at least been noticed.

And what will actually happen on the night of the rollover has implications
that are about as ultimate as they could be.

Hopefully nothing at all will happen.

However, what will determine the future of us all and of all life is
exactly how a possible false alert will be dealt with.

That is why it is essential for the Pentagon and the Kremlin to hear our
voices over the next 15 days.

That is why I am asking everybody I can to place the Y2K de- alert campaign
at the top of their priority lists for the next 15 (or more realistically
the next 10) days.

There are lots of campaigns that are important.

There are lots of campaigns that have much more profound long term
implications than this one.

But we have to get through the Dec31/Jan1 rollover at the very least. Its
all a bit pointless if we accidentally make the planet uninhabitable by a
simple and utterly mindless computer glitch.

And of course it has been pointed out to me that  there may be Y2K -
related glitches in command and control systems for months or even years
afterwards.

The danger from all of this would disappear almost completely of course if
the 5.600 weapons now on 24 hour hairtrigger alert in the US and Russia
(land - based ICBMs only) were taken off alert.

With luck all this will prove to have been without foundation.

We'll turn out to have been a lot of nervous nellies and paranoid doom
- -mongers, and there will really have been nothing to worry about.

Realistically, what we are dealing with is a classic 'High-Consequence,
low- probability' event.

But there is nothing to lose. A massive manifestation of global concern,
focussed on the Kremlin and the Pentagon is the best shot we have at giving
the world the best chance of getting through the new year.

And with luck nothing whatsoever will happen, and we'll all be wrong - till
the next hairraising near miss.

I'll be posting a proper alert with  updated sample letters tomorrow.

Seriously, I am asking everyone to consider whether the possible risk and
the possible stakes over the rollover even if the risk turns out to be very
small indeed, don't warrant your concerted effort for at least the next
week, so that we are sure we will be around for those high- priority, long
- - term, deeper implication, campaigns.

Think about it. But not for too long.

In the meantime,
The fax number of US Defence Secy William Cohen is [phone]
Bill Clinton's fax is [phone]
The Kremlin fax is [phone]
Igor Sergeyev, the Russuan defence minister is on [phone] (but you
may need to try quite a few times).

The cost of a single page A4 fax to Russia, as counted on a telephone bill
from Australia is $1.00-$1.50, but public fax agencies charge an arm and a
leg just to dial the number.

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






- -
 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, 16 Dec 1999 11:42:23 -0800
From: Jan Harwood <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Abolition 2000 Grassroots Newsletter December 1999

Just to thank you again, Carah, for your meticulous and vital good work,
with the newsletter and so many other aspects of the Abolition movement.



- -
 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, 16 Dec 1999 12:48:29 -0800
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Russian Nukes to Red Alert: Yeltsin

From: bernard blanc <[e-mail]>
Subject: WAR ?
Date: Thursday, December 16, 1999 12:26 PM

Activist Mailing List - http://get.to/activist

C'est en anglais, mais c'est important. Amiti=E9s. Bernard Blanc.
It's in english, sorry for the french readers, but it's essential. Best
regards.

Subject:
         [DOEWatch] Yeltsin puts missiles on red alert
   Date:
         Sun, 12 Dec 1999 20:50:39 EST
  From:
         [e-mail]
     To:
         [e-mail]


From: [e-mail]

Source:
<A
HREF=3D"http://www.lineone.net/autonomy/cgi-bin/relatedlinks.cgi?/express=
/99/1
2/
11/news/n0400yeltsin-d.html+d-1+n6+h">http://www.lineone.net/express/99/1=
2/1
1/
news/n0400yeltsin-d.html</A>
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
11 December, 1999

Yeltsin puts missiles on red alert
>From Will Stewart in Moscow

Boris Yeltsin put his most powerful nuclear missiles on full alert last
night
in what was seen as a dramatic warning to the West over Chechnya.

The Kremlin deployed ten new Topol-M missiles - its newest, most
sophisticated and deadliest weapons - in a state of combat readiness.

The move coincided with President Yeltsin's return to Russia after a
trip to
China, during which he hit back at criticism of his campaign in Chechnya
and
warned the West to keep its nose out. "Russia is a great power that
possesses
a full nuclear arsenal," he thundered in Beijing. "It is us who will
dictate."

The West was told in advance of Russia's deployment, as dictated by
nuclear
treaty commitments. But the timing and the rarity of such a move amounts
to a
dramatic show of force designed to back Yeltsin's message.

The intercontinental missiles - with a 6,200 mile range and capable of
striking Britain or America - were put in readiness in the Saratov
region,
400 miles south-east of Moscow.

Russia publicly portrayed the move as a scheduled test of a new weapon,
which
replaces its SS-19 missiles, dating to the 1970s.

But observers last night said the provocative timing could only be
linked to
the Chechen crisis - and Yeltsin's anger at the West's hostile reaction
to
his bloody military purge in the troubled region. Many Russian
politicians
and analysts say Yeltsin is too ill to rule Russia and have his finger
on the
trigger of the world's second largest nuclear power.

In televised comments yesterday, even his wife Naina admitted that he
had
"never been in such a bad state as he is now" after a bout of pneumonia
which
followed a succession of health problems, including heart trouble.

While putting Russia's missiles on alert is seen as posturing bluster,
Britain's foremost independent nuclear expert, John Large, warned it was
a
foolish manoeuvre, particularly in relation to the millennium bug, for
which
it is feared Russia is still ill-prepared.

"There was an unwritten agreement for both Russia and the US not to
deploy
nuclear weapons before the Y2K period," he said.

"Even if the weapons themselves are OK - which I very much doubt since
their
testing system has been effectively down and out for three years - they
would
have to work within the strategic defence system there which is full of
Y2K
glitches. There is no real need for it - it is a risk they don't need to
take.

"I am not suggesting that these nuclear bombs will go off on their own,
but
we do expect to see the defence systems playing up a bit."

The Topol-M missile is relatively small and can be transported on a
mobile
launch pad, meaning it would be hard to locate and take out in the first
strike of a nuclear confrontation.

"Of the five nuclear powers, none of the others will match these weapons
in
the next few years," bragged Colonel-General Vladimir Yakovlev, Russian
forces commander. "Topol-M is able to breach any anti-missile system
that
exists in the world and any which will be built in the near future."

The deployment came 24 hours ahead of today's deadline - set by Russia a
few
days ago - for people in the Chechen capital Grozny to "flee or perish".

Moscow yesterday appeared to have extended the deadline for residents to
get
out of the ruined city. But the Kremlin immediately stung the West by
implying a new ultimatum to wipe out Grozny was on the way.

The missile manoeuvre also came as Europe's leaders gathered for an EU
summit
in Helsinki.

They were last night preparing to fire off a salvo of condemnation for
the
Russian offensive in Chechnya, which has seen thousands of civilians
killed
and tens of thousands of refugees spilling across the borders into
neighbouring Ingushetia.

"It can't be business as usual while Russia continues with these actions
in
Chechnya," a British source said at the Helsinki summit. "I imagine
there
will be some words of condemnation."

But little hard action was expected to back up the words. The West is
aware
that, in practical terms, there is little it can do to halt the Russian
offensive, though the EU is likely to shelve a science and technology
agreement and a =A31.5 billion aid package to Russia in protest over the
action
in Chechnya.

The nuclear deterrent on both sides of the old Iron Curtain is credited
with
maintaining peace since the end of the Second World War.

But in recent months the post-Cold War nuclear consensus has collapsed
and
Russia and the US seem on the verge of a new arms race.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

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DOEWatch List ----A Magnum-Opus Project ---  The real Natl. Sec.
Directive
Subscribe online: http://www.onelist.com
- -based near the cryptic named  X-10 [god and ten commandments] and Y-12
[yahweh and disciples]
nuke weapons plants of the nuclear tabernacle of Oak Ridge.

"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky
That would be like the splendor of the Mighty one...
I am become Death, The shatterer of Worlds."
- -Oppenheimer July 16, 45 at Trinity from 5,000 year old Bhagavad-Gita

"We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world.
It may be the fire
destruction prophesized in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his
fabulous Ark.  Anyway we
think we have found the way to cause the disintegration of the atom."
 -Quote from Truman's diary July 25, 45 after Pottsdam and the "baby was
born" and grew into
"Little Boy" and "Fat Man" and the hydrogen bomb delivered by bomber
named  "Dave's Dream."
Enola Gay's pilot, after Hiroshima,  enters "My God' in the log.

"The Doctor of the future will give No Medicine, but will interest his
patients in the care of
the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."
- -Attributed to Thomas Alva Edison

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary
act"
- -George Orwell

DOEWatch page:    http://members.aol.com/doewatch


______________________________________________________________________
forwarded by:

David Crockett Williams  [e-mail]
GLOBAL  EMERGENCY  ALERT  RESPONSE
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000

The Vision of Paradise on Earth
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/vision.html

Global Peace Walk 2000
http://www.globalpeacenow.org
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/gpw.html

Urge your Congressperson to support H.R. 2545
Global Nuclear Disarmament & Economic Conversion Act
Details & Sample Email:  http://prop1.org/prop1/letter.htm

Easy indexed site to email Congresspeople & Media
http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd
(copy & paste email letters to media and Congress)

An Agenda for Peace
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/agenda.html



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

Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 18:42:10 -0800 (PST)
From: [e-mail] (marylia)
Subject: (abolition-usa) De-alerting-U.S. Campaign/AP story

Dear peace and enviro advocates:

In case you haven't seen it yet, here is the Associated Press story on the
debut of the "Back From the Brink" Campaign to Take Nuclear Weapons Off
Alert. If you wish to participate by showing the new (free!) video or by
getting and using the (free!) organizer's packet -- or both -- just let the
campaign know via email or by calling us at 1-877-55-BeSafe.  Read on...

ALLIANCE DEMANDS NUCLEAR STAND DOWN
Associated Press National Wire
December 9, 1999
by David Briscoe

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Worried that the world could be blasted into a nuclear
disaster within minutes, a new alliance is trying to persuade the U.S.
government to take 5,000 nuclear weapons off ``hair-trigger alert'' to
prompt a similar step by Moscow.

``Many of our citizens believe we already have done this,'' said Bruce
Blair, a nuclear control expert who joined politicians, former military
control officers and other antinuclear experts to announce a campaign
Thursday to get U.S. nuclear weapons off alert status.

Despite a 1994 pact by President Clinton and Russian President Boris
Yeltsin not to aim nuclear missiles at each other's cities, 5,000 warheads
on each side ``remain loaded for wartime targets that can be activated in
seconds,'' Blair said. A launch order would take only about 2 minutes to
execute, he said.

The alliance is taking no position on a proposed national missile defense
system, focusing instead on trying to prevent accidental or unauthorized
launch from Russia or a U.S. launch facilitated by a dangerously mechanized
system.

The campaign, dubbed ``Back from the Brink,'' includes a Web site --
www.dealert.org -- a video describing a near-launch of Russian missiles in
1995, and grassroots organizing to expose the issue and try to inject it
into the 2000 presidential campaign.

Blair, a former Air Force missile control officer and now a defense analyst
at Brookings Institution, proposed that President Clinton unilaterally
de-alert all U.S. missiles, including those aboard submarines that are on
15-minute notice to fire.

Then, Clinton and Yeltsin could work out a full-scale de-alerting of all
nuclear missiles with a verification regime and guarantees from China,
Britain and France to follow suit, Blair suggested.

Despite the end of the Cold War and progress in disarmament, ``we're still
allowing ourselves 15 to 20 minutes to determine whether or not the planet
Earth will be extinct,'' said former Democratic Sen. Dale Bumpers of
Arkansas, an alliance leader.

``It's like walking along a cliff performing for your girlfriend and
saying, 'Look how close I can get to the edge and not fall off,''' Bumpers
said.

The alliance also includes Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and representatives
of several antinuclear, peace and human rights groups.

end

P.S. Please note that many of the groups involved in the Back From the
Brink Campaign have a position on BMD. --MK

end

Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA USA 94550

<http://www.igc.org/tvc/> - is our web site, please visit us there!

[phone] - is our phone
[phone] - is our fax

Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley
CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear
Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the
international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of nuclear
weapons.



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

Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 12:57:39 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Lord Jenkins of Putney on the Apocalypse (this is really good)

(this was originally posted by Paul Swann. I am passing it on. John Hallam)

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199697/ldhansrd/pdvn/lds9
9/text/91118-04.htm

House of Lords, November 18, 1999

Column 48

Lord Jenkins of Putney:

The debate takes place on a gracious Speech that deliberately ignores
the basic position of the world as it is today. I sought to raise that
matter at Question Time on Wednesday of last week. Instead of repeating
what I said, perhaps I may quote the words of the noble Lord, Lord
Peyton of Yeovil. The subject was the existence of massive reasons for
fear. The following point has not been mentioned in the debate. In the
past few years mankind has, for the first time, been in a position where
it can destroy itself and civilisation. This is a new position. Can we
continue to ignore the possibility that we may exercise that new power?
If, as I venture to suggest, we are on the way to the end of our
civilisation, much of the debate today will have the relevance of the
saloon bar chat in the "Titanic" immediately before it hit the iceberg.
The noble Lord, Lord Peyton, asked my noble friend Lady Scotland whether
she agreed that it was,

"high time that one or more of those who aspire to be described as
'leaders of the world' should depart from their stupefying silence on
the question of nuclear warheads, 40,000 of which are stockpiled around
the world and threaten not merely the peace of the world but the
existence of the planet".--[Official Report, 10/11/99; col. 1344.]


That is the context in which this debate takes place. Neither in the
gracious Speech nor in the debate so far has anyone ventured to touch on
the fact that we are in that position. For that reason, I am
particularly glad to hear the noble Lord, Lord Chalfont, echo my belief
that NATO is wrong to try to take over the role of the United Nations
and decide what international law is because that is the general
position of NATO. We must ensure that we do not seek to take away that
responsibility from the United Nations and place it
upon an organisation which is basically within the power of the
developed world and which, for that reason, ignores the interests of the
third world.

Another question on which the Government have done an amount of work is
whether we are in peril from an accidental occurrence as a result of the
millennium bug. Again, why do we ignore the possibility of such a
nuclear accident? As the noble Lord, Lord Peyton, has agreed, it could
be completely disastrous. I am not sure about destroying the planet.
However, general opinion is that such a conflagration of nuclear and
other weapons could at least threaten the existence of life on earth and
certainly that of humanity. In those circumstances, it seems wrong that
we ignore the situation and refuse to attempt to deal with it. That is
not the only manifestation of that refusal.

This is the third or fourth year of the Geneva disarmament discussions.
This year there has been no effective discussion on the subject. Instead
there has been continual discussion on matters of procedure: how shall
the nations attack their work? One cannot avoid the conclusion that it
is a deliberate means of refusing to tackle the real problem by the
nations involving themselves in procedural matters about which they can
talk forever.

In replying to the Question, my noble friend said that we have done our
best to break through this barrier and discuss the question of
international peace. I believe that we could do so if our heart were in
it, and we were prepared to consider nuclear disarmament as an absolute
necessity. But at present we still involve ourselves and the other
nations in the procedural issue which prevents us discussing the
specific problem.

Although I have been critical of some of the things my Government have
done, I would not wish anyone to think that I believe that the
Government have done no good. Most of the programme in the gracious
Speech involves good policies and important proposals which need to be
carried out. However, they need to be carried out with due consciousness
of our situation. That is where the Opposition amendment breaks down
totally. If I am critical in any way of the Queen's Speech, I am far
more critical of the Opposition amendment to it. I sincerely hope that
the noble Lord the Leader of the Opposition will consider whether he
puts the matter to the vote. I hope that he will not do so. If he does
so, I hope that noble Lords, not only on this side of the House, will
tell him clearly that we do not need such an amendment at the conclusion
of a debate of this kind.



The Duke of Norfolk: My Lords, before the noble Lord sits down perhaps I
may ask him this question, with all the respect that I have for his
views on disarmament. Are we not in a wonderful position with NATO, and
in particular with the power of the nuclear weapons of the United States
underwriting decisions of the United Nations? Are we not lucky that we
have NATO with its nuclear weapons, and the United States in particular,
supporting the decisions of the United Nations?


Lord Jenkin of Putney: My Lords, if that is what the noble Duke
believes, he is entitled to do so. But he would not feel that way if he
were a member of almost any other nation in the world. The noble Duke
would speak in vain if he sought to convince most of the peoples of the
world that, because the United States is powerful and Europe is
beginning to say, "We, too, want to be equally powerful", that resolves
any dispute, or is a cause for gladness.


[Upon which Lord Jenkins' noble colleagues promptly changed the subject]




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

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #236
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