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abolition-usa-digest      Thursday, June 29 2000      Volume 01 : Number 330




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

Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 12:04:18 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa)
Subject: (abolition-usa) "Silence Trident" Disarmament Action at Project ELF

Trident Resistance Network - Midwest
P.O. Box 373
Luck, WI 54853

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Contact: Beth Preheim or John LaForge

PRESS RELEASE

Two More Jailed after "Silence Trident"

Disarmament Action Drops Antenna Poles at Navy's Project ELF


CLAM LAKE, WI - Two peace activists, who cut down three poles supporting
transmission lines for a controversial U.S. submarine communication system
located near Clam Lake have been charged with sabotage and intentional
damage to property. Bonnie Urfer, 48, and Michael Sprong, 37, both of rural
Luck, WI used hand-held Swede saws to cut the poles at the nuclear Navy's
Project ELF Saturday afternoon. The two waited over an hour for the arrival
of Ashland County Sheriff's Deputies who took them into custody. A
photographer of the action, Barbara Katt, 42, also of Luck, was also jailed
and is reportedly charged with being party to the two alleged felonies.

The three are in jail and awaiting a court appearance.

At a solidarity demonstration at noon Sunday, June 25, two women (Anika
Spalde, 31 of Sweden, and Kate Berrigan, 18 of Baltimore, MD) were jailed
and charged with trespassing. During a vigil by 10 at the ELF offices, the
two entered the ELF property to deliver the "Citizens' Indictment" that was
carried by Urfer and Sprong on Saturday. They were later released and have
an August 1 court date.

The disarmament action is the fifth time since 1984 that the transmitter -
known as Project ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) - has been shut down by
anti-war activists who have downed poles supporting the 28-mile-long
antennae line with hand saws. The transmitter sits on public land in the
Chequamegon National Forest. Another ELF facility is in Michigan's Escanaba
State Forest. ELF is used to send orders to submerged missile-firing
submarines around the world.

Urfer and Sprong, who called their action "Silence Trident," carried with
them reams of documents they say justify their modern-day Boston Tea Party.
They attached references to laws and treaties to the poles they cut. The
documents explain that laws binding on the United States that make the ELF
system an illegal weapon system. The two stressed that their action took
place in a remote area and was carried out safely and nonviolently.

In 1996 two activists were found not guilty sabotage after they cut down
three poles at the same site. After hearing testimony from three experts
that Project ELF could only be used in an offensive first-strike nuclear
attack and served no defensive purpose, an Ashland County jury decided that
the disarmers had not interfered with national defense. In 1985 another
pole cutter was also acquitted of the sabotage charge.

In a similar action in Oct. 1999 in England, three British peace activists
were acquitted of all charges after destroying Trident submarine research
computers that they'd thrown into the sea near the UK.

According to Bob Aldridge of the Pacific Life Research Center
(www.nuclearfiles.org/plrc), Project ELF sends coded, one-way messages to
deeply submerged Trident missile-firing submarines. The submarines can be
ordered simultaneously to the surface where they can launch 24 missiles,
carrying up to 192 nuclear warheads. From these forward-based "platforms,"
enemy missile silos and command posts can be destroyed in less than 15
minutes. This, Urfer and Sprong claim, makes Project ELF the "trigger" for
over 50 percent of U.S. strategic nuclear weapons. In documents the two
brought to the site, the two charge that the aggressive nature of the
ELF/Trident system makes it illegal under international laws and treaties
as well as under domestic law.

In 1983 Federal Judge Barbara Crabb halted construction of Project ELF for
environmental, health, and safety reasons only to be reversed by the U.S.
Court of Appeals for reasons of "national security." Throughout the 1990s,
Congressional opposition to the transmitter has been consistent with six of
nine representatives and both U.S. senators from Wisconsin leading the call
to cut funding for Project ELF.

Urfer and Sprong emphasized in their documentation that the U.S. Navy has
never shown that Project ELF's electromagnetic radiation is not harmful to
residents in the vicinity of the facility and to the environment. They say
that their action is justified because ELF is an imminent threat to people
and the environment. -end--


For statements, to send donations and other support and information,
contact Nukewatch, <[e-mail]>



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

Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 19:42:43 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) G 8 Summit

Dear All,

I've just put up again to my lists the sample letters and instructions
urging everyone to send faxes to the governments of the G8 countries,
urging them to make representations to the US over balistic missile defence.

The G8 meeting is just about a month away.

it is quite likely that many G8 members if not all, are sufficiently
concerned to do so.

However, governments can always do with a little encouragement to do these
things.

If you have not yet sent a letter to your government and you are in a G8
country, do please urge them to do the most they can to persuade the US to
drop NMD/BMD at the coming summit.

If you are in the US, do please send the same message to your President,
presidential candidates, and congresspeople.



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

Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 19:25:20 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Tell The G 8 - Stop A New Arms Race - GLOBAL FAX CAMPAIGN TO STOP BMD

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

HELP PREVENT A NEW ARMS RACE.
(Please pass this message on to everyone you know who might be interested,
and might act on it)

Dear Friends and all concerned people,

(Both within and outside the US)

The G8 will be meeting in Okinawa from 21-23 July.  This meeting is an
opportunity to apply pressure to the US to stop its National Missile
Defence Program.

There are still more than 36,000 nuclear weapons in the world in spite of
the fact that the cold war is supposed to be over.

At the recent Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, the
nuclear weapons countries as well as every other country on the planet
except India, Pakistan, and Israel agreed to the total and unequivocal
elimination of nuclear weapons.

In addition, country after country said that the Anti-Ballistic Missile
(ABM) treaty was the cornerstone of strategic stability and should be
strengthened not weakened or abrogated.  They did not mean by that, amended
to allow a ballistic missile defence system.

However, the US is pursuing a ballistic missile defence system that
threatenes to re-ignite the global nuclear arms race and put a stop to all
efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons, in spite of the fact that nuclear
weapon states have agreed to do that.

Ballistic Missile Defence has been strongly criticised by all the US's
allies as well as by Russia and China, and much of the United Nations.  The
coming G8 summit is a good place for US allies and others to express their
concerns.

Russia has offered the US in upcoming negotiations on START-III, warhead
numbers as low as 1500 warheads.  However, the US in response has actually
tried to persuade Russia to go for higher numbers of nuclear warheads.
This again violates the committment made so recently,  to the total and
unequivocal elimination of nuclear arsenals.

THE US GOVERNMENT AND US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU THAT
YOU WANT FEWER NUCLEAR WARHEADS UNDER START-III AND NO BMD.

THE US GOVERNMENT  NEEDS TO HEAR AGAIN FROM ITS EUROPEAN AND OTHER ALLIES,
THAT THEY WANT THE US TO STOP ITS BMD PLANS AND TO ACCEPT LOWER START-III
WARHEAD NUMBERS.

A good time for this to happen is at the coming G8 Summit in Okinawa,
Japan, on July 21-23.

If you are in the US, you could send the letter below to Clinton, Bush,
Gore, Albright, and Cohen below.

You should also visit the 'Dont Blow it' website at
 http://DontBlowit.org.
from which you can send the president a free e-postcard.

These sample letters are on: Http://www.abolition2000.org


If you are in France, please use the letter below to the President, Prime
Minister, and Foreign Minister of France (which are are getting translated
into French)

If you are in the UK, please write to Prime Minister Tony Blair something
like the letter below to Blair.

If you are in Germany, please write  a letter something like the one below
to German Foreign Minister Fischer, and Chancellor Schroeder, asking them
to make strong represenatatoins to the US at the coming G8 summit. (We will
have German translation for this soon also)

If you are in Japan, please write something like the sample letter to Japan
which is below.

If you are in any other country, please base your letter on those below.
You may also prefer to fax direct to President Clinton.  (But if you live
in a G8 country its important to let your own government know that you want
them to tell the US no to go with BMD)

Please customise these letters and change or improve them as you see fit.

Please spread them through your own networks, altered and improved as you
see fit.

Please translate them into your own language, and circulate them via your
national networks.

The fax numbers of Clinton, Blair, and Schroder are on the letters
themselves. These numbers have been tried and they work. Other fax numbers
are at the very end.  If you prefer to use ordinary post, remember that it
takes longer so your letter must be sent sooner.

Happy writing and faxing!


SAMPLE LETTERS AND FAX NUMBERS BELOW

(These letters are also on Http://www.abolition2000.org and a global list
of fax numbers of foreign ministers can be found there also)

1)Letter to Clinton, Cohen, Albright, Gore, Bush
2)Letter to French Government
3)Letter to German Government
4)Letter to British Government
5)Letter to Japanese Government

(Fax Nos right at the end or use the numbers on the letters)


1)SAMPLE LETTER FOR ESP US FOLKS,  TO SEND TO BILL CLINTON, WILLIAM S.
COHEN, MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, BUSH, GORE, AND RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL
SUBCOMMITTEES.

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, 1-202-456-2461,

SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT 1-202-647-6047

SECRETARY FOR DEFENCE, WILLIAM S. COHEN 1-703-695-1149
cc
George Bush
Al Gore

Dear President Clinton, William Cohen, Madeleine Albright, and Presidential
candidates,

I am writing to urge you not to proceed with proposals for a national
ballistic missile defence system.  Missile defence schemes respond to a
nonexistent or exaggerated threat,  are not the solution to real threats,
make the rest of the US's security environment less safe, sabotage nuclear
disarmament efforts to which the US is legally committed along with the
rest of the world, and show contempt for the opinions of US allies and the
rest of the world.

At the recent NPT Review Conference, the US together with 187 other
countries, signed a final declaration that commits it to an unequivocal
undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of its nuclear arsenal.
Plans to deploy a missile defence system threaten that vital goal, to which
the US is legally committed.

At the very same conference, the UN Secretary General, and representatives
of Russia, China, the UK, France, Sweden, the European community, the New
Agenda Coalition and the Non- aligned movement have all expressed strongly
that they believe the ABM treaty is the cornerstone of global strategic
stability. They do not think it should be modified to allow a missile
defence system,  still less abrogated unilaterally.  On your recent
European trip, leaders of Europe and Russia have made the same point.
America simply cannot ignore the strongly repeated opinion of the whole
world, that the ABM treaty should not be modified to permit BMD.

Furthermore:

1)The threat that the national missile defence system is supposed to
address, namely that of missile - equipped  so- called  'rogue states' is
in all likelihood, nonexistent.

2) A  state that really wished to inflict serious damage on the US would
probaby rather smuggle a nuclear explosive device into a US city by means
that are more reliable and more difficult to trace than missiles.

3)There are serious doubts as to whether this system can work at all, or as
to whether any missile defence system can ever work.  The problems posed
even by relatively simple decoys are probably technically insoluble.

4)National (and theatre) missile defence schemes are unsustainably costly,
and cost estimates are likely to rise without limit.

Instead of pursuing missile defence, it is vital that the US  focus on real
solutions to global  strategic security.  The highest priorities have to be
the elimination of as many warheads as possible under any START-III
agreement with Russia, and  the removal of  strategic missile forces from
high alert status as advocated by the Canberra Commission, subsequent UN
resolutions and the final NPT declaration.

In this respect, the commitment of Candidate Bush to deep cuts in warhead
numbers and to reductions in alert status are worthy of support.
Commitments to costly and dangerous missile defence schemes are worthy only
of opposition.

Yours Sincerely,
Signed
....


2)LETTER TO FRENCH GOVERNMENT

PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC [phone]
PRIME MINISTER LIONEL JOSPIN [phone]
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS [phone]-45-51-60-12

Dear President Chirac, Prime Minister Jospin, and Minister for Foreign
Affairs Hubert Vedrine,

I am writing to you to urge you at the coming G8 meeting in Okinawa, to
express strongly your support for the 1972 ABM treaty, and your opposition
to the US proposal to deploy a ballistic missile defence scheme.

I am happy to see that at the recent nuclear nonproliferation treaty review
conference, France expressed strongly its support for the ABM treaty and
opposition to ballistic missile defence, and that France has continued to
forcefully express its opposition to this ill-considered scheme since that
time.

I urge you to continue doing this.

A ballistic missile defence scheme would:

(a)Attempt to defend the US (but not Europe) against a threat that either
does not exist or that if it did exist, would strike in ways that missile
defence cannot prevent.
(ie using means of delivery other than missiles)

(b) Is likely not to work at all because of the problem posed by relatively
simple decoys that can easily be deployed even by a relatively
unsophisticated attacker.

(c) Will be seen as potentially threatening by Russia and China, and will
therefore prompt those countries to expand their nuclear arsenals,
threatening to re-commence the nuclear arms race, just after the US has
together with France, the UK, Russia and China, signed a final declaration
at the recent NPT Review, committing them to the total and unequivocal
elimination of their nuclear arsenals.

(d) Missile defence as proposed by the US administration, in no way helps
the position of US allies or Europe.

I urge you at the coming G8 summit to make the most vigorous
representations to the US not to decrease global security by proceeding
with plans for missile defence, or weakening the ABM treaty. I ask you to
instead urge the US to increase global security by accepting the lowest of
the warhead totals on offer by Russia in START-III negotiations, and by
standing down nuclear missiles from 'launch on warning' status.

(Signed)


3)SAMPLE LETTER TO GERHARDT SCHROEDER, JOSCHKA FISCHER,

ATTN
GERMAN CHANCELLOR GERHARDT SCHROEDER
[phone], [phone].

GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER JOSCHKA FISCHER,
[phone], [phone], [phone], [phone],

RE: BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENCE AND THE ABM TREATY

Dear Chancellor Schroeder and Foreign Minister Fischer,

I am writing to express  my support of the position you have taken with
respect to US plans to deploy a ballistic missile defence system and to
modify, or possibly to abrogate,  the ABM treaty in order to allow the
deployment of this system.

I note that you have already made clear to US President Clinton your strong
disapproval of any such moves.  I urge you to continue in your opposition
to this highly destabilizing scheme.

I am urging you to put this position strongly to the US at the coming G8
summit in Okinawa.

Ballistic missile defence in the form in which the US now seeks to deploy
it, (either national missile defence or theater missile defence),

a) Seeks to defend against a threat that either does not exist or which if
it exists, will strike in ways that missile defence systems cannot affect.

b)Is likely   to be wholly ineffective because of the problem posed by
relatively simple decoys,  and at the same time will be seen as threatening
by those with whom the US is legally obliged to negotiate for the
elimination of nuclear arsenals. Missile defence therefore acts to sabotage
vital arms control efforts.

c) National missile defence as currently proposed by the US administration,
in no way helps the security position of US allies, who are thus likely to
be exposed to whatever threat NMD seeks to counter - if that threat is
real.

(d) These proposals make more difficult, and may reverse, nuclear
disarmament efforts, decreasing the security of the whole world while
violating US obligations under the NPT.

I urge you to make the most vigorous representations to the US government,
particularly at the G8 summit,  not to decrease global security by
proceeding with plans for NMD/BMD or TMD,or weakening  the ABM treaty, but
rather to increase global security by  accepting the lowest of the warhead
totals on offer by Russia in START-III negotiations, and by standing down
nuclear missiles from 'launch on warning' status.

(Signed)

etc


4)DRAFT SAMPLE LETTER TO TONY BLAIR, ROBIN COOK

TO:
PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR  [phone]
FOREIGN MINISTER ROBIN COOK [phone]  [phone]

Dear Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Minister Robin Cook,

I am writing to you to urge your government to take a strong stand against
US plans to build a ballistic missile defence system, and to urge it to
maintain and strengthen the ABM treaty.

I urge you to put this very strongly to the US at the coming G8 summit in
Okinawa.

At the recent Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference in New
York, the UN secretary general, the governments of Russia, China, France,
and the UK, the Non-Aligned movement, the New Agenda Coalition, and the
European Union all expressed strong support for the maintenance and
strengthening of the ABM treaty.
This cannot be interpreted to mean modifying it to allow a ballistic
missile defence system.

The missile defence systems currently under discussion in the US seek to
protect the US (but not Europe) against  a threat that either does not
exist at all, or for which missile defence is a completely inappropriate
response.   In addition the options proposed in the US may in fact not work
at all, while causing those countries with whom the US is legally obliged
under the final declaration of the NPT Review Conference to seek to
negotiate the elimination of its nuclear arsenal, to abandon arms control
measures altogether.

The very discussion by the US of missile defence options is itself
destabilizing and puts progress toward the global goals of elimination of
nuclear arsenals in doubt.

We/I urge you to put to the US government in the very strongest terms that
it should no longer contemplate missile defence options, and to make it
clear that the UK will not in any way cooperate with such options.

Your government has said it wants to maintain and strengthen the ABM
treaty. It must follow on from this good beginning by making it clear that
it is absolutely opposed to BMD.

The US government should instead be strongly urged to accept the very
lowest warhead numbers on offer from Russia and to stand down its nuclear
weapons systems from 'launch on warning' status.

Signed.....etc.


5)LETTER TO JAPANESE GOVERNMENT

THE PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN
THE FOREIGN MINISTER OF JAPAN, 81-3-3581-9675, 81-3-3591-3613

Dear Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Japan,

I am writing to you to urge you at the coming G8 summit in Okinawa on July
21-23, to make strong representations to the United States concerning the
Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty and its plans for a ballistic missile defence
system.

At the recent Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, the UN
Secretary General, the New Agenda Coalition, the Non-Aligned Movement,
France, Russia, China, and the European Community all expressed opposition
to the deployment of a missile defence system and support for the ABM
treaty as the cornerstone of strategic stability.

A number of European nations have subsequently expressed strong opposition
to  Ballistic missile defence.

Ballistic missile defence
(a) Seeks to guard against a problem that does not exist, or which if it
does exist, is not best answered by costly and high tech systems such as
BMD.

(b)Is likely to be ineffective against missile attack because of the
problem posed by relatively simple decoys.

(c) is likely to be seen as threatening by those with whom the US is
legally obliged to negotiate toward the unequivocal and total elimination
of its nuclear arsenals, thereby sabotaging a process to which the US has
only recently reaffirmed its commitment.

(d) In no way helps, and may harm, the security position of US allies such
as Japan and Europe who are likely to be exposed to whatever threat is
sought to be countered by missile defence - if that threat is real.

(e) By encouraging arms- racing again, is likely to degrade the security
position of the world as a whole.

Accordingly I urge your government to make the most vigorous
representations to the US at the coming G8 summit, and to urge the US
instead, to consider the lowest START-III warhead numbers offered by Russia
and to take strategic warheads off launch-on-warning status.

Yours Sincerely,
(signed) etc.


FAX NUMBERS BELOW (OR USE THE ONES ON THE TOPS OF THE LETTERS)

FAX NUMBERS OF SOME FOREIGN MINISTERS

A URL where the fax numbers of every head of state and foreign minister in
the world is listed plus lots of information is this:
Http://www.abolition2000.org.

(Another URL that has the fax numbers of heads of state, foreign ministers
and UN missions and also has lots of information on the NPT Review is:
Http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org )

Some of the relevant fax numbers are listed below. If your country is not
on this list, you can find your foreign minister or head of state on one of
the two URLs above.
(The + in front stands for whatever your countrys ISD access code may be.
You only really need it if you are faxing some other country. I hope
however, that  people may like not only to fax their own foreign minister
but also those of Russia and the US.)

Some of these numbers may have changed. If any of them don't work, let me
know at <[e-mail]>  and check the number on the URL or with
your own telephone system.

If you are in the US,
Secy of State Madeleine Allbrights fax number is: [phone]
President Clintons fax number is [phone]

If you are in Russia, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's fax number is
[phone] or [phone]. (You need to be persistent with these
numbers)
The general Kremlin fax number is [phone]. (This is the slowest fax
in the universe)

If you are in France, your foreign ministers fax number is [phone],
Jacques Chirac's fax number is [phone].

If you are in the UK, Tony Blairs fax number is [phone].
The Foreign Minister, Robin Cook's fax number is:  [phone]
The United Nations mission is on Fax. [phone]

If you are in Germany, the Chancellors fax number is: [phone],  or
[phone]
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischers number is any of these: [phone],
[phone],
[phone], [phone]


Here are the fax numbers of some foreign ministers and UN missions:
If you are in Canada, your foreign ministers fax number is: [phone].
If you are in Japan, you need to fax [phone]
If you are in Italy please fax [phone], or [phone] or
[phone]
If you are in Hungary, please fax your foreign minister on [phone]
If you are in Korea, try  your minister of foreign affairs on
[phone], [phone]
If you are in Brazil, your foreign ministers fax should be [phone]
If you are in Mexico, try [phone]
If you are in Greece try [phone] (or 0095)
If you are in Thailand, try [phone], or [phone]

John Hallam
Friends of the Earth Sydney,
17 Lord Street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, 2042
Fax [phone]  ph (61)(2)9517-3903
[e-mail]
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd






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 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 09:09:19 -0400
From: Alan Haber <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: [abolition-caucus] the Real Scandal of Los Alamos

pamela,et al.

thank you for the article on the real scandal at los alamos. and
reminding me all the good work jackie and associates have been doing
and saying.  indeed  "Armageddon is still just the push of a button
away...."

...what has been happening with the us campaign? odile and i were in the
middle east (transforming armageddon) when the us campaign met at the
beginning of the npt.  i never saw any minutes from that meeting, any
report on what action was taken on the friday after the meeting, or
during the npt. i haven't seen any notice of a further conference call.
am i  out of the loop? is there a loop. is this a limp loop? or a taught
lasoo in flight?

we are planning a megiddo-like round table, civic forum on the war
system, october 12 in ann arbor, on the year anniversary of the
launching of the us campaign, and the teach-in community forum we had
last year. you and everyone else involved in that process is invited
back. i'm sure we can find hospitality again to put people up.

we are still interested in hosting a performance of the atomic mirror,
are you and associates still performing?

could you come next year to megiddo, earth day, april 22, and for a few
days thereafter. we continue our plans for an exhibit of arts for peace,
a concert and performance program to turn the heart, and a model peace
meeting and a peace tent and peace table and studio to create art for
peace, etc.

this years trip brought many treads closer together,  spring 2001 seems
the time to bring to realization the 15 years of preparation. following
what we do at and around megiddo, we will take a pilgramage tour, a
healing exploration of the holy lands. we can put together a one week,
10 day or 2 week customized tour package, very economical. can you come.
can you spread the word, can you help raise money.

we need to be able to pay a part time staff coordinator in israel.
we met an excellent young woman activist who brought together 11
interested talented people in her living room. we found a good place for
a peace encampment near megiddo, on the woods.  i walked the 7000 seat
amphitheater. the stage is about 20 by 40 feet, maybe twice that big,
its bigger than i remembered.   the japanese kudo drummers performed
there.  the accoustics are supposed to be good.

the post production rights to a world peace concert, to turn the hearts,
should have some value, sufficient to attract some venture capital and
up-front money. do you know people who are knowledgable about these
matters and could help us with fundraising and financial organization.

the work at the non proliferation treaty review seems like a victory,
agreement by the nuclear powers to a higher standard of seriousness
about doing something, unequivocal undertakings, to get rid of nuclear
weapons.

odile and i had a conversation at and with proposition one, in
washington. exploring how to open the language of the nuclear abolition
and economic conversion act, hr2545, about, more specifically, what
enabling legislation is necesary to abolish nuclear weapons and convert
the residue of the $5.8 trillion dollars spent on nuclear weapons.

what does conversion mean? can the labs be converted? in the next
session of congress, eleanor holmes norton will hopefully reintroduce
something like hr2545.  shouldn't the us campaign take an initiative to
get the widest possible consensus on the enabling legislation that would
represent an unequivocal undertaking, such as pledged in the
reaffirmation of article 6 of the non-proliferation treaty? it seems
also that putting that question--what is an unequivocal undertaking?--
to the presidential candidates and in the congressional election
campaigns should be our campaign stategy through november and the
inauguration.

we should develop our answer in as compelling detail and legislative
focus as possible and see how large is the anti-militarism caucus in the
next congress.

in israel we got an excellent article by gideon spiro about the israeli
nuclear weapons program and mordechai vanunu. it was just translated
from a collection of hebrew writings and i don't think is in electronic
form. i could send you a copy if you like.

best wishes, alan haber


Pamela S. Meidell wrote:
>
> >Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 08:45:17 -0400
> >To:
> >From: Stephen Kobasa <[e-mail]>
> >Subject: the Real Scandal of Los Alamos
> >
> >note implications for Trident
> >
> >Published on Thursday, June 22, 2000 by FAIR's Media Beat
> >
> >THE LOS ALAMOS STORY: SPINNING LIKE CRAZY
> >
> >By Norman Solomon / Creators Syndicate
> >
> >By the time Energy Secretary Bill Richardson testified at a Senate hearing
> >on Wednesday, the media spin was in overdrive: Major security breaches have
> >jeopardized the vital work going on at the Los Alamos National Laboratory,
> >where scientists toil to protect America.
> >
> >But after many years of monitoring key weapons policies, Jacqueline Cabasso
> >dismisses the current uproar as "a sideshow." Cabasso, executive director
> >of the Western States Legal Foundation, is a perceptive expert on nuclear
> >arms issues. Her views don't come near the conventional media wisdom.
> >
> >"The real scandal," she told me, "is that while the media focuses attention
> >on a couple of lost and found hard drives, the U.S. weapons labs -- Los
> >Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia -- are spending billions of taxpayer
> >dollars busily developing new and improved nuclear weapons, almost
> >completely shielded from public scrutiny or even awareness. Moreover, the
> >U.S. is continuing to brandish these weapons on a daily basis."
> >
> >Meanwhile, as far as most journalists are concerned, the purposes of
> >America's weapons laboratories are sacrosanct. The professional thing to do
> >is to echo the assumptions of politicians like Florida Republican Porter
> >Goss, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, who likes to describe Los
> >Alamos as a bastion of "creativity." Appearing on CNN a few days ago, Goss
> >extolled the lab's mission of "creating the innovation, the creativity, the
> >breakthrough that you need to develop these kinds of weapons and have this
> >kind of progress."
> >
> >For several decades, a macabre form of creativity has flourished at the Los
> >Alamos and Sandia labs in New Mexico and at Lawrence Livermore in
> >California. The default position of media coverage is that these are fine
> >institutions; the alarm is about dysfunction, not function.
> >
> >So, from coast to coast, news outlets marked the summer solstice with an
> >outpouring of fiery complaints about Los Alamos -- without the slightest
> >questioning of its mission. "Management there remains shockingly
> >lackadaisical," fumed a New York Times editorial. "Tighter oversight cannot
> >come soon enough." With such fixations on secrecy, there is virtually no
> >light shed on the fact that America's massive nuclear weapons program is
> >devoted to being able to incinerate the planet. (Only if duty calls, of
> >course.)
> >
> >Behind the countless news reports about Los Alamos is a prolonged
> >infatuation with notions of protective secrecy. Long ago, Albert Einstein
> >saw the folly. On April 30, 1947, he wrote of atomic weapons: "For there is
> >no secret and there is no defense; there is no possibility of control
> >except through the aroused understanding and insistence of the peoples of
> >the world."
> >
> >But the usual news accounts and commentaries, amplifying the voices of
> >policymakers in Washington, refuse to ask why the United States continues
> >to design, test and deploy nuclear weapons. In the universe of >mainstream
> >media, Einstein's observations are upside down: We keep hearing that there
> >is a secret and there is a defense. This posture allows the U.S. government
> >to go unquestioned by citizens, while nuclear design labs stay busy. >Their
> >creations -- if used as intended -- will destroy millions or billions of
> >human lives. That's an odd concept of creativity.
> >
> >To Cabasso, the media preoccupations are ludicrous. "While the absurd
> >question of who took the hard drives, and why, dominates the national
> >news," she says, "Armageddon is still just the push of a button away.
> >Today, U.S. Trident submarines are quietly patrolling the world's oceans at
> >the same rate as the height of the Cold War, armed with thousands of the
> >deadliest weapons ever conceived, on hair-trigger alert."
> >
> >As an opponent of nuclear proliferation and an advocate of nuclear
> >disarmament, Cabasso sees enormous danger in the status quo: "While the
> >U.S. relentlessly relies on nuclear weapons as the 'cornerstone' of its
> >national security -- and the currency of global domination -- it goes to
> >extraordinary lengths to demand that other nations forego this option. This
> >unsustainable 'do as we say, not as we do' nuclear policy is the real
> >threat to our national security."
> >
> >Considering what's at stake, the narrow range of media discourse about
> >nuclear weapons is outrageous. Forget the hard drives. The most serious
> >problem at the Los Alamos laboratory is its function. "In the interests of
> >our human security," Jacqueline Cabasso points out, "a comprehensive, open,
> >publicly accessible national debate on nuclear weapons and national
> >security is desperately needed and long overdue."
> >
> >______________________________
> >
> >Info link: http://www.abolition2000.org ______________________________
> >
> >Norman Solomon is a syndicated columnist. His latest book is "The Habits of
> >Highly Deceptive Media."
> >
> >
> >
> >
> Pamela S. Meidell
> Director
> The Atomic Mirror
> P.O. Box 220
> Port Hueneme, CA 93044
> tel: [phone]
> fax: [phone]
> email: [e-mail]
>
> "Politics is the art of the possible,
> Creativity is the art of the impossible."
> Ben Okri
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Free Conference Calling with Firetalk!
> Click Here!
> http://click.egroups.com/1/5480/3/_/91925/_/962141927/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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>
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Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 12:42:03 -0700
From: Jackie Cabasso <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS UPDATE

US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS - UPDATE

Dear friends,

    Just a quick update and apology in response to Alan Haber's message.  The
Coordinating Committee of the US CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS met
face-to-face during the NPT Review Conference in New York at the end of
April.  The notes from that meeting are still residing on my laptop and
have not been circulated yet, so I am the "bottleneck."  I'm still catching
up from my 5 weeks in NY (NPT and Millenium Forum).  I will try to
circulate the draft notes to the Coordinating Committee within a week, so
please be patient.  In the meantime, one of the items we agreed on is being
implemented.  All US endorsers of Abolition 2000 are being phoned by
volunteers as a follow-up to the mailing of the yellow Resource Booklet
this spring.  REMINDER: If your group received a yellow booklet but hasn't
yet sent in your endorsement form, please do so NOW!  (If you don't know
what I'm talking about, send me an e-mail.)  Western States Legal
Foundation is the interim clearinghouse for the US CAMPAIGN. Watch this
space. . . .

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

Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 17:06:05 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Australian Senate Passes Motion on BMD

John Hallam
Friends of the Earth Sydney,
17 Lord Street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, 2042
Fax [phone]  ph (61)(2)9517-3903
[e-mail]
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd


Dear All,

This morning the Australian Senate passed a motion in which it called on
the US not tp proceed with the BMD scheme.

Our press release follows, then text of the motion as adopted.


AUSTRALIAN PEACE COMMITTEE/PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT W.A., FRIENDS OF
THE EARTH AUSTRALIA 29/6/2000
SENATE SAYS NO TO US MISSILE DEFENCE SCHEME

The Australian Peace Committee, People for Nuclear Disarmament W.A, and
Friends of the Earth Australia have welcomed a vote by the Senate this
morning on a motion put by Senator Lyn Allison of the Democrats to call on
the US not to deploy a ballistic missile defence system. A test of this
system is scheduled for July 7th.

According to spokespeople Irene Gale of APC, Jo Valentine of PND, and John
Hallam of Friends of the Earth,
"The US proposal to deploy a ballistic missile defence system is the
greatest obstacle to the achievement of the total and unequivocal
elimination of nuclear weapons as required by the terms of the final
declaration of the recent nuclear nonproliferation treaty review
conference, and is the single factor that is most likely to contribute to a
renewed arms race."
"At the recent NPT Review Conference, nation after nation, and group after
group, including the EU, the New Agenda Coalition, the Non-Aligned
Movement, Portugal, Sweden, France, and the UN Secretary General all stated
that the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which the US proposal will violate,
is the cornerstone of strategic stability.  Russia and China have warned
that if the ABM treaty is violated by the US building an ABM system, that
all arms control agreements arrived at with the US will be void and there
will be a new arms race."

"If the US were to deploy this system it risks spending some $60 billion on
an exotic weapons system that can't tell the difference between a warhead
and a striped decoy balloon, that will alienate every other country in the
world, that does nothing for the security of US allies, and that has the
potential to terminate further efforts to fulfill the legal obligations of
the nuclear weapons powers to eliminate their nuclear arsenals."

"The Australian Government can't just stand by and let this happen. As a
close US ally, it has an obligation to urge the US not to allow the ABM
treaty to be trashed and the arms race to recommence. It should press for
the early implementation of START-II and the negotiation of a START-III
nuclear weapons agreement that aims at the lowest possible warhead numbers
offered so far by Russia."
"The G8 will be meeting in Okinawa on 21-23 July. One can safely assume
that BMD will be discussed somewhere there. An international fax campaign
exists to urge G8 governments to raise their concerns with the US."
"We welcome this motion by Senator Allison, the support of the ALP and the
Greens, and thier continuing efforts on nuclear disarmament. It places the
Australian government on notice that it must stand up and be counted on
this vital global issue."
Contact:
John Hallam 02-9517-3903 h9810-2598
Irene Gale AM, 08-8364-2291
Jo Valentine, 08-9272-4252


NOTICE OF MOTION


June 28th 2000


I give notice that on the next day of sitting I shall move:

(1)    That the Senate notes:

a)    the final declaration of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT)
Review Conference in New York,  24 April -19 May 2000, commits the nuclear
weapon states to 'the early implementation and entry into force of START-II
and conclusion of START-III as soon as possible while preserving and
strengthening the Anti Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty as a cornerstone of
strategic stability and as a basis for further reductions  of strategic
offensive weapons in accordance with its provisions'

b)    that at the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, the
United Nations Secretary General, the EU, Sweden, Portugal, the UK, and
France have all expressed concern at the prospect of the deployment by the
US of a National Missile Defence System (NMD), which would require the
alteration or abrogation of the ABM treaty, and have stated that the ABM
treaty is the cornerstone of strategic stability

c)    the statements made by the heads of Government of France and
Germany with respect to the inadvisability of deployment of a National
Missile defence system by the United States

d)    the strong statements by the governments of Russia and China, that
deployment of a National Missile Defence system as currently proposed would
have serious consequences for arms control and arms reduction talks, and
could result in the abandonment of START commitments by Russia, with the
alarming possibility of a new arms race

e)    increasing doubts about the technical viability of any system of
ballistic missile defence, and especially the current NMD proposal
surfacing in the United States

f)    the recent declaration, released by the Washington National
Cathedral, by a large number of retired senior military personnel and
religious leaders,  asking that nuclear weapons be eliminated and
expressing opposition to NMD.


(2)    That the Senate asks the Australian Government:

a)    to make known its position in relation to the United States'
proposal to deploy a National Missile Defence System

b)    to call on the United States not to deploy an NMD system

c)    to urge the United States and Russia to proceed with the early
implementation and entry into force of START-II and conclusion of START III
as soon as possible

d)    to call on the Nuclear Weapons States to outline how they will
implement the NPT Final Document requirement that nuclear weapons play a
diminishing role in security policies

e)    to urge the United States and Russia to maintain the integrity of
the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty.

Senator Lyn Allison




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