On January 17, 2007, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) moved the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight. It is now 5 minutes to midnight. The BAS Board of Directors, in consultation with the Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors, which includes 18 Nobel Laureates, explained in a statement:
“We stand at the brink of a second nuclear age. Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has the world faced such perilous choices. North Korea’s recent test of a nuclear weapon, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a renewed U.S. emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons, the failure to adequately secure nuclear materials, and the continued presence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia are symptomatic of a larger failure to solve the problems posed by the most destructive technology on Earth.”
The scientists’ first recommendation for turning back the clock is:
“Reducing the launch readiness of U.S. and Russian nuclear forces, and completely removing nuclear weapons from the day-to-day operations of their militaries”
Read the entire statement at The Bulletin Online
In a January 14th Wall Street Journal op-ed, “A World Free of Nuclear Weapons,” George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger and Sam Nunn placed the same recommendation at the top of their agenda:
“Changing the Cold War posture of deployed nuclear weapons to increase warning time and thereby reduce the danger of an accidental or unauthorized use of a nuclear weapon.”
Read the entire op-ed: A World Free Nuclear of Weapons.
Nuclear Alerts Must End Now!
At this moment, the United States and Russia have thousands of nuclear weapons on war-ready, hair-trigger alert. With 26,000 weapons between them, each state is within minutes of launching irretrievable attacks that would destroy civilization itself.
Read more at Nuclear A.M.E.N..
Please write your Member of Congress today to demand an end to nuclear alerts. Let’s get more Members of Congress to cosponsor Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey’s resolution, H. RES. 68, which “urges the President, in the interests of protecting and advancing human, national, and global security, to … cooperate with the Russian Federation to remove from deployment nuclear weapons that presently are operational and ready to be launched on short notice.” Write Congress
