Photo Credit: Photograph by Momatiuk-Eastcott/CORBIS; NationalGeographic.com: Hikers in 2005 sculpted this enormous peace symbol into the bleached landscape of White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. White Sands is home to a U.S. missile range which houses the Trinity site, where the first nuclear weapon was tested in 1945.
Friends,
Today is the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year (for those of us in the northern hemisphere). These are dark times, indeed, as nations still worship the false (nuclear) idols they believe provide security (through “deterrence”) and bolster national pride. Nuclear weapons are truly a dark cloud hanging over humanity, and it has become increasingly clear that it will take a massive people’s movement to convince our governments to take real steps to abolish these omnicidal weapons.
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference that will take place in May 2010 is a make-it-or-break-it gathering that will demonstrate either real resolve, or as in the case of the recent Copenhagen gathering, business as usual. In both cases, the world can no longer afford business as usual. We the people must pressure our governments to make the NPT a valid treaty with real and binding deadlines for disarmament.
With a December 5th deadline come and gone, nuclear disarmament supporters hoping for a new treaty soon between the US and Russia on nuclear weapons reduction may have to wait a little longer. At Copenhagen for climate change talks, Presidents Obama and Medvedev squeezed in a meeting on the ongoing nuclear weapons negotiations. The Associated Press quotes a spokesman for negotiations saying that the New START agreement to reduce both countries’ nuclear arsenals may not be completed until January:
“It’s extremely complex putting together a treaty like this,” Parmly told The Associated Press.
“If you’re expecting a signing ceremony by the end of the year, that would be a tough calendar,” Parmly said. “In the mean time, though, they’re working.”
With a December 5th deadline come and gone, nuclear disarmament supporters hoping for a new treaty soon between the US and Russia on nuclear weapons reduction may have to wait a little longer. At Copenhagen for climate change talks, Presidents Obama and Medvedev squeezed in a meeting on the ongoing nuclear weapons negotiations. The Associated Press quotes a spokesman for negotiations saying that the New START agreement to reduce both countries’ nuclear arsenals may not be completed until January:
“It’s extremely complex putting together a treaty like this,” Parmly told The Associated Press.
“If you’re expecting a signing ceremony by the end of the year, that would be a tough calendar,” Parmly said. “In the mean time, though, they’re working.”