By Desmond Tutu

Eliminating nuclear weapons is the democratic wish of the world’s people. Yet no nuclear-armed country currently appears to be preparing for a future without these terrifying devices. In fact, all are squandering billions of dollars on modernization of their nuclear forces, making a mockery of United Nations disarmament pledges. If we allow this madness to continue, the eventual use of these instruments of terror seems all but inevitable.

The nuclear power crisis at Japan’s Fukushima power plant has served as a dreadful reminder that events thought unlikely can and do happen. It has taken a tragedy of great proportions to prompt some leaders to act to avoid similar calamities at nuclear reactors elsewhere in the world. But it must not take another Hiroshima or Nagasaki – or an even greater disaster – before they finally wake up and recognize the urgent necessity of nuclear disarmament.

Friends,

There has been lots of buzz lately about whether the United States has conducted nuclear tests over the past year.  Yes Virginia, the US did, in fact, conduct tests intended to make sure that those thousands of nasty nukes in its arsenal will perform as they are designed should someone actually be crazy enough to launch one.

Of course, there was no mushroom cloud like the bad old days of atmospheric testing, or seismographic mayhem that was a telltale sign of underground tests of yore.  Over the decades since the beginning of the nuclear age the U.S. conducted 1030 tests involving the detonation of a nuclear device (215 atmospherice and 815 underground) up until 1992.

Today the House voted on a slew of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act, a bill authorizing hundreds of billions of dollars for the Pentagon and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for fiscal year 2012. This provided a great opportunity for our allies in Congress to work to impact key issues like military spending, the wars in Afghanistan and Libya, nuclear weapons and more.

The biggest story out the House today is the growth in support for ending the war in Afghanistan. Efforts to end the war in Afghanistan got more votes than ever before, and key members of the Democratic leadership Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer spoke in favor of the McGovern/Jones amendment to set a timeline for withdrawal. This sends a clear message to the administration at a critical time. The Pentagon is pushing for an insignificant withdrawal in July, and President Obama needs strong support to move toward a serious, sizable withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher spoke last week at the Arms Control Association’s Annual Meeting.

This was the most detailed and substantive address to date by a senior Barack Obama administration official about the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, according to the Project for the CTBT. Undersecretary Tauscher made it clear that the administration would soon be launching an effort to educate Senators on the CTBT and provide updated answers to some of the concerns that were raised during the 1999 debate on the treaty.

Here is the complete video of the Undersecretary’s remarks:

Friends,

Not too long ago Steven Starr summarized our challenges in communicating the issues surrounding nuclear weapons to the public, and how we need to communicate in order to get people’s attention and get them engaged with this most important of issues.  Essentially, we need to engage people both emotionally and intellectually regarding the potential effects of nuclear weapons as well as the huge economic costs.  It’s serious food for thought.
Peace,

Leonard

P.S. – Be sure to check out Steven’s Website, Nuclear Darkness.