A Nuclear Free World
Submitted by eorourke on January 23, 2007 - 2:55pm. --- Justice & Peace

Nuclear weapons and nuclear power pose the greatest threat to humankind’s existence. Our support systems are slowly dying through global warming and environmental degradation. A nuclear strike can easily cascade into nuclear winter in a hurry. To give human beings and the natural habitat some chance of survival, societies have to take steps that are not under serious discussion.

1) Take all nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert status (ready to launch with 15 minutes notice). This will give military establishments more time to assess threats. The world came close to nuclear destruction on January 25, 1995 when Norwegian scientists and American colleagues launched a satellite designed to study the Northern Lights. Although the Norwegian government had notified Russian authorities, not everyone got the word. To the Russian radar technicians, the rocket fit the profile of a US Trident missile that could blind the Russians’ radar defense by exploding a nuclear warhead in the upper atmosphere. The Russians activated the “nuclear football,” the briefcase of secret codes needed to order a missile attack. President Yeltsin came within three minutes of ordering his own, seemingly defensive, nuclear attack.