COUNTERPLAN/NUCLEAR ABOLITION

ADVANTAGE: WITHOUT NUCLEAR ABOLITION THERE WILL BE A NUCLEAR WAR

WITHOUT NUCLEAR ABOLITION THERE WILL BE A NUCLEAR WAR

Nuclear weapons should awaken our survival instincts and arouse our human spirits to resistance.

The survivors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the hibakusha, have persistently reminded us that human beings and nuclear weapons cannot coexist indefinitely.  The relationship is bound to end in future tragedies, if for no other reason than that we humans are fallible creatures and cannot indefinitely maintain infallible systems. 

THE NEED FOR NUCLEAR ABOLITION TODAY IS GREATER THAN DURING THE COLD WAR — WE MUST ACT OR NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED

The need for a ban on nuclear weapons is greater today than it ever was, even during the darkest days of the Cold War. It is difficult to believe that, without some tough agreements on nuclear weapons which control and eliminate the materials that go into them, that they will not one day fall into the hands of terrorists or a state foolish enough to use them.

DETERRENCE WILL FAIL AND MILLIONS WILL DIE

David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.  11.28.2000 A World Without Nuclear Weapons

Those nations that cling to nuclear weapons justify their actions as deterring others from attacking them.  But humans are fallible, and deterrence is not a perfect system.  It can fail by human error, accident, miscalculation or simply miscommunication.  Does it make sense to risk the future of our cities and even the human species on an unprovable theory?

WE WILL HAVE A NUCLEAR WAR IF WE WAIT FOR GOVERNMENTS TO BRING US NUCLEAR ABOLITION

As far back as 1968, when the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed by the US, UK and Soviet Union, these states promised good faith negotiations to achieve nuclear disarmament.  Although this treaty entered into force in 1970, the nuclear weapons states made virtually no efforts to act on this obligation.  Twenty-five years later at the NPT Review and Extension Conference in 1995, the nuclear weapons states again promised the "determined pursuit…of systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally, with the ultimate goals of eliminating those weapons…."   Five years later at the 2000 NPT Review Conference, the nuclear weapons states again promised an "unequivocal undertaking … to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals…." 

So far, all they have done is play with words and promises.  They have shown no sincerity in keeping their promises or fulfilling their obligations.  If we wait for the governments of the nuclear weapons states to act in good faith, we may well experience future Nagasakis and Hiroshimas.  The abolition of nuclear weapons cannot wait for governments to act in good faith.  The people must act, and they must do so as if their very lives depend on it -- because they do. 

THE CHOICE IS CLEAR —- NUCLEAR ABOLITION OR NUCLEAR DISASTER — AND A SMALL GROUP OF NUCLEARISTS ARE HOLDING THE WORLD HOSTAGE

We have a choice.  We can end the nuclear weapons era, or we can run the risk that nuclear weapons will end the human era.  The choice should not be difficult.  In fact, the vast majority of humans would choose to eliminate nuclear weapons.  Today, a small number of individuals in a small number of countries are holding humanity hostage to a nuclear holocaust.  To change this situation and assure a future free of nuclear threat, people everywhere must exercise their rights to life and make their voices heard.  They must speak out and act before it is too late.  They must demand an end to the nuclear weapons era.

THE ONLY WAY TO AVOID NUCLAR WAR IS THROUGH A MOVE TO NUCLEAR ABOLITION

The Commission released its report on August 14, 1996. It found "that immediate and determined efforts need to be made to rid the world of nuclear weapons and the threat they pose to it." The Report continued, "The proposition that nuclear weapons can be retained in perpetuity and never used defies credibility. The only complete defense is the elimination of nuclear weapons and assurance that they will never be produced again." The Committee called for an unequivocal commitment by the nuclear weapons states to a nuclear weapons free world and the following immediate steps:

* Take nuclear forces off alert

* Remove warheads from delivery vehicles

* End deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons

* End nuclear testing

* Initiate negotiations to further reduce United States and Russian nuclear arsenals

TWO WAYS OUT OF THE NUCLEAR AGE — GLOBAL DESTRUCTION OR NUCLEAR ABOLITION

There are only two ways out of the Nuclear Age. One is by death and destruction, by nuclear conflagration, by Nuclear Winter, by the poisoning of our life support systems. Few would consciously choose this path, but many of our decisions, based on national rather than global priorities, have led us in this direction. There is, however, a second option, and that is to affirm without reservation that the power of life is greater than the power of death. Technology is already breaking down barriers between nations. Education and spiritual grounding in the miracle of Creation must now provide the basis for breaking down the barriers in our minds that separate us. We are one humanity. We share one Earth.

BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF CATASTROPHE, WE SHOULD MOVE TOWARDS NUCLEAR ELIMINATION NOW

The Canberra Commission is persuaded that immediate and determined efforts need to be made to rid the world of nuclear weapons and the threat they pose to it. The destructiveness of nuclear weapons is immense. Any use would be catastrophic.

IF WE KEEP NUCLEAR WEAPONS WE WILL EVENTUALLY USE THEM, SO THEY NEED TO BE ELIMINATED

The proposition that nuclear weapons can be retained in perpetuity and never used - accidentally or by decision - defies credibility. The only complete defence is the elimination of nuclear weapons and assurance that they will never be produced again.

ONLY NUCLEAR ABOLITION CAN ELIMINATE THE LONG TERM DANGERS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

The long term dangers of nuclear war and proliferation can only effectively be dealt with by the elimination of nuclear weapons. The increasing availability of nuclear materials, scientific and technological advances, and the continuing nuclear arms race all make it inevitable that nuclear weapons will be developed by a 'rogue state', obtained by a terrorist, or are involved in a serious accident.