COUNTERPLAN/NUCLEAR ABOLITION
ADVANTAGE: REDIRECTED RESOURCES COULD SOLVE SOCIAL PROBLEMS
FUNDS NOW SPENT FOR WMD COULD FEED EVERYONE AND CREATE A CONGENIAL PLANET
Jimmy Reid April 9, 2001, The Scotsman SECTION: Pg. 10 HEADLINE: WHERE IS THE PEACE BONUS AFTER THE COLD WAR? //VT2002acsln
Much of our planet's resources and man's scientific/engineering genius had been absorbed in developing weapons of mass destruction. Re-directed to peaceful pursuits, we might irrigate deserts, feed the hungry and generally make life more congenial for everyone.
IF WE CAN ACT FOR NUCLEAR ABOLITION, COOPERATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR POVERTY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT WILL BE FORTHCOMING
David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. May 25, 2000 Ending the Nuclear Weapons Era
http://www.peacenet.org/disarm/ //VT2002acslnNuclear weapons are a test for humanity. If we can control and eliminate these and other weapons of mass destruction that threaten our common future, it is possible for humanity to join in common purpose to solve other pressing problems confronting us, such as eliminating poverty, protecting human rights, and safeguarding the environment from pollution and over-exploitation.
HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY ARE SPENT ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS NOW
Karina Wood, Peace Action Education Fund July 1999. The Road to Nuclear Abolition
http://www.webcom.com/peaceact/abolition_fs.html //VT2002acslnEstimated 1998 Spending on US Nuclear Weapons and Related Programs*
Operational Nuclear Forces $24.7 billion
Includes strategic and tactical nuclear forces, command, control, communications, and intelligence, R&D, Stockpile Stewardship, other defense programs
Defensive and Other Programs $4.3 billion
Includes national & theater missile defense, Arms Control & Disarmament Agency, payments to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Congressional oversight.
Cold War Legacies $5.8 billion
Includes environmental restoration, waste management, and radiation exposure compensation payments.
*From Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of US Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 (forthcoming, Brookings Institute Press).
NUCLEAR WEAPONS SPENDING IS IN DIRECT OPPOSITION TO SPENDING ON PUBLIC SERVICES
MOVEMENT IN INDIA FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, 2001, Movement in India for Nuclear Disarmament
http://www.angelfire.com/mi/MIND123/ //VT2002acslnNational nuclear arming creates a false sense of pride and imposes continuing and rising economic, social and political costs. The social and economic costs of nuclearisation, both through missed opportunities and direct weapons manufacture and deployment, can be crippling. Nuclear weapons are incompatible with rational development goals. They represent a wasteful diversion from the true and fundamental security needs of ordinary people.