Gensuikyo sends open letter to U.S. President George W. Bush

The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) published an open letter to U.S. President George W. Bush on February 17 urging him not to go against nuclear disarmament and to make sincere effort for eliminating nuclear weapons:

Mr. George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
c/o Embassy of U.S. in Japan
Fax: 03-5570-5041
Open Letter: Stop Reversing Nuclear Disarmament, Make Sincere Effort to
Abolish Nuclear Weapons
February 17, 2002

Dear Mr. President,

"The errors of the 20th century must not be repeated in the 21st (Final Declaration of the U.N. NGO Millennium Forum, May 2000)." It is now more than one year since the door of the 21st century opened, carrying a desire of the humans for nuclear weapons to be abolished. International politics is facing a vital task of implementing an "unequivocal undertaking" to accomplish the "total abolition of nuclear weapons" agreed upon by the 187 countries at the NPT Review Conference in May 2000. It is evident that in reaching this goal, the United States of America, which led the nuclear arms race in the second half of the 20th century and stays unrivalled in its overwhelming nuclear force, has an especially heavy responsibility.

However, in spite of some 20 months that passed since the above stated agreement was reached and although the first preparatory committee meeting is due to be held in coming April, your Government has not yet shown the will and plan to implement the "undertaking." Contradictorily, no sooner had you assumed the presidency, than you announced that you would make the CTBT a dead letter, the treaty which the U.S. administration itself used to promote and which more than 160 countries have signed. Further, in May last year you declared the promotion of the so-called Missile Defense Program as part of the plan to strengthen the "deterrence that rely on both offensive and defensive forces," suggesting that the USA would terminate the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. A recently announced shift from the "threat-based" approach to the "capability-based approach" is also a part of the effort to reinforce "deterrence," which includes even a possible use of nuclear weapons. Adding to the repeated sub-critical nuclear tests conducted even after the CTBT was adopted, it is reported that the "Nuclear Posture Review" refers to a possibility of resuming nuclear explosion test. These plans and policies apparently contradict the "complete abolition" of your own nuclear weapons, to which the governments, including the US, "unequivocally" committed themselves.

The terrorism that sacrifices human lives indiscriminately, such as the attack on last September 11, must be rooted out. There is no doubt about it. But this does not justify such conduct that labels others as an "axis of evil" or "rogue states" and launch armed attacks against them on the ground of "suspected" proliferation of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction. It is indeed unreasonable and absurd in the international community to claim that the only the U.S. and some other countries hold the privilege of possessing nuclear weapons while all others are denied to it, and that they are allowed to launch military attacks, including nuclear in some cases, on any of the suspected countries. This is the very argument that has constantly increased the danger of nuclear proliferation. Maintaining huge nuclear arsenals, placing against this background the national interest above the interest of the whole international community or the national sovereignty of other countries, and prioritizing the national interest to the international order and rules ミ this kind of practice needs to be overcome.

If the United States truly works to overcome the danger of "assured mutual destruction" of the "Cold War" era as you stated on May 1, 2001, first and foremost, the U.S. and other nuclear weapons states should re-affirm that the internationally-agreed undertaking of achieving the "elimination of their nuclear arsenals" is their national policy agenda, and immediately move to start international negotiations to this end. On the occasion of your visit to Japan, the country where the first nuclear weapons were used in war, we strongly urge you to set about and carry this out.

Looking back on the 20th century history, in the creation of the U.N. Charter and the U.N. Organization, the United States played a positive role in establishing such important principles as sovereign rights and equality of all nations, non-interference in internal affairs, outlawing wars and settlement of international disputes by peaceful means. We urge the U.S. Government under your leadership to take a decision to switch the course to one of consolidating peace and equality in the international relations based on the U.N. Charter and other international law. And as its first yet vital step, we strongly suggest to you that you make a clear decision to abolish nuclear weapons. (end)