Now is the time to increase people’s movement for nuclear-free world

Japan Press Weekly

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Now is the time to increase people’s movement for nuclear-free world - Akahata editorial

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, held at the UN headquarters every five years, is coming up. On May 3, the day before the opening of the conference, anti-nuclear activists from all over the world will assemble in New York City to take part in an international joint action.

Since U.S. President Barack Obama proposed a “world without nuclear weapons” in the speech delivered in Prague in April 2009, the international current in favor of the abolition of nuclear weapons has been growing. While advocating the need for restrictions on the possession and use of nuclear weapons as stated in the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), Obama has not provided a proposed schedule for eliminating nuclear weapons within a set time frame. To achieve this end, people’s movement is important and should create a new momentum to pursue the path for a nuclear-free world.

Restriction on use of nuclear weapons is not enough

In his Prague speech, President Obama stated that the U.S. will seek to achieve a world without nuclear weapons, and that the United States has a “moral responsibility” as being the nation that actually used nuclear weapons. At the same time, however, Obama stated that a nuclear-free world “will not be reached in my lifetime,” and expressed that as long as nuclear weapons exist, the U.S. will maintain its policy of nuclear deterrence.

As a guideline for the U.S. nuclear strategy, in his statement on the administration’s first NPR, Obama said that the U.S. “will not use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states that are party in compliance with their nuclear nonproliferation obligations.” This showed his intention to reduce the role of nuclear weapons. It was different from the Bush administration’s strategy which intended to allow the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states.

President Obama, however, avoided scrapping the preemptive attack policy because of strong opposition from the military. He accepted the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons against nations “that fail to meet their nuclear nonproliferation obligations” such as Iran and North Korea, and the possibility of a nuclear counterattack against an attack with other “weapons of mass destruction.” He also confirmed that the U.S. will make a commitment to the security of its allies through its deterrence policy of offering a nuclear umbrella.

It is, of course, important to limit the use of nuclear weapons and reduce the nuclear stockpile. However, as long as the U.S. administration adheres to the logic of nuclear deterrence and continues possessing nuclear missiles, the possibility of a nuclear war cannot vanish. The existence of nuclear weapons always gives “nuclear wannabes” an excuse to acquire their own nuclear weapons and leaves open the possibility that terrorists may obtain materials to make a nuclear weapon.

That is why not only global peace and anti-nuclear organizations but also the U.N. Secretary General, former leaders of NATO countries, and former U.S. high-ranking officials one after another began opposing the deterrence policy and are calling for a start of international negotiations for a total ban on nuclear weapons. During the upcoming NPT Review Conference, all the nuclear weapons-possessing countries will be required to fulfill their commitment to eliminate their nuclear arsenals to create a world completely free of the threat of nuclear weapons.

Public opinion and movements are the driving forces pushing for a nuclear-free world

International opinion and movements have contributed to increasing the momentum for the abolition of nuclear weapons. In particular, peace organizations in Japan, the only atomic-bombed nation in the world, have played a leading role in the global anti-nuclear weapons movements by giving eye witness accounts of the reality of nuclear war.

Now is the time for all peace and anti-nuclear weapons groups in the world to press President Barack Obama and other government leaders to embark on the path for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The future of humankind and this planet is depending on the present efforts to push world politics to achieve a nuclear-free world.

- Akahata, April 11, 2010