NDE joins the more than 50 organizations who met in Washington DC on March 5th to strategize on guiding US policy on weapons of mass destruction over the next two years, through the Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World. Courtesy of Jennifer Vierek from HOME: Healing Ourselves and Mother Earth (http://www.h-o-m-e.org)


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Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World
(Draft Organizing Statement, March 28, 2007)

For over six decades, the world has struggled to avoid nuclear war, nuclear arms competition, and the spread of the bomb. Prompted by public concern and pressure to reduce the nuclear danger, government leaders established a series international nuclear risk reduction agreements that have successfully reduced the risks and dangers posed by the world's most deadly weapons. The foundation of these efforts, the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), commits non-nuclear weapon states to permanently foreswear nuclear weapons and requires the original nuclear weapon states—Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States—to pursue and achieve nuclear disarmament.

Yet, the nuclear threat still remains and the NPT system is under stress. We believe stronger U.S. leadership is required to build international consensus for reversing reliance on nuclear weapons globally, preventing their acquisition by terrorists or additional states, and ultimately ending them as a threat to the world.

Despite the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia retain thousands of nuclear weapons, most of which are on high alert and are intended to deter the other. The United States has not yet ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and is proposing to rebuild its nuclear arsenal and production complex.

Existing global stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and plutonium, the fissile materials that are the fuel of nuclear bombs, are growing and are not adequately secured against theft or sale to terrorists. The United States must more effectively engage with the international community—including all declared and non-declared nuclear weapon states—to curb the programs and technologies that can be used to produce material for nuclear weapons.

We believe it is imperative that the United States take immediate and bold action to reaffirm its commitment to nuclear weapons elimination, further reduce the number and alert status of nuclear weapons arsenals, delegitimize development, possession and use of such weapons, and otherwise strengthen the global nuclear non-proliferation system.

Our organizations are joining together in a multi-year effort designed to prompt a long-overdue and informed public debate on nuclear weapons and international peace and security in the 21st Century.

Our goal is to catalyze meaningful action on steps necessary to reduce the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and bring us closer to a world free of nuclear weapons. We will seek support and leadership from lawmakers from both parties, meaningful commitments from presidential candidates, and a more robust and high-level effort from the executive branch. Priority steps include:

• Undertaking a fundamental reassessment of the purpose of nuclear weapons, significantly and irreversibly reduce the number and role of all types of nuclear weapons, and more aggressively engaging other countries in reducing theirs.
• Halting new nuclear weapons research and production activities, which are contrary to the goal of reducing the legitimacy of nuclear weapons and risk the resumption of nuclear testing.
• Increasing funding to accelerate the pace and scope of cooperative projects to reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism by helping to improve accounting and security at nuclear facilities worldwide.
• Establishing tighter controls on the spread of technologies that can be used to produce fissile material and more aggressively pursue a global verifiable ban on fissile material production.
• Convincing the United States Senate to reconsider and provide its advice and consent for ratification of the CTBT at the earliest possible date.

Now is the time to act. Please join us.

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