Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010

Diet members send Obama nuclear letter

By MASAMI ITO

Staff writer

A group of nonpartisan Diet members sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday him to strive to limit the role of America's atomic weapons to that of nuclear deterrence.

The request doesn't call for a total ban on the use of nuclear weapons but is intended to be a small but realistic step toward nuclear disarmament.

The letter asked Obama to state that the role of nuclear weapons should be limited to deterrence and asked that the U.S. nuclear policy not violate Japan's three nonnuclear principles of not possessing, producing or permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into the country.

With the Obama administration expected to submit the Nuclear Posture Review to Congress in March and the upcoming nuclear security summit in April, the lawmakers expressed hope that the letter may influence the nuclear policy of the U.S.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100220a3.html

"Nuclear disarmament is the only sane path to a safer world" (Ban Ki-moon)

United Nations, New York, 24 September 2009: The Secretary-General spoke at the opening of the meeting welcoming the first Security Council Summit on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. He said that the need for action on those two fronts is clear.

The Secretary-General stressed that we need new ways to increase transparency and openness regarding the weapons programmes of the recognized nuclear-weapons states. He added that we must make the best use of the UN's disarmament machinery. And he encouraged nuclear weapon states to consider additional measures to enhance security as a way of leading to total elimination.

I welcome the resolution which was adopted by consensus at the Security Council Summit meeting on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Nuclear Disarmament. This summit was an historic event that has opened a new chapter in the Council's efforts to address nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. I commend the vision and leadership of President Obama who convened the meeting.

Global nuclear non-proliferation stands at a critical juncture. Despite some progress, much remains to be done to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. Against this backdrop, this summit was especially timely. I had proposed a Security Council summit meeting on nuclear disarmament in my 5-point action plan last year. I underscore the need to sustain this initiative in the Council and beyond, at the highest possible level.

I hope that the international community seizes and builds on this momentum towards advancing nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament in general and achieving success at the 2010 NPT Review Conference in particular. I will spare no effort to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and achieve success for the sake of global peace and security.

Webcast video:http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/ondemand...

Obama presided historic UN Security Council Summit on Nuclear Disarmament

Ban Ki-moon: "New momentum for world free of nuclear weapons"

United Nations, New York, 24 September 2009: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks to the Media following the opening session of the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

United Nations, New York, 24 September 2009: Informal comments to the Media by the President of the Security Council and Representative of the United States of America, Ms. Susan E. Rice, on nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament following the Summit of the Security Council and on the situation in Honduras.

Susan E. Rice: "We just completed an historic Summit level meeting of the UN Security Council"

EDITORIAL: Nuclear disarmament

Japan and Australia, both under the U.S. "nuclear umbrella," took a significant step Sunday toward nuclear disarmament. Their foreign ministers met in Perth and agreed to deepen discussions on reducing the role of nuclear weapons in national security strategy.

Japan has advocated an elimination of nuclear weapons, but has refrained from openly challenging the U.S. nuclear strategy. This self-restraint on Japan's part undoubtedly owed to its being under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, and it has certainly put a crimp in the nation's nuclear disarmament diplomacy.

But Katsuya Okada, who became foreign minister upon the change of government last year, broke from tradition, which resulted in Sunday's joint statement with his Australian counterpart, Stephen Smith.

According to the joint statement, the ministers "found worthy of consideration such ideas as enhancing the effectiveness of security assurances not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states, or retaining nuclear weapons solely for the purpose of deterring others from using such weapons, as a first step toward a world without nuclear weapons, and decided to deepen discussions on these issues."

Okada and Smith did not go as far as to demand the world's nuclear weapon states accept and act on the "negative security assurance" and "sole purpose" concepts. Still, we believe the decision by these two countries under the nuclear umbrella to review nuclear strategies has created an opening for future discussions on nuclear disarmament.

The International Commission on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (ICNND), which is a joint initiative of the governments of Japan and Australia, released its final report last December.

The report proposes that all nuclear weapon states effectively declare, by 2012, that the "sole purpose" of possessing nuclear weapons is to deter the use of such weapons against their own states and their allies. The ICNND report also called for legally binding "negative security assurance" by nuclear weapon states not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states.

We hope Japan and Australia will deepen the discussions and map out a diplomatic strategy aimed at realizing those proposals.

In his note to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last December, Okada expressed his hope that Tokyo and Washington would jointly explore the possibility of applying the "sole purpose" and "negative security assurance" concepts to practical policy.

Washington is currently in the process of a "nuclear posture review" (NPR), and the concepts of "sole purpose" and "negative security assurance" are apparently being discussed. Under President Barack Obama, who has pledged to aim for a world free of nuclear weapons, we truly hope the United States will contribute to reducing the role of nuclear weapons.

In response to Obama's call for a nuclear-free world, efforts to change the current situation by political means are now being made not only in the Asia-Pacific region but also in Europe.

Spearheading efforts in Europe is German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who is demanding the removal of U.S. nuclear weapons deployed in Germany. During his visit to Japan last month, Westerwelle and Okada confirmed that their countries must lead the world in the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Historically, nuclear disarmament has advanced whenever some determined political leader takes steps to change the world substantively. We hope Okada will take advantage of the positive results of his meetings with his Australian and German counterparts and, working closely with other world leaders, use his political initiative to step up his disarmament diplomacy.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 23

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201002230337.html

Obama to Seek Ratification of Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Thursday that it would ask the Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, more than a decade after President Bill Clinton failed to convince the treaty’s opponents that the American arsenal could deter adversaries without ever setting off nuclear explosions.

The effort to move ahead with the treaty — one of the steps the administration wants to take to convince the world that the United States is committed to reducing and ultimately eliminating its arsenals — was announced by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.Speaking at the National Defense University, he was introduced by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, the only cabinet holdover from the Bush administration, and the man the White House believes will help provide political cover for what promises to be another bruising rematch over national security.

Over the next two weeks, President Obama is expected to make several critical decisions about nuclear policy, so Mr. Biden’s speech avoided some of the most contentious issues,

including whether the United States would make a vow of “no first use” of a nuclear weapon. Mr. Obama’s decisions will complete what is known as the Nuclear Posture Review, conducted by each new administration. Officials say that for the first time the review will include American policy for dealing with nuclear threats from terrorists and other nonstate actors.

Mr. Biden, who spent years as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will be a crucial player in the effort to win passage of the treaty. In a way, its approval would change very little: the United States has not conducted a nuclear test in two decades, since they were halted by President George Bush.

To overcome objections to signing the treaty, the administration has pledged to greatly increase the budget of the nation’s three weapons laboratories.

“Unfortunately, during the last decade, our nuclear complex and experts were neglected,” Mr. Biden said. He noted that many of the facilities now in use for making uranium and plutonium “date back to the days when the great powers were led by Harry Truman,Winston Churchill and Joe Stalin.”

He acknowledged that there would be major political fights ahead. “Some in my own party may have trouble reconciling investment of $7 billion in our nuclear complex with a commitment to arms reductions,” he said, arguing that the investment was necessary to make sure that weapons are safe and reliable even without physical testing. “Some in the other party may worry we’re relinquishing capabilities that have kept our country safe.”

Mr. Biden made the case that new technology had solved the problems that concerned critics of the treaty about a decade ago. “The test ban treaty is as important as ever,” he said.

But at a moment that Mr. Obama is struggling to get his domestic agenda through Congress, it is unclear when he will try to move ahead on the treaty, and Mr. Biden offered no timetable for the effort.

The core of the administration’s argument for the treaty is that Washington will never succeed in stopping other countries from seeking, and testing, nuclear arms unless it significantly reduces its own stockpile and agrees to a permanent ban on testing. Opponents maintain that the United States should never tie its hands, and they argue that computer simulations of nuclear tests do not have the demonstration effect of a real test.

“The administration’s agenda is essentially to make the country safer,” said Stephen Young, who follows the issue for the Union of Concerned Scientists, which favors passage of the treaty. “But they face an enormous challenge in gaining the support of cold warriors in the Senate without alienating their traditional allies.”

VP Biden: The Path to Nuclear Security

Vice President Biden speaks at National Defense University on the future of the United States’ nuclear deterrent capabilities and lays out the plan for implementing the President’s nonproliferation and nuclear security agenda.

The Vice President outlines how the Administration’s budget request and other efforts will support the President’s vision of reducing the nuclear dangers facing our country as we pursue the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/vp-biden-path-nuclear-security

By Jim Mannion (AFP) – 2 days ago

WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden called on the US Senate Thursday to ratify an international treaty banning nuclear testing to strengthen a "fraying" international consensus against the spread of nuclear weapons.

The Senate voted in 1998 against the accord -- the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) -- which would ban all nuclear blasts, whether military or civilian in nature.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the CTBT on September 10, 1996 but it has not yet entered into force because countries like the United States, Iran and Israel have yet to ratify the treaty.

Biden noted that lawmakers had harbored significant concerns about the treaty 12 years ago, but insisted that many of their reservations have been resolved.

"We're confident that all reasonable concerns raised about the treaty -- concerns about verification and a reliable nuclear arsenal -- have now been addressed," he told an audience at the National Defense University, a military educational institution in Washington.

Biden calls for ratification of nuclear test ban treaty

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jhIoOxuWrka1WBOxtAkaBudXUI_w?index=0

Vice President Biden Commends Shultz, Kissinger, Nunn and Perry on their Continued Work on Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Washington, DC – Vice President Joe Biden issued the following statement today:

“We welcome and support the continued contributions of George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, Sam Nunn and William Perry to our nation’s security. For decades, the leadership of these eminent statesmen has enhanced our nation’s liberty and prosperity, and their enduring commitment serves as an inspiration for our pursuit of the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. The greatest threat facing the American people today is the spread of nuclear weapons to additional states and to terrorists, and we will spare no effort in protecting the American people from this danger.

“Our country is always strongest when supported by bipartisanship. This consensus sustained us during the Cold War and again after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. These four statesmen have shown us the path to improved security by urging us to do all we can to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and to strengthen the nonproliferation regime, while maintaining a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal. Their vision has inspired our efforts and we will continue to be guided by their contributions. As we pursue the vision President Obama laid out in Prague last April, release our new budget in February and the Nuclear Posture Review in March, and work toward our Nuclear Security Summit in April, people will see the consensus we have sought translated into action. I encourage members from both parties to embrace these policies, and to heed the wisdom these four esteemed statesmen have demonstrated time and again.”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/vice-president-biden-commends-shultz-kissinger-nunn-and-perry-their-continued-work-

Hiroshima and the World: No More Hiroshimas

by Jayantha Dhanapala

Jayantha Dhanapala
Jayantha Dhanapala is a former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs (1998-2003) and a former Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the USA (1995-7) and to the UN Office in Geneva (1984-87). He is currently the 11th President of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs; a member of the Governing Board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United Nations University Council and several other advisory boards of international bodies.

As a Sri Lankan diplomat, entering the Foreign Ministry in 1965, Mr. Dhanapala served in London, Beijing, Washington D.C., New Delhi and Geneva and represented Sri Lanka at many international conferences. He chaired many of these conferences, too, including the historic NPT Review and Extension Conference of 1995. He was Director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) from 1987-92.

Mr. Dhanapala has received many international awards and honorary doctorates, has published five books and several articles in international journals and lectured widely. He was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka in December 1938 and earned an M.A. in International Studies from American University in 1976.

No More Hiroshimas

As a six year-old Asian boy from a predominantly Buddhist Sri Lanka I learned of the nuclear bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the USA on August 6, 1945 with utter horror and disbelief. Notwithstanding the provocation of the attack on Pearl Harbour, the instantaneous mass killing of an estimated 80,000 civilians, followed later by many more thousands of deaths from radiation, at a time when World War II was obviously ending has always been inexplicable to me--unless it was to announce the arrival of the age of nuclear imperialism. Later, at the San Francisco Conference of 1951, my Government declined reparations from Japan with the leader of the Sri Lanka delegation quoting the Buddha “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”

http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/mediacenter/article.php?story=20100212163549525_en

Digital recreation produced of Hiroshima's A-Bomb Dome prior to blast

A group of Japanese researchers and Hollywood CG and effects artists have produced a digital recreation of Hiroshima's A-Bomb Dome prior to its destruction.

The CG version of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, as it was known at the time, has been recreated down to its bronze dome and external details by the Japan-U.S. Hiroshima Reconstruction Project. The team includes professors and graduate students from the University of Southern California, which has strong links with Hollywood.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/arts/archive/news/2010/01/20100121p2a00m0na018000c.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2010-state-union-address

For Immediate Release

January 27, 2010

Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address

U.S. Capitol

9:11 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Madam Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:

Our Constitution declares that from time to time, the President shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For 220 years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They've done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they've done so in the midst of war and depression; at moments of great strife and great struggle.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-state-union-address

Extract: Speech about the Nuclear policy

Now, even as we prosecute two wars, we're also confronting perhaps the greatest danger to the American people -– the threat of nuclear weapons. I've embraced the vision of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan through a strategy that reverses the spread of these weapons and seeks a world without them. To reduce our stockpiles and launchers, while ensuring our deterrent, the United States and Russia are completing negotiations on the farthest-reaching arms control treaty in nearly two decades. (Applause.) And at April's Nuclear Security Summit, we will bring 44 nations together here in Washington, D.C. behind a clear goal: securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years, so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists. (Applause.)

Now, these diplomatic efforts have also strengthened our hand in dealing with those nations that insist on violating international agreements in pursuit of nuclear weapons. That's why North Korea now faces increased isolation, and stronger sanctions –- sanctions that are being vigorously enforced. That's why the international community is more united, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is more isolated. And as Iran's leaders continue to ignore their obligations, there should be no doubt: They, too, will face growing consequences. That is a promise. (Applause.)

That's the leadership that we are providing –- engagement that advances the common security and prosperity of all people. We're working through the G20 to sustain a lasting global recovery. We're working with Muslim communities around the world to promote science and education and innovation. We have gone from a bystander to a leader in the fight against climate change. We're helping developing countries to feed themselves, and continuing the fight against HIV/AIDS. And we are launching a new initiative that will give us the capacity to respond faster and more effectively to bioterrorism or an infectious disease -– a plan that will counter threats at home and strengthen public health abroad.

As we have for over 60 years, America takes these actions because our destiny is connected to those beyond our shores. But we also do it because it is right. That's why, as we meet here tonight, over 10,000 Americans are working with many nations to help the people of Haiti recover and rebuild. (Applause.) That's why we stand with the girl who yearns to go to school in Afghanistan; why we support the human rights of the women marching through the streets of Iran; why we advocate for the young man denied a job by corruption in Guinea. For America must always stand on the side of freedom and human dignity. (Applause.) Always. (Applause.)

Special Series: The Day the Nuclear Umbrella is Folded

Part 10: A-bombed nation's researchers make proposals for nuclear disarmament

by the "Nuclear Weapons Can Be Eliminated" Reporting Team A-bomb survivors (hibakusha) have continued to call for a world without nuclear weapons to be realized as early as possible. At the same time, the A-bombed nation of Japan is charged with the moral responsibility of speaking out to the world about the inhuman aspects of nuclear arms. Now that 100 days have passed since the change of power in the Japanese government, the question is what concrete action the new administration will undertake in pursuit of the abolition of nuclear weapons. How can the administration resolve the dilemma of appealing for nuclear abolition while relying on the U.S. "nuclear umbrella" with regard to its national security? In the milestone 65th year since the atomic bombing, the A-bombed nation must speak out more forcefully.

http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/mediacenter/article.php?story=20100125123055262_en

Obama, Medvedev back nuclear disarmament campaign

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g6PCy4wgEi4_KANj3jGZPawwoTHQ

(AFP)

PARIS — US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday sent messages of support to a high-profile group seeking to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Hundreds of former leaders, ex-ministers, experts and US actor Michael Douglas took part in a meeting in Paris of the "Global Zero" campaign launched last year to press for the gradual elimination of the world's nuclear arsenals.

"A world without nuclear weapons. As president, this is one of my highest priorities," Obama said in the message to the gathering.

Recalling his commitment toward disarmament outlined in a key speech in Prague last year, Obama noted that United States and Russia were completing negotiations on a new START nuclear reduction treaty.

US and Russian negotiators began their latest round of talks on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) on Monday in Geneva.

"When people of passion and goodwill refuse to accept the world as it is, when we see the world as it might become, then great change is inevitable," said Obama.

In his message, Medvedev told the gathering that "our common task consists in undertaking everything to make deadly weapons of mass destruction a thing of the past."

The Russian president said the START negotiations could yield a "meaningful and viable document that will give an additional impetus to the disarmament process."

Delegates at the Global Zero conference were to agree on a series of recommendations to achieve a nuclear-free world at the end of their gathering on Thursday.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

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