World Peace Message

Nuclear Abolition News and Analysis

2010-10-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

uclear Abolition News | IDN
By Jamshed Baruah
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

LONDON (IDN) - British scientists are calling for axe to fall on nuclear weapons research. In a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, 36 science professors plead for protecting core scientific research on compelling issues such as climate change and resource shortages by cutting investment in developing new atomic arsenal.

The Scientists for Global Responsibility, as they are called, include ex-Royal Society head, Sir Michael Atiyah and Nobel Prize winner, Sir Harold Kroto. They highlight how £2 billion a year, over 25% of the government's total scientific research and development budget, is currently spent by the Ministry of Defence as evidenced by the UK Defence Statistics 2010.

Time for the Nuclear Test Ban

2010-08-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

http://carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=41419

Daryl G. KimballPROLIFERATION ANALYSIS, AUGUST 24, 2010

Twenty years ago, a popular movement in Soviet-controlled Kazakhstan forced Moscow’s communist regime to halt nuclear weapons testing at proving grounds in their homeland where more than 456 explosions had contaminated the land and its people. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev would authorize only one more test (in Russia) and then declare a moratorium in October 1991, prompting U.S. legislators to initiate a U.S. test moratorium. The last U.S. nuclear test explosion was conducted on September 23, 1992.

Just four years later, the world’s nations concluded the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to prevent proliferation and help end the nuclear arms race. President Bill Clinton was the first of 182 national leaders that have signed the treaty, yet the CTBT must still be ratified by the United States and eight other hold-out states before it can formally enter into force.

On the occasion of the first International Day against Nuclear Tests on August 29, President Barack Obama should reiterate his 2009 pledge to pursue reconsideration and ratification of the CTBT. The United States should also use the upcoming September 23 foreign ministerial meeting at the UN on the CTBT to rally support for the treaty. American action on the treaty would prompt a chain reaction of ratifications by the eight other hold-out states, including China and India, and bolster the global drive to prevent proliferation.

A growing list of bipartisan national security leaders agree that by ratifying the CTBT, the United States can strengthen its security by limiting the ability of other states, such as China or even Iran, to proof test sophisticated nuclear weapons designs that could pose a threat to U.S. and international security.

They also agree that after 1,030 U.S. nuclear test explosions, there is simply no technical or military rationale for resuming testing. Contrary to myth, the United States has never relied on nuclear testing to ensure that proven warhead designs still work, but rather to perfect new types of nuclear bombs, which the U.S. military no longer needs nor wants.

Nevertheless, some U.S. senators—many of whom have not examined the topic in detail—are reluctant to give up the testing option. But since the Senate’s brief and partisan rejection of the CTBT in 1999, there have been significant advances in U.S. programs to extend the life spans of proven warhead designs and nuclear test monitoring that should address earlier concerns that led many senators to vote no. As former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz stated on April, 17, 2009, his fellow Republicans “might have been right voting against it some years ago, but they would be right voting for it now, based on these new facts.”

Since 1994, each warhead type in the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal has been determined to be safe and reliable through a rigorous certification process. Life Extension Programs (LEPs) have refurbished and modernized major warhead types. The September 2009 study by the JASON independent technical review panel concluded that the “lifetimes of today’s nuclear warheads could be extended for decades, with no anticipated loss in confidence.” JASON found “no evidence that accumulation of changes incurred from aging and LEPs have increased risk to certification of today’s deployed nuclear warheads.”

The Obama administration’s strong support for higher nuclear weapons laboratories’ budgets—$80 billion over the next 10 years—should also help change attitudes. Key House and Senate appropriations committees have approved the administration’s $7 billion request for fiscal 2011 nuclear weapons complex activities, a 13 percent increase from the year before. Senators of both parties should recognize that further delay of CTBT ratification would create greater uncertainty about U.S. nuclear policy that could jeopardize the emerging political consensus for higher funding to maintain the shrinking U.S. nuclear stockpile in years ahead.

The United States’ capability to detect and deter possible cheating by other countries will also be significantly greater with the CTBT than without it. The CTBT and its global monitoring network, international data center, and option for on-site inspections would augment existing U.S. national test monitoring assets.

North Korea has provided two recent real-world tests of U.S. and global monitoring capabilities. In October 2006, the treaty’s International Monitoring System (IMS) easily detected Pyongyang’s relatively low-yield (0.6 kiloton) nuclear explosion at 22 seismic stations. Telltale radioactive gases from this test were also detected by South Korea and the United States, as well as one of the international network’s radionuclide monitoring stations 4,600 miles away in Canada.

North Korea’s second nuclear test in May 2009 was detected by 61 seismic stations, which provided precise geographical information that could have been used to pinpoint an on-site inspection. However, such treaty-mandated inspections will only be available when the CTBT enters into force.

Despite powerful U.S. and international test monitoring capabilities, some skeptics worry that small-scale, clandestine tests cannot be detected with absolute certainty. This argument misses the point of verification and implies that low-yield tests are worth the high risk of getting caught. The one country that might be able to conduct low-yield testing successfully—Russia—already possesses a large and advanced nuclear weapons arsenal. Additional testing would do little to increase the threat Russia already poses.

On the other hand, countries with less nuclear test experience or design sophistication, such as China, India, Pakistan, or Iran, would be unable to conceal tests in the numbers and yields required to master more advanced warheads. Without the treaty in force, the United States does not have the option to seek short notice, on-site inspections to investigate suspicious events.

Some test ban treaty skeptics erroneously charge that because the treaty does not define “nuclear test explosion,” some states, such as Russia, believe very low-yield “hydronuclear” tests are permitted. The record is clear: the CTBT bans “any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion.” As the Russian government explained to the Duma in 2000, “[F]ull-scale and hydronuclear tests with the emission of fissile energy…directly contradict the CTBT.”

Nuclear testing is a dangerous and unnecessary vestige of the past. U.S. inaction on the CTBT is self-defeating and counterproductive. The United States has neither the intention nor need to renew testing, yet its failure to ratify the CTBT undermines both U.S. leadership credibility and the United States’ ability to improve the detection and deterrence of testing by others.

Following the approval of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), President Obama should undertake the major high-level campaign that will be needed to push the CTBT through the Senate in 2011. And it is the Senate’s responsibility to the nation to reconsider the CTBT on the basis of an honest and up-to-date analysis of the facts and issues at stake.

Daryl G. Kimball is executive director of the Arms Control Association.

TodaysNetworkNews: HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI ATOMIC BOMB ANNIVERSARY, UN Secretary-General,

2010-08-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

TodaysNetworkNews | 2009年08月11日

TodaysNetworkNews: 06 August 2009 - UNTV: United Nations: On the occasion of the 64th anniversary this week of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls on the world to "convince leaders, once and for all, of the waste, futility and dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction."

On the occasion of the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, and issued an urgent call that we must disarm.

SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
Sixty-four years ago, atom bombs rained down on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Upon seeing such horror and devastation, people throughout the world thought such carnage must never happen again. But thousands of nuclear weapons remain in global arsenals. The risk of nuclear terrorism is real.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Hiroshima (Japan) 06 August 2010

2010-08-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

Secretary-General's remarks at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony

Hiroshima no minasama konichiwa. Ohayo gozaimasu.

We are here, on hallowed ground, to see, to feel, to absorb and reflect.

I am honored to be the first UN Secretary-General to take part in this Peace Memorial Ceremony on the 65th anniversary of this tragic day. And I am deeply moved.

When the atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I was one year old. Only later in life, could I begin to understand the full dimension of all that happened here. As a young boy, I lived through the Korean War. One of my earliest memories is marching along a muddy road into the mountains, my village burning behind me. All those lives lost, families destroyed -- so much sadness. Ever since, I have devoted my life to peace. It has brought me here today.

Watakushiwa sekai heiwa no tameni Hiroshima ni mairimashita.

We gather to pay our solemn respects to those who perished, sixty-five years ago, and to the many more whose lives forever changed. Life is short, but memory is long.

For many of you, that day endures, as vivid as the white light that seared the sky, as dark as the black rains that followed. To you, I offer a message of hope. To all of you, I offer my message of peace. A more peaceful world can be ours. You are helping to make it happen. You, the survivors, who inspired us with your courage and fortitude. You, the next generations, the young generation, striving for a better day.

Together, you have made Hiroshima an epicentre of peace. Together, we are on a journey from ground zero to Global Zero – a world free of weapons of mass destruction. That is the only sane path to a safer world. For as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will live under a nuclear shadow.

And that is why I have made nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation a top priority for the United Nations – and put forward a five-point plan.

Our moment has come. Everywhere, we find new friends and allies. We see new leadership from the most powerful nations. We see new engagement in the UN Security Council. We see new energy from civil society. Russia and the United States have a new START treaty. We made important progress at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington last April, which we will build upon in Korea.

We must keep up the momentum. In September, I will convene a high-level meeting in support of the work of the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations. We will push for negotiations towards nuclear disarmament. A Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. A Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty. Disarmament education in our schools – including translating the testimonies of the survivors in the world's major languages. We must teach an elemental truth: that status and prestige belong not to those who possess nuclear weapons, but to those who reject them.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Sixty-five years ago, the fires of hell descended upon this place. Today, one fire burns, here in this Peace Park. That is the Flame of Peace ? a flame that will remain lit until nuclear weapons are no more. Together, let us work for that day ? in our lifetime, in the lifetimes of the survivors. Together, let us put out the last fire of Hiroshima. Let us replace that flame with the light of hope. Let us realize our dream of a world free of nuclear weapons so that our children and all succeeding generations can live in freedom, security and peace.

Thank you. Domo arigato gozaimasu.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.asp?statID=901

http://www.un.org/sg/

Hiroshima urges end of nuclear umbrella

2010-08-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

Roos, Ban among 55,000 at 65th anniversary of bombing

By ERIC JOHNSTON

Staff writer

HIROSHIMA — At a memorial ceremony attended for the first time ever by a U.N. secretary general and a U.S. representative, Hiroshima on Friday marked the 65th anniversary of its atomic bombing by calling on Japan to withdraw from the U.S. nuclear umbrella and accelerate the progress made over the past 18 months to eliminate nuclear arms.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100807a1.html

Saturday, Aug. 7, 2010

ANALYSIS

Obama runs risk with Roos in Hiroshima

Attendance may touch off backlash in U.S.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100807a4.html

Major antinuke groups want more

2010-08-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

NAGASAKI (Kyodo) Two major antinuclear groups on Monday separately urged greater efforts toward the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Welcoming the participation of U.S. Ambassador John Roos and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in a ceremony commemorating the bombing of Hiroshima, the Japan Congress Against A- and H-Bombs said in a declaration, "By working with hibakusha worldwide, let's make it clear that 'nuclear weapons and humankind cannot coexist.' "

The group known as Gensuikin also called for the enactment of Japan's three nonnuclear principles into law. At a meeting of the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, Yoshinari Akashi, acting head of its Nagasaki chapter, criticized Prime Minister Naoto Kan's remarks that the U.S. nuclear umbrella "continues to be necessary for Japan."

The group known as Gensuikyo adopted a resolution urging nations to begin negotiating a treaty banning nuclear weapons.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100810a5.html

2010-08-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

Nagasaki issues plea to mark fateful day in '45

Mayor laments 'lack of sincere commitment'

NAGASAKI (Kyodo) Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue appealed Monday for the world to work toward the elimination of nuclear weapons and for the central government to demonstrate its leadership on the issue on the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of his city.

In this year's Peace Declaration during a ceremony in the city's Peace Park attended by representatives of a record 32 countries, including for the first time nuclear weapons states Britain and France, Taue said people have the "responsibility to realize a world without the fear of nuclear weapons."

The ceremony followed the first-ever visit to Nagasaki by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon last Thursday and was held three days after a ceremony to mark the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which was attended by a U.S. ambassador for the first time. The United States did not send a representative to Nagasaki.

The U.S. Embassy issued a comment after the memorial, saying Ambassador John Roos did not attend the service due to scheduling conflicts, but he hopes to attend the Nagasaki ceremony in the future.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100810a2.html

Nagasaki marks A-bombing / Britain, France attend 65th anniversary, but U.S. skips event

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T100809003968.htm

War is not good for anyone

2010-06-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

I am Junko Haga. I was in the 5th grade when the Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Today, I'd like to tell the story about my personal experience of this wartime bombing.

More than half of a century has passed since World War II (WW2) ended. Thanks to the strong convictions and efforts of "Never Repeat the Tragedy" by the people who lived through this wartime, Japanese have enjoyed years of peace without any war casualties for the first time since the beginning of the Meiji Era.

More than 80% of Japanese citizens alive today were born after WW2. Maybe for the people who were born after WW2 in modern, free, peaceful, and developed Japan, the stories of wars and the atomic bombs may sound like an old tale told by an ancient people. But it is a reality that 2,500,000 Japanese died for their country and 550,000 of them were killed in the fire bombings of the cities.

In Hiroshima and Nagasaki alone, 210,000 people were killed instantly by the first atomic bombs in human history. It is said that total casualties from the war eventually reached about 3,250,000. This number is about 1/36th of the total population of Japan today.

I became one of the children of single mothers who lost their husbands from the atomic bombs. Japanese people today live in peace without war for the first time since the Meiji Era. As a piece of Japanese history, I'd like to share my childhood wartime memories from more than half a century ago.

I was in the first grade at elementary school when the Great East Asian War started on December 8th, 1941. Japan surrendered on August 15th, 1945, when I was in the fifth grade. Those 3 years and 8 months were completely painted only in war colors.

I was living at that time in Higashi Kannon-cho , about two kilometers from Ground Zero, where the Peace Memorial Atomic Bomb Dome stands today. In the early Spring of 1945, the first American B29 squadrons started to pass over our house. We heard the radio announcement: "The enemy's bombers are approaching from Toyogosuido toward Kure Army Port.” A siren warning air alert sounded. Then, the silver-colored B29 bombers passed through the sky reflecting the sunlight.

Blackish colored carrier-based aircraft flew low over our house. There was a metallic sound, queen-queen. Our house seemed to be located right on the flight route. The house and bomb shelter kept shaking all night until dawn. As many as 150 aircraft were said to have passed over during that night.

At the beginning of April, suddenly school students and their families started moving away from the city to escape the bombings. I moved with my family to Kannon Mura, Saeki-gun, one station before Miyajima. The house we moved into had a yard with red and white Oleanders like our house in the city. Rice paddies were green and frogs sang at night. It was a quiet, peaceful place so different from the city.

My father and my siblings who were in high school came back to the countryside house on Saturdays and went back to our city house early Monday mornings. Two months had passed since we had moved to the countryside. It was August 6th, a hot day with blue skies from early morning. I was walking with some schoolmates in formation towards the school. We heard small blasting sounds, bruun-bruun, coming from somewhere. We saw a lone B29 bomber flying over us unbelievably high up in the sky. The B29 looked so small like a toy plane, very different from the ones we saw when they passed over our city house in squadron formation. The lone B29 flew over shining and glittering. But we didn't pay any special attention to it and hurried on to school.

All the students were forming in the school yard preparing for the 8:15 a.m. morning gratitude ceremony. Everybody was looking up towards the sky, watching the small B29's circling flight.

I heard some voices saying: "That is a spy plane....""They are spying on us..." The gong of the morning ceremony went off. Suddenly everything turned bright! I thought a huge lightning bolt had struck me. It was an eye-blinding flash as if several suns exploded all at once.

Before we could tell if it was real or just an illusion, the blast sound of the explosion came and the ground began shaking up and down, right and left - as if a huge bomb had dropped and exploded just next to me. I fell down. I thought, "I am dying now!!"

"Get in the bomb shelter!!" It was the voice of the vice-principal.

I forced my eyes open. Everything was covered by thick gray sand and dust. I felt like I was standing alone in an opaque part of a deep ocean floor. At the time, I sensed somebody was running. I came to myself, and started running desperately towards the bomb shelter in the hill behind the school building. At the very moment I finally got in the shelter there was a huge sound. The people at the entrance crumbled from the blast pressure of the explosion. Clay from the ceiling and walls fell out like hail stones.

"Cover your ears and eyes!!" It was the voice of my homeroom teacher, Mr. Fujita, who drew me into the shelter pulling my hand at the entrance.

None of us had said anything until then. At that time we started to utter some strange and meaningless words. I, too, felt like saying something and clinched the back of a person in front of me. I felt his back shivering. ”Don't speak!!”, the teacher said. All voices ceased at once. Everybody was breathing quietly. I don’t know how long this lasted.... Then the words: "Go outside. Get in your group formation!" We left the shelter at the teacher's order.

The air was opaque with debris. Everybody was covered with sand dust from tip to toe, as if we were all wearing sand dust-colored uniforms.

This is the memory of my experience of the moment of the first atomic bomb explosion on the earth. The solo B29 which was flying circles over us dropped an Area Weapon A-bomb from 8500 meters above Hiroshima.

Everybody wandered, "Even though we were at war what could cause such devastation beyond our imagination?" It was the result of the Area Weapon A-bomb explosion in the sky 580 meters over Hiroshima city 43 seconds after it was released from 8500 meters by the tiny B29 which was circling over us that morning.

There was the tragic sudden death of humans within 500 meters from the Ground Zero, where the Peace Memorial Atomic Bomb Dome is now located. The buildings within two kilometers of Ground Zero were completely disintegrated. Our house in the city was destroyed, almost completely annihilated.

Later our teacher, Mr. Fujita, told us it was very fortunate that all of his students survived even though the school was located in the Gulf of Hiroshima district where the blast and blast pressure from Ground Zero traveled over water without any barrier to prevent direct damage. Even today I think we were saved by our teacher’s proper judgment, leadership, and our daily training.

At day, only one member of my family, my older brother who was a second year high school student, was missing. All of us, school personnel, school friends, our family, and all of our relatives, searched for him. But now more than a half century later, he is still missing .

On August 15th, 1945, my father who was listening to the termination of the war broadcast by the Emperor suddenly started to cry shaking his shoulders. "If only this had come 10 days, just 10 days earlier!!" Until then I had believed that fathers never cried. But I saw tears of grief shed by a father who lost his son by the A-bomb only ten days before the war officially ended. That was the moment I as a child thought, "Nothing in the universe can replace my father's loss of my brother."

"No matter what condition he is in, I want to find him and take him home". It was the end of summer. My father kept looking for information about my brother even half a year later. My father passed away quietly a short time after he moved back to his birth place because of declining health. My mother who did not know until her death if her son was alive or had died must have been very sad.

One year later, we received a notice, "Your son is presumed dead from the A-bomb explosion." His name was erased from the family register of our hometown. But my mother never erased him from her heart.

"Why? He did not even have time to flower... He may have lost his memory.... He may have become completely disabled.....He may have been institutionalized...He may be waiting for me to come looking for him....I want to take care of him just only one day...Did he die without suffering?"

Often during the rest of her life my mother mentioned these words to me, a tomboy and her youngest daughter. I lived with my mother after my older sisters married and left home. It was 32 years ago this Fall that my mother joined my father in heaven. She lived long enough to watch her children reach adulthood.

By chance I happened to see a documentary film, "Drawings by the Victims of the War" on NHK Television on Atomic Bomb Memorial Day a year before last. The film brought back memories of that utmost tragic time, of scenes in a city devastated by the bomb and fear that there could be another bomb attack.

I remembered my oldest sister and I starting to walk along the railway tracks toward our house, hoping my brother might get there somehow. We crossed over Fukushima bridge and arrived Tennmann Bridge.

They were scenes of the numerous rows of skeletons, identities unknown, laid between street train rails. There were hundreds of bodies on both sides of the river banks of those who crawled on the ground to reach the river. After drinking the river water they passed away along the banks. The river was filled with hundreds of floating bodies. Those unforgettable horrific memories came right back to me. I almost shut off the television because my body was stiffening up. But I made myself keep watching.

The memories I had were from the experiences of a small child viewed through a child eyes while walking through the city in the hand of an older sister who suffered and tried to forget that experience. I felt a strong renewed impact after viewing those drawings and listening to their explanations. These people saw and experienced far more sad, tragic, cruel and hellish scenes than I.

Even though thinking "I will never see him again", still more than half a century later, I couldn't accept my older brother's death as a reality. But after watching this telecast, I finally was able to believe that my parents and my brother met together in heaven at last.

Suddenly all at once, something came out from my whole body. Tears flowed down my cheeks and ran onto my chest as if I had a fountain in my body. It was the first time I have felt "peace of mind" since the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. After more than 50 years those tears were a prayer for the peaceful repose of my brother’s soul.

When summer approaches every year, the time when white and scarlet oleander flowers start to bloom and kikyo bell flowers start to bear small light-blue buds, somehow deep inside, my heart gets a heavy feeling, influenced by the souls of those who perished in the war.

I believe that we the people of this generation have to make efforts through future peace activities to carry on that peace born from the lives of the Hiroshima victims.

Thank you very much for your attention in listening to my story of childhood memories of a half century ago. I deeply appreciate it.

November 1, 2007

Junko Haga

Suginami, Tokyo

Profile:

Born 1934, Housewife

Area being bombed: Hiroshima

Graduated from college in 1957, worked as a public high school teacher

Married, 3 children, 4 grandchildren (all in healthy condition)

Lives with husband

Older brother: He was a second year student at Hiroshima High School when he disappeared at the time of the Hiroshima A-Bomb detonation. His body was never found and he was later presumed dead from the initial blast.

Father: A year after the bombing he died from illnesses caused by atomic bomb radiation

All family members received secondhand atomic bomb radiation exposure when they went into Hiroshima after the A-bomb explosion to search for my brother

Translated by Aiko & Paul Damrow

Ｂattle over drafting of agreements continues in final week of NPT confab

2010-05-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference entered its final week on May 24 with nuclear weapon states and the nations of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and others at loggerheads. With a substantial number of issues to be addressed, including an action plan for nuclear disarmament, the denuclearization of the Middle East, and the strengthening of inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the increasingly tense negotiations are taking place in and out of the conference venue with the aim of adopting a final document of agreements on May 28.

On May 24, the three Main Committees resumed debate. Each committee agreed to its revised draft, after failing to reach agreement earlier, and the committee chairs were set to submit the drafts that evening. These three revised documents will then be integrated into a single draft. Libran Cabactulan, president of the conference, will present the integrated draft of the final document to the conference on the morning of May 25, then negotiations over this draft will continue at the general assembly and other sites.

One of the main areas of conflict concerns the action plan for nuclear disarmament found in the draft submitted by Main Committee 1. The initial draft reflected the intentions of non-nuclear states with the provision that an international conference to create a road map for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons be convened in 2014 as well as mention of a nuclear weapons convention.

However, the nuclear weapon states oppose setting target years for the abolition of nuclear arms, while the NAM nations argue that nuclear disarmament cannot advance without target years and they seek to have this language restored in the draft of agreements. This confrontation between the two sides is becoming increasingly fierce.

Meanwhile, NAM is employing a tactic of endeavoring for concessions from the United States over the "Resolution on the Middle East." Some European diplomats see this attitude as one taking advantage of the U.S. wish for the success of the conference.

Another focal point with regard to this 1995 NPT resolution is whether a blueprint can be established for making the Middle East a region free of weapons of mass destruction, which would include the de facto nuclear weapon state of Israel. The United States wants to avoid naming Israel in these terms, but the U.S. response to this issue could result in an Arab backlash and the breakdown of negotiations.

In regard to the additional protocol regarding the IAEA, considered essential for the nuclear non-proliferation regime, a great gap exists between the keen backers of the protocol, nations which include Japan and which seek strong language for this measure, and some of the NAM countries, which are wary of those backing the protocol and argue that the issue should be left to the discretion of each nation.

(Originally published on May 25, 2010)
http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/mediacenter/article.php?story=201005251444414_en

NPT News Review 24 May 2010

2010-05-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

Front page article from the NPT News in Review, the daily NGO newsletter from the
2010 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference
Monday, 24 May 2010

Complete PDF of this edition

Friday saw the release of three new texts: the Subsidiary Body I draft action plan on nuclear disarmament; the Subsidiary Body II text on regional issues, including actions for implementing the 1995 resolution on the Middle East; and the second Main Committee III draft chair’s report. Delegations discussed the latest MCI, MCII, and MCIII texts throughout the day in the relevant committees. It became clear that while there is generally more agreement over the texts than there was a week ago, delegations have still not reached consensus. Open discussions were not held on the subsidiary body texts introduced on Friday, but both provide insights into the status of the closed deliberations.

http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/NIR2010/no16.html

http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/NIR2010/No16.pdf

At UN, deadline aired for abolishing nuke weapons

2010-05-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

By CHARLES J. HANLEY

The Associated Press
Friday, May 14, 2010; 8:13 PM

UNITED NATIONS -- The United States, Russia and other nuclear powers would agree to a global conference in 2014 to negotiate a timetable for abolishing nuclear arms, under a draft committee report submitted Friday, halfway through a monthlong conference reviewing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/14/AR2010051405143.html

NPT Meeting Coverage

2010-05-23T01:02:00.000-07:00

Committee Chairmen of 2010 Review Conference Report on progress towards advancing key pillars of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2010/dc3239.doc.htm

2010 NPT Review Conference Calendar of Events

2010-05-23T00:57:00.000-07:00

UN Vido

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)

http://www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010/videos.shtml

Petition to the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament

2010-05-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

I. Intent of the Petition

II. Reasons for Petition (Brief Overview)

III. Reasons for Petition (Detailed Discussion)

	1.	Introduction to JALANA
	2.	The Reality of Damage from Nuclear Weapons
	3.	Reasons Given to Justify the Atomic Bombings
	4.	ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Illegality of the Atomic Bombings
	5.	The Current Situation and the Trend Toward "Nuclear Abolition"
	6.	Expectations and Requests
	7.	Conclusion

The Japan Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms hereby submits
this petitionto the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation
and Disarmament with hope for the early abolition of nuclear arms.

February 9, 2009
Japan Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms
(JALANA)
http://www.hankaku-j.org/infomation/data/200901_eng.html

UN Sec. General & Hiroshima Mayor Urge NO NUKES

2010-05-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

UN Sec. General Ban Ki-Moon, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, and Socorro Gomes, World Peace Council President, at Int'l Conf. for a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just, and Sustainable World May 1, 2010 at The Riverside Church. The Conference in New York City April 30 and May 1 was aimed at the upcoming Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference at the UN May 3-28, where the US has yet to honor its treaty obligation requiring good faith effort to reduce its arsenal of nuclear weapons . Only the English translation of Gomes' talk in Portuguese is presented, and there's some editing of the other talks for a cablecast requirement of 58 minutes. Tetsu Ktagawa's musical presentation is edited to only a brief "We Shall Overcome" with the audience of 1600 at the conclusion of the conference. Camera, edit: Joe Friendly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVKcB7pHiEs

Secretary-General's remarks to an international conference "For a Nuclear Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World" , New York
Riverside Church

http://www.un.org/en/index.shtml

http://www.un.org/disarmament/index.shtml

http://www.unmultimedia.org/photo/gallery.jsp?query=*

Secretary-General Meets the Co-Chairs of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

Evoking Hiroshima and Nagasaki, UN official appeals for end to use of nuclear weapons

2010-05-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

3 May 2010 – Remembering the terrible toll of the nuclear attacks during World War II on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a senior United Nations official today appealed for an end to the use of the weapons, which remain an “apocalyptic” threat.

The two cities were destroyed in August 1945, and more than 200,000 people died of nuclear radiation, shock waves from the blasts and thermal radiation.

More than 400,000 more people have died – and are continuing to die – since the end of World War II from the impacts of the bombs.

Thousands of nuclear tests have been carried out in the decades since the war and there are more than 20,000 nuclear weapons in arsenals around the world, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Kiyotaka Akasaka said at the launch of a multimedia exhibit at UN Headquarters focusing on hibakusha, survivors of the Japanese attacks.

“This is why the international community’s commitment to non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament is so critical,” he added.

The exhibit will feature photographs which capture how survivors have lived their lives in the wake of the attacks, as well as artefacts recovered from blast areas and a 30-minute video entitled Hiroshima: A Mother’s Prayer.

The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Tadatoshi Akiba and Tomihisa Taue, also spoke at the launch.

The exhibit’s opening coincided with the start of the five-yearly review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which got under way today in New York.

Representatives of more than 100 nations are gathering at UN Headquarters to discuss how to further full implementation and enhance the universality of the pact, which forms the foundation of the world’s non-proliferation regime.

At the start of the nearly month-long event this morning, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon exhorted countries to take decision action to build a safer world.

“We have a choice: to leave a legacy of fear and inaction… or to act with vision, courage and leadership,” he told the conference.

“We all know it is possible,” the Secretary-General said of disarmament and non-proliferation, which have been among his top priorities since taking office in 2007.

He characterized the NPT, the cornerstone of the world’s nuclear non-proliferation regime, as one of the most important global treaties ever reached.

With the nuclear threat still real, “we need this regime as much as ever,” Mr. Ban underscored.

The last NPT review conference in 2005 was a failure, he said, having wrapped up without any substantive agreement having been reached. “This time, we can – and must – do better.”

News Tracker: past stories on this issue

Dream of nuclear-weapon-free world can be realized, says Ban

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34581&Cr=nuclear&Cr1=

On Eve of UN NPT, Thousands March for Nuclear Weapons Abolition

2010-05-06T14:51:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2010
8:28 AM

CONTACT: Peace Action
Paul Kawika Martin, Peace Action, 951-217-7285, pmartin@peace-action.org
Dave Kunes, Peace Action, 585-474-2614,dkunes@peace-action.org

On Eve of UN NPT, Thousands March for Nuclear Weapons Abolition

NEW YORK - April 30 - On the eve of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the UN, more than ten thousand nuclear abolitionists from the U.S., Japan, Europe and other nations will rally, march and join a peace festival at the UN on Sunday May 2, urging the world’s leaders to start talks to eliminate the world’s nuclear arsenals immediately.

The mass demonstrations follow a historic conference, “For A Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World,” which begins Friday, April 30, 2010. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will speak Saturday May 1 at Riverside Church.

“Besides the more than ten thousand people in the streets, we have over seven million petition signatures (100,000 from the US) from around the world calling for a world free of nuclear weapons in our lifetime. We want the U.S. to start negotiations at the Non-Proliferation Review conference,” said Judith Le Blanc, Field Organizer for Peace Action and a conference organizer.

WHAT: More than ten thousand people from around the word will participate in an interfaith convocation, rally, march and peace festival at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza demanding a world free of nuclear weapons More information at available at:
http://peaceandjusticenow.org

WHEN & WHERE:
Sunday May 2
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Interfaith Convocation (Church Center for the United Nations)
Church Center for the United Nations, 777 UN Plaza (corner of 1st Avenue and 44th Street, Manhattan)
1:30 p.m. Assembly (7th Ave South of 41st St)
2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Rally
3:30 p.m. March across 42nd Street, North on 3rd Ave, East on 47th Street into Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. International Peace & Music Festival in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza

WHO: Rally speakers include the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Mayor Akiba and Mayor Taue; Nadine Padilla, activist addressing uranium mining in Native American communities; Kimura Hisako, survivor of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima; Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches; Raed Jarrar, Iraqi blogger and political analyst; Maryam Shansab, Afghan-American activist; Pierre Djédji Amondji, Governor of the district of Abidjan in Ivory Coast; Kristin Blom, Campaigns Manager, International Confederation of Trade Unionists; and performances by The Recipe, spoken word duo from Kansas City, MO; Stephan Said, Iraqi-American musician known for his anti-war song, “The Bell;” and Emma’s Revolution, known for their beautiful songs of peace.

Performances at International Peace & Music Festival include:

Earthdriver – a New York City based world funk band
Matters – an international group of musicians from the US, France, Japan, Italy and India that bring a message of peace and hope.
Cacibajagua Taino Cultural Society – an inter-Tribal, inter-generational community of indigenous Caribbean singers, musicians, and artists
The Drummers for Peace of Japan – a renowned group from cities all over Japan to perform who inspire all efforts for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament.
Utagoe Chorus of Japan – spread peace songs at grass-roots, contributing the struggles for peace.
Catherine Lecoq – a renowned actress and singer from France
Deux Ex Machina (Divine Intervention) – an International group, featuring SahjKaya, whose music is a mix of Reggae music, African percussion & rhythms with song and Spoken Word

The event is organized by the 2010 NPT Review Organizing Committee, a network of 25 U.S., Japanese, European and Israeli nuclear weapons abolition and peace organizations. For more information, visit www.peaceandjusticenow.org

###

Founded in 1957, Peace Action, the United States' largest peace and disarmament organization with over 100,000 members and nearly 100 chapters in 34 states, works to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs and encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights.

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/04/30

2010-05-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

Pair of films shed new light on hibakusha

Documentaries aim to connect young with nuke survivors

By NATSUMI MIZUMOTO

Kyodo News

While disarmament experts and antinuclear campaigners may have heard about atomic-bomb survivors, a pair of documentaries about hibakusha that aim to connect with the younger generation were recently completed by two young directors from Costa Rica and Japan.

Bridging the divide: Directors Erika Bagnarello of Costa Rica and Takashi Kunimoto chat in Tokyo on April 12. KYODO PHOTO

Erika Bagnarello's "Flashes of Hope" and Takashi Kunimoto's "Traveling with Hibakusha: Across Generations" take different approaches but both feature a group of more than 100 survivors who cruised around the world in 2008 in a project organized by nongovernmental organization Peace Boat.

A series of events across Japan to screen the two films and talk with the directors began April 14, and Bagnarello's film, designed for English-speaking audiences, will be shown in New York on May 1, two days before the start of a key U.N. conference to bolster the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

In interviews April 12 prior to the events, both 29-year-old directors expressed hope that their roughly hourlong movies will help viewers in Japan and elsewhere hear the hibakusha's message that the tragedies of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should never be repeated.

"I feel like the message of the hibakusha is very clear: they want to bring hope to the world, they want to tell their story and make sure that it never happens again. So for me, the film is about hope," Bagnarello said.

Kunimoto, whose film sheds light on a younger generation of hibakusha than the seasoned activists, said, "What is really important is that we think by ourselves how we can respond to the stories of hibakusha. . . . I hope to offer a catalyst for that."

Both directors admitted, however, that they initially joined the voyage as staff filmmakers to travel around the world free of charge.

Tales to tell: Setsuko Thurlow (right) and fellow atomic-bomb survivors pose at Yokohama port on Sept. 7, 2008, before their global voyage aboard the Peace Boat. KYODO PHOTO

A freelance director of corporate videos and commercials for the Costa Rican market, Bagnarello had never made a documentary, while Kunimoto was an amateur video maker working in an unrelated business until he started making Web videos for a radio station after the voyage.

For its 25th anniversary, the Peace Boat arranged its first hibakusha project by inviting 103 survivors on one of its peace-advocacy cruises on a chartered ship that sails three to four times a year. Dubbed the Global Voyage for a Nuclear-Free World, the 129-day trip lasted from September 2008 to January 2009.

"It was a very moving experience. I was very impressed by the fact that I really didn't know much about this before," said Bagnarello, who is slated to also visit New York for a screening after events in seven Japanese cities, including Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Osaka.

"I am an educated person in my 20s and should have known more about atomic bombs and their effects . . . so I made it a purpose for me to learn as much as I could on the boat and to make a movie that would resonate with people like myself who didn't know much about the subject."

She tried to make her film simple to understand for foreign audiences, and wants it to be viewed as an introductory educational tool, particularly for young people who may become future decision-makers in Latin America, the United States and Europe.

As a main character, her film features Setsuko Thurlow, who migrated to Canada after surviving the Hiroshima bombing, but it also incorporates footage from old TV news, the Japanese animated movie "Barefoot Gen" and scenes from the voyage, as well as experts' commentaries, to make it "visually interesting," she said.

"I think if people see the film and they think that they can do something to help abolish nuclear weapons, then that's my goal," she said. "Anything that would avoid the spread of nuclear weapons, that's what I want to get people with my movie to do."

Thurlow's call for a world without nuclear weapons, which she made at a session of the U.N. General Assembly's First Committee on Disarmament andInternational Security in October 2008, temporarily leaving the ship with three others, was also filmed by Kunimoto.

But Kunimoto said that in taking an approach that focused more on the so-called young hibakusha, who aren't old enough to remember their exposure to the bombings 65 years ago, he found a clue as to how others can carry on the message of hibakusha who are dying.

As the Peace Boat invited the 103 hibakusha passengers from among the general public, a questionnaire found that more than half the 77 respondents had never before spoken of their experience in public.

"Many of those with no memories were also frankly interested at first in the free around-the-globe trip . . . but when I saw them start to fret and struggle with the fact they don't have their own stories to tell, I felt I had found neighbors with whom I could talk about this," he said.

Kunimoto said he now wants to share this idea with more people through his film and possibly involve them.

"Many people in Japan must have a chance to hear the (hibakusha) story, but many, I think, draw the curtain after just hearing it once," he said.

Kunimoto said he had "an image that hibakusha stories are as steady as a rock" and let his fairly extensive first experience of hearing one in an interview as a sociology student fade, having "no idea what to do with it."

That hibakusha died just months before Kunimoto tried to revisit him in Nagasaki before the voyage, he added.

The screening of the two films, which are also available as DVD, coincided with the Peace Boat's departure Friday on its third voyage involving the hibakusha, with 10 others invited since the second cruise last year.

Two of them — Michiko Tsukamoto, 75, from Tokyo and Kunihiko Bonkohara, 69, from Brazil — are slated to visit New York during the voyage for the NPT Review Conference.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100422f1.html

The People vs The Bomb: Showdown at the UN - Trailer

2010-05-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA8Dme_M5e8&feature=related

Anti-Nuke March Slideshow

2010-05-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

Thousands march in Midtown Manhattan to call for abolition of nuclear weapons, May 2, 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO_fXU0rtac

2010 NPT Review Conference Calendar of Events

2010-05-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

Player

By Soho Yamashita / Hiroshima

Calender of Events
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/revcon2010/calendar.html

http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/

Nuke ban must apply to all

2010-04-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

By AKIRA KAWASAKI

Special to The Japan Times

The Obama administration's Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), released this month, has received much attention for declaring that the United States will not use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear weapon states. As an NGO representative involved in an ongoing debate between Japan and Australia over this issue, I must say the NPR declaration falls well short of what is needed.

The nuclear weapon states, including the U.S., already declared in 1995 that in principle they would not use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear weapon states that are party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The George W. Bush administration, going against this "negative security assurance," adopted a strategy that greatly expanded the role of nuclear weapons. In essence, the Obama administration's new strategy does no more than return to the 1995 policy.

A recent international report recommended going a step further by limiting the role of nuclear weapons to the "sole purpose" of deterring nuclear attacks — thus rejecting any role for nuclear weapons against nonnuclear threats, including biological and chemical weapons. In December last year, the International Commission on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (ICNND), led by Japan and Australia, recommended that all nuclear weapon states make such a "sole purpose" declaration. However, the new Obama doctrine failed to adopt this recommendation.

Japan's current foreign minister, Katsuya Okada of the Democratic Party of Japan, has frequently expressed his personal support for a doctrine of nuclear "no first use." He has also repeatedly stated that he is favorably disposed to the ICNND's "sole purpose" recommendation. In February this year, over 200 members of the Diet sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama supporting the recommendation. However, Japan's bureaucracy is very cautious. Security experts, whose thinking is still fixed in Cold War mode, have great influence. Within the Japanese government, and reportedly within the U.S. government too, there is a struggle between those in favor of nuclear disarmament and those who want to retain the status quo. Contrary to the wishes of civil society, the influence of those who wish to retain the status quo is very great.

This resistance to disarmament was behind the decision of the governments of Japan and Australia to omit "sole purpose" from the joint nuclear-disarmament package, which they announced in March. As if Japan and Australia had coordinated their policies with the U.S., "sole purpose" was not adopted in the U.S. government's NPR either.

Nevertheless, these countries' policies give no quarter to countries suspected of developing nuclear weapons. Under the Obama administration's new strategy, the U.S. may still use nuclear weapons against countries that are not in compliance with the NPT. Suspicions surrounding Iran's nuclear program are certainly serious, but who will determine whether Iran is in compliance? Is the U.N. Security Council, in which the five nuclear-weapon states hold a right of veto, a body capable of making a fair decision on the matter? And what of determining compliance with another duty under the NPT, namely the nuclear weapon states' duty to disarm?

The Japanese government, which currently holds the presidency of the U.N. Security Council, is very polite to the nuclear weapon states, but is eager to impose additional sanctions on Iran.

We must go back to basics. No matter whose hands they are in, the consequences of a nuclear weapon's use would be so inhumane that we must never allow it to occur. The people of the country that experienced the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki know this very well.

The NPT has its limitations. It is soft on countries that have nuclear weapons and strict on those that do not. Nuclear weapons must be outlawed outright. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has proposed discussions on a nuclear weapons convention, a treaty to ban nuclear weapons across the globe. Japanese civil society will not hesitate to cooperate with any country or organization that takes the initiative on this.

Akira Kawasaki is a member of the Executive Committee of Peace Boat and NGO Adviser to the ICNND co-chairs.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20100420a1.html

The Early Word: More Nuke Talks

2010-04-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

April 13, 2010, 8:48 AM

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/the-early-word-more-nuke-talks/

By BERNIE BECKER

It’s time for Day Two. President Obama heads back over to the Washington Convention Center today for more action at the nuclear security summit.

Mr. Obama — joined by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. — will speak at a plenary session, with the president then expected to attend a working lunch with other delegation heads. Mr. Obama is also scheduled to meet with leaders from a handful of countries, like Turkey, Argentina and Germany.

According to The Times’s David E. Sanger and Mark Landler, Mr. Obama extracted a promise from Hu Jintao, China’s president, on Monday to at least help negotiate a new set of sanctions against Iran.

Meanwhile, The Times’s Peter Baker and Helene Cooper detail some of the other meetings Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden have had with various foreign dignitaries.

Geithner on Reform: Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has taken to The Washington Post’s op-ed pages to push for the financial legislation winding its way through Congress.

“As the Senate bill moves to the floor, we must all fight loopholes that would weaken it and push to make sure the government has real authority to help end the problem of ‘too big to fail,’” Mr. Geithner writes.

Sorting Out the Supreme Court: The Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler pulls back the curtain a bit on Sidney Thomas, an appeals court judge from Montana and one of the lesser-known names that the White House is batting around for the Supreme Court.

According to lawyers in Montana, the judge hews to the left — though with sympathy to business interests — and has a “remarkably wry sense of humor.”

Meanwhile, The Times’s Charlie Savage lays out how the confirmation battle over a nominee to be an appeals court judge — Goodwin Liu — “could be a harbinger for how a strongly liberal pick to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens would play out.”

And finally, Politico’s Glenn Thrush reports that, once a court pick has been made, Senate Democrats will work to make the nominee’s confirmation hearings “a referendum of sorts on controversial recent decisions by the Roberts court.”

Supreme Court Fallout: The Times’s Eric Lichtblau takes a look at the aftermath of one of the court’s recent big decisions, which said that corporations, and by extension, labor unions, cannot be barred from spending on elections.

Mr. Lichtblau writes that Democrats in both chambers of Congress arefinalizing a plan that would, among other things, force the chief executives of groups primarily sponsoring an ad to appear themselves in the spot.

The Democrats promoting the plan have focused on public disclosure and transparency, Mr. Lichtblau adds, after figuring out they had little chance to fully forbid corporate funds from entering elections.

On a somewhat related note, The Times’s Steven Greenhouse has more onAndy Stern’s decision to step down as president of the Service Employees International Union.

Midterm(ish) Madness: The Times’s Jeremy W. Peters takes a look atAndrew Cuomo’s history of massaging the news media, as New York’s attorney general steps ever closer to announcing a bid for governor.

Mr. Cuomo doesn’t seem to care much for sit-down interviews, but, as Mr. Peters writes, “perhaps no elected official in New York spends more time on the telephone with reporters.” (Off the record, of course.)

Meanwhile, in Florida, voters head to the polls today for a special election to replace former Representative Robert Wexler, a Democrat who left Congress to head up the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation. The front-runner in the race appears to be Ted Deutch, also a Democrat.

Health Care Roundup: The Times’s Robert Pear asks about Congress: “If they did not know exactly what they were doing to themselves, did lawmakers who wrote and passed the bill fully grasp the details of how it would influence the lives of other Americans?”

Why? Because it seems the new health care law might remove lawmakers and their staff from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which provides insurance coverage that many on Capitol Hill have grown fond of.

Unemployment Benefits: The Senate, with the help of four Republicans, agreed on Monday to consider a temporary extension of unemployment benefits.

As The Times’s Carl Hulse reports, the legislation, which might be approved as early as this week, would extend the benefits through early next month. Democrats in Congress hope to have a more long-term solution in place soon.

(The four Republicans who joined Democrats to pass the extension were Senators Scott Brown of Massachusetts, George Voinovich of Ohio, and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine.)

First Family Daybook: Michelle Obama heads to America’s neighbor to the south on Tuesday for her first solo trip abroad as first lady. The Washington Post’s Robin Givhan takes a deeper look at Mrs. Obama’s three-day trip to Mexico, finding “she will use it to amplify and articulate a singular message to young people: self-determination.”

Administration Addresses: Several members of Mr. Obama’s cabinet are scheduled to hit the town for speeches today. Eric H. Holder Jr., the attorney general, heads over the Potomac River to Virginia to speak at a United States marshals awards ceremony. Meanwhile, Education Secretary Arne Duncan is scheduled to hit the awards circuit as well — to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s National Essay Contest awards ceremony, to be exact. And finally, Mr. Geithner sits for a Q-and-A at a conference of newspaper editors.

A Little Hollywood: A pair of actors — Jeff Daniels and Kyle MacLachlan — headline the Arts Advocacy Day celebration on Capitol Hill today. Mr. Daniels and Mr. MacLachlan are also scheduled to testify before a House panel.

How to Build on the Start Treaty

2010-04-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

THIS has been a remarkable time for the Obama administration. After a year of intense internal debate, it issued a new nuclear strategy. And after a year of intense negotiations with the Russians, President Obama signed the New Start treaty with President Dmitri Medvedev in Prague. On Monday, the president will host the leaders of more than 40 nations in a nuclear security summit meeting whose goal is to find ways of gaining control of the loose fissile material around the globe.
By WILLIAM J. PERRY and GEORGE P. SHULTZ
Published: April 10, 2010
New Start is the first tangible product of the administration’s promise to “press the reset button” on United States-Russian relations. The new treaty is welcome. But as a disarmament measure, it is a modest step, entailing a reduction of only 30 percent from the former limit — and some of that reduction is accomplished by the way the warheads are counted, not by their destruction. Perhaps the treaty’s greatest accomplishment is that the negotiations leading up to its signing re-engaged Americans and Russians in a serious discussion of how to reduce nuclear dangers.
So what should come next? We look forward to a follow-on treaty that builds on the success of the previous Start treaties and leads to significantly greater arms reductions — including reductions in tactical nuclear weapons and reductions that require weapons be dismantled and not simply put in reserve.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/opinion/11shultz.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Obama Meets With a Parade of Leaders

2010-04-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: April 11, 2010

WASHINGTON — President Obama met on Sunday with the leaders of two countries that gave up nuclear weapons and two that are building more, and he prepared for his nuclear security summit meeting by warning that Al Qaeda was still seeking materials to build an atomic bomb.

“The single biggest threat to U.S. security, both short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Mr. Obama said.

Al Qaeda, he said, is “trying to secure a nuclear weapon — a weapon of mass destruction that they have no compunction at using.”

Mr. Obama greeted the presidents of South Africa and Kazakhstan, Jacob Zuma and Nursultan Nazarbayev, in sessions meant to showcase countries that once possessed nuclear weapons and relinquished them. Mr. Obama has argued that the security of both countries improved thereafter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/world/12prexy.html?fta=y

2010-04-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

Leaders Gather for Nuclear Talks as New Threat Is Seen

By DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD

Published: April 11, 2010

WASHINGTON — Three months ago, American intelligence officials examining satellite photographs of Pakistani nuclear facilities saw the first wisps of steam from the cooling towers of a new nuclear reactor. It was one of three plants being constructed to make fuel for a second generation of nuclear arms.

The message of those photos was clear: While Pakistan struggles to make sure its weapons and nuclear labs are not vulnerable to attack by Al Qaeda, the country is getting ready to greatly expand its production of weapons-grade fuel.

The Pakistanis insist that they have no choice. A nuclear deal that Indiasigned with the United States during the Bush administration ended a long moratorium on providing India with the fuel and technology for desperately needed nuclear power plants.

Now, as critics of the arrangement point out, the agreement frees up older facilities that India can devote to making its own new generation of weapons, escalating one arms race even as President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia sign accords to shrink arsenals built during the cold war.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/world/12nuke.html?th&emc=th

OP-ED CONTRIBUTORS How to Build on the Start Treaty

2010-04-11T01:08:00.000-07:00

WILLIAM J. PERRY

and

GEORGE P. SHULTZ

Published: April 10, 2010

THIS has been a remarkable time for the Obama administration. After a year of intense internal debate, it issued a new nuclear strategy. And after a year of intense negotiations with the Russians, President Obama signed the New Start treaty with President Dmitri Medvedev in Prague. On Monday, the president will host the leaders of more than 40 nations in a nuclear security summit meeting whose goal is to find ways of gaining control of the loose fissile material around the globe.

New Start is the first tangible product of the administration’s promise to “press the reset button” on United States-Russian relations. The new treaty is welcome. But as a disarmament measure, it is a modest step, entailing a reduction of only 30 percent from the former limit — and some of that reduction is accomplished by the way the warheads are counted, not by their destruction. Perhaps the treaty’s greatest accomplishment is that the negotiations leading up to its signing re-engaged Americans and Russians in a serious discussion of how to reduce nuclear dangers.

So what should come next?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/opinion/11shultz.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

U.S. and Russia Sign Nuclear Arms Pact

2010-04-08T05:34:00.000-07:00

Doug Mills/The New York Times

President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia signing the treaty in Prague on Thursday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/world/europe/09prexy.html?ref=global-home

PRAGUE — With flourish and fanfare, President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia signed a nuclear arms control treaty on Thursday and opened what they hoped would be a new era in the tumultuous relationship between two former cold war adversaries.

Meeting here in the heart of a once-divided Europe, the two leaders put aside the acrimony that has characterized Russian-American ties in recent years as they agreed to bring down their arsenals and restore an inspection regime that expired in December. Along the way, they sidestepped unresolved disputes over missile defense and other issues.

“When the United States and Russia are not able to work together on big issues, it is not good for either of our nations, nor is it good for the world,” Mr. Obama said as his words echoed through a majestic, gilded hall in the famed Prague Castle. “Together, we have stopped the drift, and proven the benefits of cooperation. Today is an important milestone for nuclear security and nonproliferation, and for U.S.-Russia relations.”

With Arms Pact, Disarmament Challenge Remains

2010-04-08T00:32:00.000-07:00

PRAGUE — President Obama came to this medieval city last spring to lay out an audacious vision of “a world without nuclear weapons.” A year later, he will arrive back here on Thursday to sign a treaty with Russia that envisions a world with thousands of nuclear weapons.

Under the so-called New Start treaty, the two powers will pare their arsenals but still deploy 1,550 warheads each, on top of thousands of others not covered by the pact. All of which raises this question: Nearly two decades after the end of the cold war, with terrorists, rather than Soviet despots, the main threat, why does the world still need so many weapons?

By PETER BAKER

Published: April 7, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/world/europe/08arms.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

With Arms Pact, Disarmament Challenge Remains

2010-04-07T05:53:00.000-07:00

by PETER BAKER

Published: April 7, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/world/europe/08arms.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

PRAGUE — President Obama came to this medieval city last spring to lay out an audacious vision of “a world without nuclear weapons.” A year later, he arrives back here on Thursday to sign a treaty with Russia that envisions a world with thousands of nuclear weapons.

2010-03-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

Administration’s Remarks on the Arms Control Treaty

Published: March 26, 2010

Following is a transcript of the remarks made on Friday by President Obama; Hillary Rodham Clinton, the secretary of state; Robert Gates, the defense secretary; and Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; in which details of a new arms control treaty with Russia were announced, as released by the White House:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/world/europe/27start-text.html?ref=europe

Twists and Turns on Way to Arms Pact With Russia

2010-03-28T05:23:00.000-07:00

NYTimes

By PETER BAKER

Published: March 26, 2010

President Obama was angry. He was on the phone with PresidentDmitri A. Medvedev last month to finalize a new arms control treaty with Russia, only to be confronted with new demands for concessions on missile defense. A deal that was supposed to be done was unraveling.

“Dmitri, we agreed,” Mr. Obama told Mr. Medvedev with a tone of exasperation, according to advisers. “We can’t do this. If it means we’re going to walk away from this treaty and not get it done, so be it. But we’re not going to go down this path.”

Mr. Obama hung up and vented frustration. Some of his advisers had never seen him so mad. A picture taken by a White House photographer captured his grim face in that moment of uncertainty. For a year he had been trying to forge a new relationship with Russia, starting with a treaty to slash nuclear arsenals. And for a year Russia had been testing him, suspecting he was weak and certain it could roll over him.

If Mr. Obama overestimated his powers of persuasion in reaching quick agreement with the Russians, they misjudged how far they could get him to bend. In the end, they compromised on nonbinding language. And so, after all the fits and starts, all the miscalculations, the vodka toasts that proved premature and the stare-downs that nearly sank the whole enterprise, Mr. Obama hung up the phone again with Mr. Medvedev on Friday, this time having finally translated aspiration into agreement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/world/europe/27start.html?scp=1&sq=President%20Dmitri%20A.%20Medvedev&st=cse

Report slip hits nuclear hopes

2010-03-27T22:57:00.000-07:00

DANIEL FLITTON

March 25, 2010

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IN A blow to Australia's credibility in global nuclear debates, the Rudd government has ignored a key finding from its own inquiry into disarmament, one that called for limits on the use of atomic weapons in war.

A joint working paper drawn up by Australia and Japan before a major review of global nuclear controls was released yesterday in which the two countries argue for a reduced role for atomic weapons in national security strategies.

But a telling omission from the paper was any call for nuclear weapons to be dedicated to the ''sole purpose'' of deterring nuclear attack - the key recommendation of a report commissioned by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and co-sponsored by Australia and Japan.

It is believed the phrase was left out to avoid embarrassing the US - ally to both Australia and Japan - while the administration of President Barack Obama grapples with a review of America's nuclear policy.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/report-slip-hits-nuclear-hopes-20100324-qwr9.html

NEWS ANALYSIS Treaty Advances Obama’s Nuclear Vision

2010-03-25T23:58:00.000-07:00

By PETER BAKER

Published: March 25, 2010

WASHINGTON — The arms control treaty being completed by the United States and Russia represents another step toward closing the books on the defining struggle of the final half of the 20th century. But it also marks the opening of a broader campaign to counter the emerging threats of the 21st century.

The treaty that the two sides hope to finalize as early as Friday will require hundreds of nuclear weapons to be shelved or destroyed, still just a fraction of the formidable arsenals maintained by the former cold war adversaries. But perhaps more important than the numbers is the tangible evidence of a new partnership with Russia and momentum toward a revamped nuclear security regime.

If President Obama signs the treaty with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia in Prague on April 8 as expected, it will give Mr. Obama a stronger hand heading into two back-to-back nuclear summit meetings where he wants to push toward the nuclear weapons-free world he envisions. At the two meetings, Mr. Obama hopes to forge international consensus to limit the spread of weapons and secure materials that could be vulnerable to terrorists, efforts that could be accelerated by the new treaty.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/world/europe/26start.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Russia and U.S. Report Breakthrough on Arms

2010-03-25T00:30:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — The United States and Russiahave broken a logjam in arms control negotiations and expect to sign a treaty next month to slash their nuclear arsenals to the lowest levels in half a century, officials in both nations said Wednesday.

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Todd Heisler/The New York Times

President Obama meeting last year in London with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia. They have negotiated arms cuts.

Times Topic: Arms Control and Limitation and Disarmament

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After months of deadlock and delay, the two sides have agreed to lower the limit on deployed strategic warheads by more than one-quarter and launchers by half, the officials said. The treaty will impose a new inspection regime to replace one that lapsed in December, but will not restrict American plans for missile defense based in Europe.

President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia plan to talk Friday to complete the agreement, but officials said they were optimistic that the deal was nearly done. The two sides have begun preparing for a signing ceremony in Prague on April 8, timing it to mark the anniversary of Mr. Obama’s speech in the Czech capital outlining his vision for eventually ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

The new treaty represents perhaps the most concrete foreign policy achievement for Mr. Obama since he took office 14 months ago and the most significant result of his effort to “reset” the troubled relationship with Russia. The administration wants to use it to build momentum for an international nuclear summit meeting in Washington just days after the signing ceremony and a more ambitious round of arms cuts later in his term.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/world/europe/25start.html?ref=global-home

Statement by H.E. Chinami Nishimura Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Conference on Disarmament

2010-03-08T05:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/un/disarmament/arms/statement100304.html

Mr. President,

It is my great honour to be given the opportunity today to address this august body of the Conference on Disarmament of Geneva. With the forthcoming Global Nuclear Security Summit and NPT Review Conference, this year is a critical juncture towards the realization of "a world without nuclear weapons". Japan believes that nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation should be globally tackled in a focused and practical way, and we are determined to play an active role in this area.

(Expectations for the Conference on Disarmament)

Mr. President,

It should be applauded that last year the Conference on Disarmament, which is the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community, overcame 11 years of paralysis and adopted a programme of work. The international community pinned great hopes on this move. It was regrettable, however, that after this development, agreement could not be reached on implementing the programme of work that the Conference itself had adopted. To ensure concrete progress in the Conference on Disarmament, the CD member states should concentrate their efforts on an early adoption of a programme of work based on last year's agreement through serious discussions among the member states and through the spirit of cooperation. For dealing with the current situation, Japan hopes the six presidents of 2010 will continue to take initiatives, which we will provide our utmost support to assist.

(Japan's efforts)

Mr. President,

While the current international community is under the threat of nuclear weapons development and the risk of nuclear terrorism, it is critical for the whole world to advance steady efforts in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. At the UN Security Council Summit last September, Prime Minister Hatoyama talked of Japan's moral responsibility as the only country that has ever experienced atomic bombings and expressed our determination to take the lead in the pursuit of the elimination of nuclear weapons.

In this connection, let me note some of Japan's activities in the pursuit of this goal. At the General Assembly last year, we submitted a resolution on the elimination of nuclear weapons with 87 co-sponsor countries and it was adopted with the support of an overwhelming majority. We have promoted the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and contributed to the technical aspects associated with the setting up of its verification system. We have been active in reinforcing the International Atomic Energy Agency's safeguards system and taken initiatives to universalize the Additional Protocol. Japan has also promoted disarmament and non-proliferation education in civil society. Furthermore, we launched the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament as a joint initiative with Australia, which issued its report last December. Japan has rendered its highest support to the Commission.

full-statement http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/un/disarmament/arms/statement100304.html

Statement by President Obama on the 40th Anniversary of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

2010-03-06T05:20:00.000-08:00

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 05, 2010

Statement by President Obama on the 40th Anniversary of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

Forty years ago today, in the midst of a Cold War, the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) entered into force, becoming the cornerstone of the world’s efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Today, the threat of global nuclear war has passed, but the danger of nuclear proliferation endures, making the basic bargain of the NPT more important than ever: nations with nuclear weapons will move toward disarmament, nations without nuclear weapons will forsake them, and all nations have an “inalienable right” to peaceful nuclear energy.

Each of these three pillars -- disarmament, nonproliferation and peaceful uses -- are central to the vision that I outlined in Prague of stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and seeking a world without them.

To promote disarmament, the United States is working with Russia to complete negotiations on a new START Treaty that will significantly reduce our nuclear arsenals. Our forthcoming Nuclear Posture Review will move beyond outdated Cold War thinking and reduce the number and role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy, even as we maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent. In addition, we will seek to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and negotiate a treaty to end the production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons.

To prevent proliferation, we will build on the historic resolution that we achieved at the United Nations Security Council last September by bringing together more than 40 nations at our Nuclear Security Summit next month with the goal of securing the world’s vulnerable nuclear materials in four years. At this spring’s treaty review conference and beyond, we will continue to work with allies and partners to strengthen the NPT and to enforce the rights and responsibilities of every nation, because the world cannot afford additional proliferation or regional arms races.

Finally, to ensure the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the United States seeks a new framework for civil nuclear cooperation among nations, including an international fuel bank and the necessary resources and authority to strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency. For nations that uphold their responsibilities, peaceful nuclear energy can help unlock advances in medicine, agriculture and economic development.

It took years of focused effort among many nations to bring the NPT into force four decades ago and to sustain it as the most widely embraced nuclear agreement in history. On this 40th anniversary, the United States reaffirms our resolve to strengthen the nonproliferation regime to meet the challenges of the 21st century as we pursue our ultimate vision of a world without nuclear weapons.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-obama-40th-anniversary-nuclear-nonproliferation-treaty

Diet members send Obama nuclear letter

2010-02-28T04:58:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-24T03:54:00.000-08:00

"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"

2010-02-23T04:09:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-23T01:39:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-21T04:19:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-21T03:50:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-21T03:44:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-18T02:47:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-08T04:55:00.000-08:00

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

Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address

2010-02-05T00:34:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-02T21:05:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

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.

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More coverage (43) »

Remarks with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada After Their Meeting

2010-01-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

Marriott Ihilani Resort

Honolulu, Hawaii

January 12, 2010

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, welcome to this incredibly beautiful day here in Hawaii, and it’s a great pleasure to welcome the foreign minister here. These beautiful islands are the birthplace of President Obama and they serve as a reminder that the United States is a Pacific nation that shares the challenges and the opportunities of our partners around the Asia-Pacific rim. As the President said in Tokyo in November, we are not separated by this great ocean; we are bound by it.
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/01/135088.htm

Voices of the survivors from HIroshima and Nagasaki

2010-01-13T23:35:00.000-08:00

　"Ｉ　ｓｕｄｄｅｎｌｙ　ｓａｗ　ａ　ｓｔｒｏｎｇ　ｗｈｉｔｅ‐ｂｌｕｅ　ｆｌａｓｈ，ｒｕｎｎｉｎｇ　ｉｎｔｏ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｆｆｉｃｅ……."

Please listen to the voices of the survivores from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Hibakusha Testimony Video sight http://www.geocities.jp/s20hibaku/voshn/index.html

ELIMINATING NUCLEAR THREATS

2010-01-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

A practical Agenda for Global Policymakers

Report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

ＧＡＲＥＴＨＥＶＡＮＳ　and YORIKO KAGAGUCHI Co-CHAIRS

Eliminating nuclear threats is a matter of necessity, not choice. The world’s 23,000 nuclear weapons – many still deployed on high alert – can destroy life on this planet many times over. That the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has not so far been repeated owes far more to luck than to good policy management.

Even with the U.S. and Russia showing welcome new leadership, the policy challenges are immense. Every state with nuclear weapons has to be persuaded to give them up. States without nuclear weapons have to neither want nor be able to acquire them. Terrorists must be stopped from getting anywhere near them. And rapidly expanding peaceful nuclear energy use must be security risk-free.

This report, the work of an independent commission of global experts sponsored by Australia and Japan, seeks to guide global policymakers through this maze. It comprehensively maps both opportunities and obstacles, and shapes its many recommendations into a clearly defined set of short, medium and longer term action agendas.

The tone throughout is analytical, measured and hard-headedly realistic. But the ultimate ideal is never lost sight of: so long as any nuclear weapons remain, the world can never be safe.

http://www.icnnd.org/reference/reports/ent/index.html

Obama accepts peace Nobel, defends "just war"

2009-12-11T01:18:00.000-08:00

By Ross Colvin and Wojciech Moskwa

OSLO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama defended the right of the United States to wage "just wars" as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday, acknowledging that as a wartime president he was a controversial choice.

In a speech at the award ceremony in Oslo, preceded by a fanfare of trumpets, Obama declared he would not "stand idle" in the face of threats to the United States.

He raised the specter of a new nuclear arms race, potentially in the Middle East or East Asia, and called for tough sanctions against nations that did not abide by international laws, a warning to Iran and North Korea.

Obama also acknowledged criticism that he does not deserve the prize and has few tangible gains to show from his nearly 11 months in office, saying he was "at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage."

The president's acceptance speech, punctuated with references to past winners of the peace prize, was notable for its dominant theme of war.

He was speaking just nine days after ordering 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in a major expansion of the eight-year-old war. Obama hopes the additional troops will help to break the momentum of a resurgent Taliban and buy time to train Afghan security forces to take over from the Americans.

In his only reference to the troop build-up, Obama said: "We are at war, and I am responsible for the deployment of thousands of young Americans to battle in a distant land. Some will kill. Some will be killed. "

Obama walked a rhetorical tightrope in addressing the paradox of a president receiving the highest award for peace while waging two major foreign conflicts, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the commander-in-chief of a nation in the midst of two wars," he said.

"There will be times when nations -- acting individually or in concert -- will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified," he said, adding that the Afghanistan war had been forced on the United States by the September 11, 2001, attacks, which were masterminded by al Qaeda from there.

He said he was mindful of civil rights leader and Nobel peace laureate Martin Luther King's statement that "violence never brings permanent peace."

But, Obama said, "I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people."

There was loud applause from some 900 invited guests as Obama accepted the award in a grand room in Oslo's city hall, becoming the third sitting U.S. president to receive the Nobel peace prize in its 108-year history.

While the award has excited international interest, Americans are preoccupied with double-digit unemployment and are more concerned about how Obama plans to generate new jobs. Americans remain anxious about the economy, nudging Obama's approval ratings to 50 percent or below.

MORAL STANDARDS

Obama said the United States must uphold moral standards when waging wars that were necessary and justified.

"Even as we confront a vicious adversary that abides by no rules, I believe that the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war. That is what makes us different from those whom we fight," he said.

By pledging to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for foreign terrorism suspects on Cuba and outlawing harsh interrogation techniques, Obama has attempted to recover the moral high ground that critics accused his predecessor George W. Bush of surrendering by waging a no-holds-barred war on terrorism.

In seeking alternatives to force, it was necessary to be tough, Obama said.

"Those regimes that break the rules must be held accountable. Sanctions must enact a real price," Obama said in a passage that addressed North Korea's nuclear arsenal and U.S. suspicions that Iran, too, seeks to acquire the bomb.

"Those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war."

On a rainy day with temperatures just above freezing, thousands lined heavily guarded Oslo streets to greet Obama.

Supporters heavily outnumbered the critics, one of whose banners read: "Obama you won it, now earn it."

http://jp.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5B84QN20091210?sp=true

http://jp.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5B84QN20091210

Hiroshima and the World: We can imagine and build a world free of nuclear weapons

2009-12-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

by Tilman Ruff

Tilman Ruff Tilman Ruff was born in Adelaide in 1955. He graduated in medicine from Monash University (1980) and completed internal medicine training at Prince Henry's and Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital (1988). His preventive medicine work encompasses immunisation and the urgent public health imperative to abolish nuclear weapons. He is Associate Professor, Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne; Australian Red Cross International Medical Advisor; and technical advisor to the Australian government and UNICEF on Pacific immunisation programs. Mr. Ruff chairs the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN); is a Board member of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (Nobel Peace Laureate 1985), and past national president of the Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia).

We can imagine and build a world free of nuclear weapons

My life changed in Hiroshima 20 years ago. In October 1989, my daughter was 7, my son 18 months old. I arrived for the Ninth World Congress of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, checked into the hotel, and for the first time passed not urine but copious blood. A few months later I underwent radical surgery for aggressive cancer of the bladder. Such experiences remind one of the precious and fragile gifts of life and health, that neither can ever be taken for granted, that every day should be fully lived, and that one should focus on what matters.

http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/mediacenter/article.php?story=20091109140250161_en

World Peace Message

Nuclear Abolition News and Analysis

Time for the Nuclear Test Ban

TodaysNetworkNews: HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI ATOMIC BOMB ANNIVERSARY, UN Secretary-General,

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Hiroshima (Japan) 06 August 2010

Secretary-General's remarks at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony

Hiroshima urges end of nuclear umbrella

Roos, Ban among 55,000 at 65th anniversary of bombing

Obama runs risk with Roos in Hiroshima

Attendance may touch off backlash in U.S.

Major antinuke groups want more

Nagasaki issues plea to mark fateful day in '45

Mayor laments 'lack of sincere commitment'

Nagasaki marks A-bombing / Britain, France attend 65th anniversary, but U.S. skips event

War is not good for anyone

Ｂattle over drafting of agreements continues in final week of NPT confab

NPT News Review 24 May 2010

At UN, deadline aired for abolishing nuke weapons

NPT Meeting Coverage

Committee Chairmen of 2010 Review Conference Report on progress towards advancing key pillars of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

2010 NPT Review Conference Calendar of Events

Petition to the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament

UN Sec. General & Hiroshima Mayor Urge NO NUKES

Riverside Church

Evoking Hiroshima and Nagasaki, UN official appeals for end to use of nuclear weapons

On Eve of UN NPT, Thousands March for Nuclear Weapons Abolition

On Eve of UN NPT, Thousands March for Nuclear Weapons Abolition

Pair of films shed new light on hibakusha

Documentaries aim to connect young with nuke survivors

The People vs The Bomb: Showdown at the UN - Trailer

Anti-Nuke March Slideshow

2010 NPT Review Conference Calendar of Events

Nuke ban must apply to all

The Early Word: More Nuke Talks

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/the-early-word-more-nuke-talks/

How to Build on the Start Treaty

Obama Meets With a Parade of Leaders

Leaders Gather for Nuclear Talks as New Threat Is Seen

By DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD

Published: April 11, 2010

OP-ED CONTRIBUTORS How to Build on the Start Treaty

U.S. and Russia Sign Nuclear Arms Pact

With Arms Pact, Disarmament Challenge Remains

PRAGUE — President Obama came to this medieval city last spring to lay out an audacious vision of “a world without nuclear weapons.” A year later, he will arrive back here on Thursday to sign a treaty with Russia that envisions a world with thousands of nuclear weapons.

By PETER BAKER

Published: April 7, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/world/europe/08arms.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

With Arms Pact, Disarmament Challenge Remains

by PETER BAKER

Published: April 7, 2010

Administration’s Remarks on the Arms Control Treaty

Twists and Turns on Way to Arms Pact With Russia

Published: March 26, 2010

Report slip hits nuclear hopes

DANIEL FLITTON

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Nuclear Extraction Kit

NEWS ANALYSIS Treaty Advances Obama’s Nuclear Vision

By PETER BAKER

Published: March 25, 2010

Russia and U.S. Report Breakthrough on Arms

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

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Statement by President Obama on the 40th Anniversary of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

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http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-obama-40th-anniversary-nuclear-nonproliferation-treaty

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