VP Biden: The Path to Nuclear Security

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

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

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

By Jim Mannion (AFP) – 2 days ago

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

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

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

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

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

Biden calls for ratification of nuclear test ban treaty

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hiroshima and the World: No More Hiroshimas

by Jayantha Dhanapala

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

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

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

No More Hiroshimas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For Immediate Release

January 27, 2010

Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address

U.S. Capitol

9:11 P.M. EST

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

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

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

Extract: Speech about the Nuclear policy

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

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

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

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

Special Series: The Day the Nuclear Umbrella is Folded

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

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

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

Obama, Medvedev back nuclear disarmament campaign

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

(AFP)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

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