Ban the bomb back on the agenda
BBC NEWS | UK | Ban the bomb back on the agenda: " Ban the bomb back on the agenda
By Hannah Goff
BBC News website
As negotiators from 160 countries make last ditch efforts to agree how to tackle nuclear arms and their proliferation, a five-million-name petition calling for disarmament is being handed into Downing Street.
Veteran campaigner Bruce Kent talks of the movement's renewed hope.
Campaigning for nuclear disarmament is back in vogue.
Seemingly out of fashion since the collapse of the Soviet Union, support for CND is now something young people are proud of - or so the organisation claims.
Membership has increased significantly since protests against the Iraq war began - a conflict predicated on the need to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
And a new generation of young activists now campaign alongside more elderly peace lovers.
The campaign's vice president Bruce Kent, who led CND during the 1980s, says: "There was a period of time when campaigning for nuclear disarmament was, in those terms, not fashionable.
"Especially once the threat of a conflict between the US and the Soviet Union was out of the picture."
But now, with a 5m-name petition calling for "real steps" towards disarmament in the UK in his back pocket ready to hand in to Downing Street on Friday, "all sorts of voices around the world" are joining the disarmament debate, he says.
We can't have preparations for war and make poverty history at the same time
Bruce Kent
Mr Kent points to converts like Vietnam war era US secretary for defence Robert McNamara, and Labour's Roy Hattersley.
Even the last pope was anti-nuclear, he says, recalling Pope John Paul II's claim that nuclear deterrents were "obstacles to world peace".
He even predicts that the campaign for nuclear disarmament will form part of the anti-poverty debate being led by the much-celebrated Make Poverty History Campaign.
"More and more anti-poverty organisations recognise that war is a major contributor to poverty and we can't talk about one without the other.
"We can't have preparations for war and make poverty history at the same time."
This issue in the world is not whether the existing powers cease to be nuclear...I think the issue is whether we can prevent proliferation
Gordon Brown
But will these sentiments be reflected in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) review talks which are entering their last day in New York?
Despite huge efforts from non-nuclear states, such as New Zealand and Malaysia, the treaty looks unlikely to push the disarmament agenda forward - despite an agreement in 2000 that nuclear weapons states take steps towards disarmament.
And, CND admits, there is little appetite within the Cabinet for dropping Britain's nuclear deterrent, Trident.
Chancellor Gordon Brown has said: "The issue in the world is not whether the existing powers cease to be nuclear...I think the issue is whether we can prevent proliferation."
'Loopholes'
Fears about North Korea and Iran's quest for nuclear weapons have overshadowed the conference.
In March, President Bush called for "strong action to confront non-compliance with the NPT" and for "loopholes" that allow states to build nuclear bombs under the cover of civilian nuclear programmes to be closed.
Critics charge the US with breaching its disarmament obligations by undertaking new nuclear weapons research, even though the administration says it has eliminated 13,000 nuclear weapons since 1998.
As Democrat congressman from Massachusetts Ed Markey told a recent press conference: "The US cannot preach temperance from a bar stool."
And the same goes for Britain, Mr Kent argues.
'High wire'
"If we tell other countries by our behaviour that these are essential for our security then I can't see the logic in telling other countries they can't have them."
This battle between the haves and the have-nots has been at the heart of the month-long NPT review which is threatening to end in deadlock.
But if no new statement is agreed, does it mean the treaty talks have failed?
Not so long as the hard-won commitment for weapons states to take steps towards disarmament remains, says Mr Kent.
His main concern now is the potential for a catastrophe caused by a nuclear accident.
"Sooner or later we are going to see that. We are walking across the high wire," he warns.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/4584509.stm
Published: 2005/05/27 03:16:03 GMT
"
By Hannah Goff
BBC News website
As negotiators from 160 countries make last ditch efforts to agree how to tackle nuclear arms and their proliferation, a five-million-name petition calling for disarmament is being handed into Downing Street.
Veteran campaigner Bruce Kent talks of the movement's renewed hope.
Campaigning for nuclear disarmament is back in vogue.
Seemingly out of fashion since the collapse of the Soviet Union, support for CND is now something young people are proud of - or so the organisation claims.
Membership has increased significantly since protests against the Iraq war began - a conflict predicated on the need to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
And a new generation of young activists now campaign alongside more elderly peace lovers.
The campaign's vice president Bruce Kent, who led CND during the 1980s, says: "There was a period of time when campaigning for nuclear disarmament was, in those terms, not fashionable.
"Especially once the threat of a conflict between the US and the Soviet Union was out of the picture."
But now, with a 5m-name petition calling for "real steps" towards disarmament in the UK in his back pocket ready to hand in to Downing Street on Friday, "all sorts of voices around the world" are joining the disarmament debate, he says.
We can't have preparations for war and make poverty history at the same time
Bruce Kent
Mr Kent points to converts like Vietnam war era US secretary for defence Robert McNamara, and Labour's Roy Hattersley.
Even the last pope was anti-nuclear, he says, recalling Pope John Paul II's claim that nuclear deterrents were "obstacles to world peace".
He even predicts that the campaign for nuclear disarmament will form part of the anti-poverty debate being led by the much-celebrated Make Poverty History Campaign.
"More and more anti-poverty organisations recognise that war is a major contributor to poverty and we can't talk about one without the other.
"We can't have preparations for war and make poverty history at the same time."
This issue in the world is not whether the existing powers cease to be nuclear...I think the issue is whether we can prevent proliferation
Gordon Brown
But will these sentiments be reflected in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) review talks which are entering their last day in New York?
Despite huge efforts from non-nuclear states, such as New Zealand and Malaysia, the treaty looks unlikely to push the disarmament agenda forward - despite an agreement in 2000 that nuclear weapons states take steps towards disarmament.
And, CND admits, there is little appetite within the Cabinet for dropping Britain's nuclear deterrent, Trident.
Chancellor Gordon Brown has said: "The issue in the world is not whether the existing powers cease to be nuclear...I think the issue is whether we can prevent proliferation."
'Loopholes'
Fears about North Korea and Iran's quest for nuclear weapons have overshadowed the conference.
In March, President Bush called for "strong action to confront non-compliance with the NPT" and for "loopholes" that allow states to build nuclear bombs under the cover of civilian nuclear programmes to be closed.
Critics charge the US with breaching its disarmament obligations by undertaking new nuclear weapons research, even though the administration says it has eliminated 13,000 nuclear weapons since 1998.
As Democrat congressman from Massachusetts Ed Markey told a recent press conference: "The US cannot preach temperance from a bar stool."
And the same goes for Britain, Mr Kent argues.
'High wire'
"If we tell other countries by our behaviour that these are essential for our security then I can't see the logic in telling other countries they can't have them."
This battle between the haves and the have-nots has been at the heart of the month-long NPT review which is threatening to end in deadlock.
But if no new statement is agreed, does it mean the treaty talks have failed?
Not so long as the hard-won commitment for weapons states to take steps towards disarmament remains, says Mr Kent.
His main concern now is the potential for a catastrophe caused by a nuclear accident.
"Sooner or later we are going to see that. We are walking across the high wire," he warns.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/4584509.stm
Published: 2005/05/27 03:16:03 GMT
"
posted by Greta Jane at Saturday, May 28, 2005
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home