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Rolla Peace News March 5, 2023 |
Dear Friends:Editor's notes:In this newsletter is: 1. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) Last US-Russia Nuclear Treaty on Life Support Russia has suspended implementation of the New START Treaty, the last remaining US-Russia nuclear treaty. New START gives the United States and Russia the right to inspect each other's nuclear weapon sites. Well, if you are in the midst of a War, you really don't want your adversary snooping around your nuclear weapons, do you? And besides, the Treaty states that “each Party has the right to withdraw from the Treaty if it decides that extraordinary events related to the subject matter of the Treaty have jeopardized its supreme interests.” Suspending implementation is not as drastic as withdrawal. Suspending implementation is like saying “Mañana” instead of “Nunca”. Withdrawal is what the United States has done to several nuclear treaties. (See below.) But are the United States and Russia really at War in the Ukraine? Russia calls it a special military operation. And the United States insists that in spite of supplying billions of dollars of hi-tech military hardware to The Ukraine and slapping billions of dollars of sanctions upon Russia, it's not a party to the conflict. Sorry folks. I give you fair WARning. A WAR is a WAR is a WAR. No ifs, butts or maybes. Joe Biden has called Russia's suspension of the New START Treaty a “Big Mistake.” As for my part, I think the whole War in the Ukraine is one “Big Mistake,” STARTing with the US backed 2014 coup which overthrew The Ukraine's democratically elected government. As the coup unfolded, columnist Will Bunch sagely remarked, “So who are the ‘good guys?’ There may not be any.” Nine years later, I still don't see any ‘good guys.’ Likewise, I think the US withdrawal in 2019 from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was a “Big Mistake.” And I think the US withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Treaty (JCPOA) in 2017 was a “Big Mistake.” And I think the US withdrawal in 2001 from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was a “Big Mistake.” And I think that deploying US Nuclear Weapons in European States (Germany, Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands, Turkey) is a “Big Mistake.” And on the Russian side, I think threats of using nuclear weapons in The Ukraine are a "Big Mistake." And as for all the other nuclear weapon states: I think the 53 year failure of the first five nuclear weapon states (US, Russia, UK, France, China) to live up to their commitment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to “undertake to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control” is a “Big Mistake.” And I think the failure of six of the nine nuclear weapon states, including the United States, but not Russia, to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is a “Big Mistake.” And I think the failure of all nine nuclear weapon states (US, Russia, UK, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea) to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is a “Big Mistake.” 68 states have forsworn ever becoming a nuclear weapon state and joined the TPNW. But, to my knowledge, not one of the nine nuclear weapon states has even said it will join if the other eight will also join. And I think that the current development of “modern” nuclear weapons, underway in all nine nuclear weapon states is a “Big Mistake.” One thing leads to another; and now we are as close to nuclear annihilation as we have ever been. Hey, this is our world too. What gives YOU the RIGHT to threaten it with nuclear annihilation? In truth, War and Nuclear Weapons don't mix. If the War goes poorly, the temptation to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons to improve one's position, or simply to exact revenge on an adversary, is just too great. This is why, up until now, Wars between nuclear weapon states have been severely limited. When the West treated Russia as another Iraq or Afghanistan to be destroyed at will, it severely miscalculated. Both Russia and NATO are heavily invested in the Ukraine War. Probably the worst possible outcome is that one side wins and the other uses its nukes out of desperation or revenge. The best possible outcome is that both sides stop fighting and reach a negotiated settlement and everyone claims victory. So, let's step back from the brink. Let's sit down and talk about how we can make nuclear annihilation less likely, if not altogether impossible. Let's stop pointing fingers. We're all in this together. We're all responsible, although perhaps not equally so. If even one of us goes up in a radioactive mushroom cloud, we all go up in a radioactive mushroom cloud. (Now there's equality for you!) When it comes to nuclear war, there are no winners, only losers. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesdays (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Rollaites for Peace: near the top of rightmost column).Wage peace, Tom yushasager (at) yahoo.com |