Leave Him Alone?

Yesterday, I sent out an action alert asking our members to write to President Obama and ask him to cancel next week’s test of a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. Thousands of people immediately took action, asking him not only to cancel next week’s test, but also to work quickly in his second term to decommission land-based ICBMs.

As always, I am deeply grateful to our thousands of dedicated members who take action to support the elimination of nuclear weapons. This wide support from around the United States gives us the public voice we need to be able to get our foot in the door in Washington, DC.

I got a couple of replies from people to the effect of, “Come on, give the guy [Obama] a break. He just won re-election. Let’s savor this victory for a while.”

Here’s why I disagree with that assessment:

• The Air Force isn’t planning to give us, or the Marshall Islanders (the target of the November 14 test), a break by postponing the test. 
• Conducting this test would be a terrible message to send to the world immediately after the President’s re-election. We’re talking about a missile that carries thermonuclear warheads at least eight times more powerful than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
• We are trying to hold President Obama to his 2008 campaign promise to “renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.”

To read more about why the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation believes that the United States should decommission its land-based Minuteman III missiles, see this article in the Christian Science Monitor by NAPF President David Krieger and Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.

For Nuclear Security Beyond Seoul, Eradicate Land-Based "Doomsday" Missiles

This article was originally published by the Christian Science Monitor. We think it is extremely important, though, which is why it is on our blog as well.

President Obama and other world leaders gathered at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, this week to address threats posed by unsecured nuclear material. If Mr. Obama is truly concerned about nuclear safety, he should seriously consider doing away with the 450 inter-continental ballistic missiles deployed and ready to fire at Russia on a moment's notice.

Last month we were among 15 protesters who were arrested in the middle of the night at Vandenberg Air Force Base, some 70 miles north of Santa Barbara, Calif. We were protesting the imminent test flight of a Minuteman III inter-continental ballistic missile.

The Air Force rationale for doing these tests is to ensure the reliability of the US nuclear deterrent force; but launch-ready land-based nuclear-armed ballistic missiles are the opposite of a deterrent to attack. In fact, their very deployment has the potential to launch World War III and precipitate human extinction – as a result of a false alarm.

Air Force Cancels Nuclear Missile Launch after Pressure from NAPF Action Alert Network

For the second time in less than six months, the US Air Force has scheduled a test launch of a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile on a highly inappropriate date. Last year, they scheduled a test of the US' land-based thermonuclear warhead delivery vehicle on September 21. That's just any old day on the calendar, just like most of the other 364 days, right? Wrong. It's the International Day of Peace, recognized by the UN General Assembly as a day for "commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all
nations and peoples."

After thousands of NAPF Action Alert members pointed out the absurdity of testing a missile that delivers thermonuclear weapons on "a day of global ceasefire and nonviolence, [which is] an invitation to all nations and people to honor a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Day," the Air Force canceled the test. For technical reasons, of course.

Then late last week, they announced that they would be testing a Minuteman on March 1. Just another day on the calendar, right? Wrong again. March 1 is the anniversary of the biggest thermonuclear weapon test ever conducted by the United States. The Castle Bravo test had an explosive yield of 15 megatons, which is 1,000 times the power of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. The Bravo test caused widespread damage to numerous atolls in the Marshall Islands that is still felt to this day. The Marshall Islands also happened to be the target of this Minuteman missile test.

Last night, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation sent out a press release highlighting this fact. This morning, we sent an action alert to our members asking them to demand the cancellation of the test. Lo and behold, just before lunchtime today, the Air Force canceled the March 1 test. For technical reasons, of course.

Maybe they'll schedule the next launch for August 6 - there's no reason why that date would remind people of what nuclear weapons actually do.

Sense of Urgency Leads to Civil Disobedience at Vandenberg

David Krieger, Fr. Louis Vitale and
Daniel Ellsberg. Photo by Jim Haber.

In the early hours of Saturday, February 25, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation President David Krieger was arrested with 14 others protesting the test launch of a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The Minuteman is the United States' land-based missile, 450 of which sit in silos around the Midwest on hair-trigger alert, ready to be fired at a moment's notice. Saturday's launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base targeted the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

I had the chance to ask David a few questions about his arrest now that he has had a couple of days to reflect on it.

RW: What made you decide after 30 years of working as President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation to get arrested protesting this missile launch?

Sept. 21: Peace 1, Nuclear Missiles 0

I just got word that the US Air Force has postponed the planned test of a Minuteman III nuclear missile. It was originally scheduled for September 21, the International Day of Peace. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, together with organizations around the world and many thousands of our supporters, worked hard to register our ardent opposition to this test.

Of course there has been no government statement saying, "We were wrong to schedule this test on the International Day of Peace and now recognize the problems inherent in our continued reliance on missile testing and nuclear weapons." Nor will there ever be such a statement. But we should all be proud of our work against this test, and we must continue to spread the message that the only to stay safe from a nuclear attack is to implement a Nuclear Weapons Convention for the phased, verifiable, transparent and irreversible elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide.

Anti-Nuclear Resisters in Court

I just got back from court. I went in support of two dedicated protestors, Father Louis Vitale and Dennis Apel, who were arrested at Vandenberg Air Force Base for "trespassing," even though they were in the designated protest zone the whole time. The whole "designated protest zone" concept is outrageous in and of itself, but for the base security to arrest these men on a public highway was nothing more than an attempt at intimidation.

The judge granted the defendants' motion to dismiss the case, so the charges have been dropped. The defendants and others plan to be back at Vandenberg on September 21 to protest the next nuclear missile launch on the International Day of Peace.

While the anti-nuclear resisters in California were let off by the legal system this time, a group in Tennessee is facing a more uphill battle. Below is an article by John LaForge that bears repeating:

Testing a Fragile Relationship

This is a big week for nuclear weapon issues in the United States. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to give its take on the New START agreement with Russia a mere five months after the agreement was signed. Also, the US military has scheduled a test launch of a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands for Wednesday morning.

For months now Republican senators and pundits have flooded the op-ed pages with warnings of the "bad deal" that is the New START agreement. "We're giving up everything while Russia gives up nothing," they say.

Now let's imagine that on Wednesday morning, instead of the US shooting off one of its ICBMs, it's the Russians doing it.

Testing 1,2,3 (4,5...)

What's up with all the nuclear missile testing lately by the US military? It's nothing new: they have been doing it for decades. But five tests in eight days? Twenty years after the end of the Cold War, and with a president who claims to (eventually) want a world free of nuclear weapons, this really is not what the world needs.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, the US Navy fired four Trident 2 D-5 nuclear-capable missiles from the USS Maryland. Then, early this morning, the US Air Force fired a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Vandenberg - just up the road from me in California - to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The Navy really patted itself on the back about the "success" of the tests and the capabilities of their missiles that carry nuclear warheads around the world's oceans. In their press release, they lauded the Trident 2 D-5 missile for its "increased firepower [and] flexibility."

Positive Turnout at Saturday Vandenberg Air Force Base Protest

People from across California and Arizona gathered outside the front gate of Vandenberg Air Force Base on Saturday to observe Nuclear Abolition Day and to stand against ongoing tests of nuclear missiles and missile defense components.  At the corner of a busy highway, the demonstrators were visible to hundreds of passing cars.  Members of the NAPF were pleasantly surprised to witness the 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative gestures coming from drivers over the two hour period of the protest.

David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, spoke about the need for those working at the base to resist taking part in the Minuteman III missile tests because the tests are in violation of international law.  In 1996, the International Court of Justice ruled that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons would be generally illegal.  Minuteman tests constitute a threat of use.  David also read three of his poems from his book Today Is Not a Good Day for War.  The poems focused on the theme of "silence."  He encouraged those in attendance at the protest to continue to speak out against the tests at Vandenberg, as well as militarism and nuclearism in general.

June 5, Nuclear Weapons Abolition Day: Protest Missile Launch!

The Vandenberg Air Force Base announced that it will hold a missile defense test launch on Saturday, June 5.  Originally, the base was set to test a Minuteman III ICBM test from the Space Command to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands.

Participate in protesting the continuance of missile defense at one of two locations:

• 1:00PM Saturday, June 5
• Front gate VANDENBERG Space Command: Intersection of Hwy 1 (across from Vandenberg Middle School, six miles north of Lompoc on Highway 1 in Santa Barbara, Country, CA)
• Speakers
• Andrew Lichterman of Western States Legal Foundation
• David Krieger of Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
• For info call or text 805-696-5159 or check www.vandenberwitness.org

• 3:00PM Saturday, June 5
• Los Angeles Air Force Base Space and Missile Center: 200 N. Douglas Street, El Segundo, CA (Los Angeles AFB helps with the tracking and targeting of missile launches)
• Speakers
• Que Keju, "Where do the missiles land"
• L. Stephen Coles, M.D. of Physicians for Social Responsibility LA
•  For info call or text 831-206-5043, or check www.nuclearabolition.org