Kissinger seeks nuclear free world (?)

2007-01-05

Richard Moore

Lots of mixed signals from our elites these days.
rkm

----- Original Message -----
From: John Loretz<•••@••.•••>
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 4:08 PM

Kissinger, other eminent security experts urge 'world without nuclear weapons'

The Associated Press
Thursday, January 4, 2007

WASHINGTON

Former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and three other 
prominent American security experts urged the United States on 
Thursday to lead in the creation of "a world without nuclear weapons."

Reliance on nuclear weapons as a deterrent "is becoming increasingly 
hazardous and decreasingly effective," the bipartisan group said in a 
commentary.

Besides Kissinger, the other authors were former Secretary of State 
George P. Shultz, former Defense Secretary William Perry and former 
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn.

"North Korea's recent nuclear test and Iran's refusal to stop its 
program to enrich uranium - potentially to weapons grade - highlight 
the fact that the world is now on the precipice of a new and 
dangerous nuclear era," they said.

They also expressed alarm at the likelihood that nonstate terrorists 
will get their hands on nuclear weapons.

If nuclear weapons states would band together to end reliance on 
nuclear weapons, the commentary said, it "would lend additional 
weight to efforts already under way to avoid the emergence of a 
nuclear-armed North Korea and Iran."

Iran and many other non-nuclear countries have long complained about 
the "double standard" of nuclear powers in possessing atomic weapons 
while demanding that others refrain from having them.

The most notable of the four experts is Kissinger, 83, who has 
achieved elder statesman status since his service as national 
security adviser and secretary of state under presidents Richard 
Nixon and Gerald Ford three decades ago. He is an unofficial adviser 
on Iraq policy to President George W. Bush.

Shultz also served in Nixon's cabinet and was President Ronald 
Reagan's secretary of state for more than six years. Perry was 
President Bill Clinton's defense secretary for three years and later 
advised Clinton on North Korea policy. Nunn was chairman of the 
Senate Armed Services Committee from 1991-97 and currently is 
co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, which works to reduce 
international threats from weapons of mass destruction.

The essay noted that the concept of a nuclear-free world is not 
revolutionary, pointing out that the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) 
envisions that nuclear weapons states divest themselves of such 
armaments over time.

The essay expressed concern that the increasing number of potential 
nuclear enemies worldwide could dramatically increase the risk that 
nuclear weapons will be used.

New nuclear states do not have the benefit of years of Cold Warera 
safeguards that prevented nuclear accidents, misjudgments or 
unauthorized launches, it said.

"Will new nuclear nations and the world be as fortunate in the next 
50 years as we were during the Cold War?" it asked.

--
John Loretz
Program Director
International Physicians for the
Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
727 Massachusetts Ave., 2nd floor
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 868-5050, ext. 280
(617) 868-2560 (fax)

http://www.ippnw.org
-- 

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