UNITED STATES: Physicists oppose new nukes

A letter delivered to the White House on April 26, on behalf of 1800 physicists, called on US President George Bush to abandon new nuclear weapons plans. Noting that the Bush administration is considering the use of tactical nuclear weapons against Iran, the letter stated: "Using or even merely threatening to use a nuclear weapon preemptively against a non-nuclear adversary tells the 182 non-nuclear-weapon country signatories of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that their adherence to the treaty offers them no protection against a nuclear attack by a nuclear nation. Many are thus likely to abandon the treaty, and the nuclear non-proliferation framework will be damaged even further than it already has, with disastrous consequences ... We urge you to announce publicly that the US is taking the nuclear option off the table in the case of all non-nuclear adversaries, present or future, and we urge the American people to make their voices heard on this matter. View the full letter at <http://physics.ucsd.edu/petition/physicistsletter.pdf>.

From Green Left Weekly, May 3, 2006.

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From GLW issue 666