From owner-sunflower-napf@igc.org Mon Feb 2 13:25 EST 1998 Received: from igc7.igc.org (igc7.igc.apc.org [192.82.108.35]) by polaris.net (8.8.8/8.7.6) with ESMTP id NAA01409; Mon, 2 Feb 1998 13:25:07 -0500 (EST) Received: (from majordomo@localhost) by igc7.igc.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id VAA15940; Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:13:33 -0800 (PST) Received: from beach.silcom.com (beach.silcom.com [199.201.128.19]) by igc7.igc.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id VAA15889 for ; Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:13:29 -0800 (PST) Received: from dial.silcom.com (pm6-35.sba1.avtel.net [207.71.222.163]) by beach.silcom.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id VAA20363 for ; Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:10:08 -0800 (PST) Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:02:56 -0800 From: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Message-Id: <3.0.32.19980130171530.007fecd0@silcom.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Precedence: bulk Sender: owner-sunflower-napf@igc.org Subject: The Sunflower, February Issue To: sunflower-napf@igc.org X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0 (32) X-Sender: napf@silcom.com Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Length: 16861 Status: RO THE SUNFLOWER a free electronic monthly newsletter = =20 No. 9, February 1998 =20 NUCLEAR AGE PEACE FOUNDATION ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- The Sunflower is an educational newsletter providing information on nuclear weapons abolition and other issues relating to peace in the Nuclear Age.=20 ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- IN THIS ISSUE =20 ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- # NEWS CIVILIAN LEADERS CALL FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS ELIMINATION UN RELEASES MODEL NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONVENTION FRENCH SHIP NUCLEAR WASTE TO JAPAN COST OF NATO EXPANSION # NEWS BRIEFS # ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE # FEBRUARY DATES TO REMEMBER # IMPORTANT EVENTS # BOOK REVIEW # FOUNDATION NEWS ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- "The worst waste of money in the world is the vast sums that the United=20 States and Russia each spend maintaining, on hair-trigger alert, an ability= =20 to destroy all people on Earth. Dean Babst, 1998 ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- NEWS ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- CIVILIAN LEADERS CALL FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS ELIMINATION On Monday, February 2nd, a statement calling for the abolition of nuclear=20 weapons, signed by nearly 100 civilian leaders from throughout the world=20 (including 36 past or present heads of state), will be released in=20 Washington. General Butler will release the statement at the National=20 Press Club and give a report on progress in the past year since the release= =20 of the statement by retired military leaders. NOTE ->| Based on a recent poll of 800 Americans: What=92s the =20 NOTE ->| most important legacy Pres. Clinton can leave this country?=20 NOTE ->| Reduce the threat of nuclear war-- 24%=20 NOTE ->| Reduce the number of nuclear weapons worldwide -- 22% (SBNP 980118) UN RELEASES MODEL NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONVENTION (MNWC) A blueprint for an international treaty which would abolish nuclear weapons= =20 has now been released by the United Nations. Costa Rica had submitted the=20 document that sets forth legal, technical and political issues that should= =20 be considered in order to ban nuclear weapons. The blueprint was drafted=20 by an international group of lawyers, scientists, disarmament experts and a= =20 working group within the Abolition 2000 Network. In 1996 the International= =20 Court of Justice, the UN court in the Hague, confirmed that there exists a= =20 binding legal obligation to negotiate a ban against nuclear weapons. -- The= =20 United Nations circulation of this model convention is a major step forward= =20 for Abolition 2000, a citizens=B4 campaign for a treaty by year 2000 for the= =20 total elimination of nuclear weapons. -- > For the MNWC see: http://www.bullatomsci.org/IALANA.html FRENCH SHIP NUCLEAR WASTE TO JAPAN France has shipped some 25 tons of radioactive nuclear waste to Japan on=20 the British-flagged "Pacific Swan." This is the third shipment from the=20 French state firm Cogema which reprocesses spent nuclear fuel from Japanese= =20 reactors into reusable uranium and plutonium and radioactive waste. The=20 two previous shipments from France in 1995 and 1997 raised safety concerns= =20 among countries along the shipping routes, and environmental groups=20 protested against the secrecy surrounding the shipments. The current=20 shipment is the first such voyage routed through the Caribbean and the=20 Panama Canal. The waste could spill into the sea or be seized by=20 terrorists. (AP 9801) COST OF NATO EXPANSION The once-certain entry of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic is now=20 clouded by weakening public support in the Czech Republic where the Czech=20 economy is suffering. Cost estimates for the first planned round of=20 expansion range from $1.5 billion to $125 billion over the next decade. =20 The Clinton Administration is pushing for admission of up to a dozen or=20 more former Eastern bloc nations over the next decade, which could cost=20 U.S. taxpayers up to $250 billion out of a total $500 billion cost to NATO= =20 countries. (Karina Wood, 1998) ----------------------\-------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- /#/ NEWS BRIEFS ----------------------\-------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- UNITED STATES: According to Human Rights Watch, the United States "single- handedly" is blocking international efforts to prevent the recruitment of=20 child soldiers. Currently, the U.S. accepts 17 year-olds as voluntary=20 recruits into the military, and is thus opposed to establishing 18 as the=20 minimum age for voluntary recruitment into government forces. Seventeen=20 year-olds make up only a fraction of U.S. troops. =20 -- > More info at: http://www.hrw.org/hrw/campaigns/crp/crp-cmp1.htm UNITED STATES: The Pentagon plans the creation of a new agency -- the=20 Agency for Defense Cooperation -- that combines functions of the Defense=20 Security Assistance Agency and the office of international cooperation run= =20 by the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and technology. =20 UNITED STATES: The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,=20 Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) warned President Clinton that he will allow a=20 vote to ratify the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) only after=20 considering the Kyoto (climate) Protocol and the Anti-Ballistic Missile=20 (ABM) treaty, both of which he opposes. (WT 980123) RUSSIA/PRC: Russia and China made final at the end of December a deal worth= =20 $3.5 billion in a joint venture to build two 1,000 MW nuclear reactors at=20 Lian-yungang, a coastal city about 250 miles north of Shanghai. China=20 plans to construct 100 reactors in the next 50 years. (LAT 971230) RUSSIA: Moscow urgently needs foreign help to clean up nuclear waste from=20 more than 100 scrapped nuclear submarines sitting in northern and Far=20 Eastern ports. Together with the Barents Euro-Atlantic Council of Nordic=20 countries, Russia asked the international community to intensify its help=20 in clean-up efforts. (AP 980122) RUSSIA: The end of the cold war has produced an alarming nuclear irony.=20 Russia is now more dependent on its nuclear weapons than ever and at the=20 same time those weapons are more vulnerable. This increases the chances=20 that in a severe crisis Moscow might consider using them. (NYT 980112) ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- 1. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ABOLITION 2000.=20 -- > Go to: http://www.wagingpeace.org/abolition2000.html 2. SEND A VALENTINE'S GREETING CARD to President Clinton and other leaders= =20 of nuclear weapons states and urge them to sign a treaty banning nuclear=20 weapons -- when they love this Earth. Following are some e-mails: United States: mailto:president@whitehouse.gov=20 United Kingdom: mailto:tony.blair@geo2.poptel.org.uk=20 Israel: mailto:likud1@likud.org.il For a complete list of these and other leaders, contact the Nuclear Age=20 Peace Foundation, or go to=20 http://www.wagingpeace.org/nuclear_weapons_states.html 3. JOIN THE "MISSILES TO SUNFLOWERS" CAMPAIGN. Add your name to the=20 Abolition 2000 International Petition calling for ending the nuclear=20 threat, signing a treaty banning nuclear weapons, and reallocating=20 resources from military purposes to meeting human needs. A copy of the=20 petition is available from Abolition 2000, c/o Nuclear Age Peace Foundation= =20 or on the web at http://www.wagingpeace.org/intlpetition.html . 4. HELP ORGANIZE efforts to have your municipality pass a resolution in=20 support of achieving the abolition of nuclear weapons. Ask us for a sample= =20 resolution or go to: http://www.wagingpeace.org/ab2000city.html 5. PROTEST THE USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS BY THE UNITED STATES Contacts: President William J. Clinton Fax:202 456 2461=20 E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov=20 Secretary of Defense William Cohen Fax:703 695 1219 Hon. Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State E-mail: secretary@state.gov=20 First Lady Hillary Clinton Fax:202 456 2461 E-mail: first.lady@whitehouse.gov=20 YOUR SUPPORT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Please send copies of your letters to the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation at=20 the address listed below or to mailto:wagingpeace@napf.org 6. JOIN OUR ACTION ALERT NETWORK: ACT NOW! To subscribe to "Act Now!" please send a message=20 To:majordomo@igc.org=20 Subject: <=20 subscribe act-now-napf <=20 7. FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER TO A FRIEND ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- FEBRUARY DATES TO REMEMBER =20 ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- FEBRUARY 4 February 1952: U.N. Disarmament Commission holds first meeting. 10 February 1990: Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress,= =20 released after 27 years in prison. 13 February 1945: Massive Allied bombing creates fire-storm for second time= =20 in history. 13 February 1960: France explodes its first atomic bomb in the Sahara=20 desert of Southern Algeria. 20 February: NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE DAY. Norwegian teachers begin=20 successful nonviolent strike against Nazification of schools (1942). 27 February 1973: American Indian Movement (AIM) members occupy Wounded=20 Knee, South Dakota in protest against Bureau of Indian Affairs. 28 February 1989: The Nevada-Semipalatinsk Movement to stop all nuclear=20 testing is founded. ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- IMPORTANT EVENTS =20 ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- February 3: Santa Barbara, California "Safe Passage to the 21st Century: Eliminating Nuclear Weapons"=20 Lecture by Douglas Roche, O.C. WHERE: University Club - Alumni Room February 5: Washington, D.C. "Making The Case For Nuclear Abolition." With Jonathan Schell, Alan=20 Cranston, Robert McNamara, and Thomas Graham, Jr. WHERE: The Mooers-Morella Courtroom, American University School of Law 4801 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington D.C. WHEN: 12:30 to 1:30 --> for information call (212) 242-8400, ext. 213 or e-mail: mailto:prothberg@thenation.com February 5: New York, New York Peace vs. Justice: Reconciling Accountability for Human Rights=20 Atrocities with Conflict Resolution WHERE: The Great Hall of the House of the=20 Association of the Bar of the City of New York 42 West 44th Street, New York, New York WHEN: 7pm February 13-15: Dortmund, Germany INES Student Congress for information=20 --> e-mail Reiner Braun at mailto:r.braun@lilly.ping.de February 14 Valentine=92s Action Day: Abolition 2000 postcards will be mailed to the=20 leaders of Nuclear Weapons States February 14-15: Berkeley, California 13th Annual South Asia Conference Center for South Asia Studies, International and Area Studies,=20 University of California, Berkeley, USA --> http://www.ias.berkeley.edu/southasia/conference.html February 20-21: Geneva, Switzerland Planning for the NPT, Palais des Nations,=20 International Seminar on Disarmament=20 Information: NGO Committee for Disarmament, Edith Ballantyne=20 --> mailto:edibal@iprolink.ch February 21: Hiroshima, Japan On behalf of Abolition 2000, David Krieger, President of the Foundation,=20 will receive 10 million signatures on the Abolition 2000 International=20 Petition, collected by Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist organization. 14-22 March:=20 European Week of Action Against Racism For information contact UNITED for Intercultural Action --> mailto:united@antenna.nl or go to http://www.xs4all.nl/~united March 27-28: Amsterdam, The Netherlands 1998 spring meeting of the European Network Against Arms Trade (ENAAT)=20 April 4: Santa Barbara, California Jody Williams, coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines=20 and 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate, will receive the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation= =20 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- BOOK REVIEW ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- THE ULTIMATE EVIL: THE FIGHT TO BAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS. By Douglas Roche.=20 Toronto: James Lorimer, 1997. 126p. This is an excellent overview of the struggle to achieve a nuclear=20 weapons free world. Douglas Roche, O.C., a former Canadian Ambassasor for= =20 Disarmament, is presently a Visiting Professor at the University of Alberta.= =20 The book is $19.95 as paper back. ISBN 1-55028-589-0=20 ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- FOUNDATION NEWS ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- * Our ACTION ALERT has been transformed into a listserve. =20 To subscribe to "ACT NOW!," please send a message=20 To:majordomo@igc.org (mailto:majordomo@igc.org) Subject: < subscribe act-now-napf < OR go to http://www.wagingpeace.org/action.html * Back issues of THE SUNFLOWER are now accessible on the web at: http://www.wagingpeace.org/the_sunflower.html * OTHER RESOURCES=20 AUDIO TAPES ($8.00 each plus $3.00 s&h) - "The Social Responsibility of Scientists" by Joseph Rotblat - "A World Without War" by Joseph Rotblat - "Musicians Don=92t Make War" by Lord Yehudi Menuhin FREE OF CHARGE - "The Challenge of Our Time," by David Krieger - Sample Valentine=92s Card to leaders of nuclear weapons states - Information packet on Abolition 2000 ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- FEEDBACK ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- Anonymous appraisals of our web-site: "I really enjoy your purpose and goals and think it is a wonderful=20 movement." "So far I only read the "Why we Should Phase Out Nuclear Power " article and= =20 I enjoyed it. I am doing a debate on any nuclear related topic for my=20 government class. I am on the side that is anti-nuke. This site looks like= =20 it will be very helpful." PLEASE SEND US YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS mailto:wagingpeace@napf.org ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- EDITORS ------------------------------~-oOo-~------------------------------------- David Krieger, J.D., Ph.D. - Christoph Hanterman, Ph.D. ------------------------------~-END-~------------------------------------- To subscribe to "The Sunflower," please send a message=20 To:majordomo@igc.org Subject: < subscribe sunflower-napf < To unsubscribe to "The Sunflower," just send a message=20 To:majordomo@igc.org Subject: < unsubscribe sunflower-napf < NUCLEAR AGE PEACE FOUNDATION ********************************************************** A founding member of and global contact point for the Abolition 2000 Global Network for the=20 Elimination of Nuclear Weapons ********************************************************** 1187 Coast Village Road, Suite 123 Santa Barbara, CA 93108-2794 Phone (805) 965-3443 * Fax (805) 568-0466 E- mailto:wagingpeace@napf.org http://www.wagingpeace.org