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  • Discussions on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the 2019 UNGA First Committee

    Discussions on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the 2019 UNGA First Committee

    As we approach the 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, it is important to reflect upon the current situation with nuclear weapons and the sliver of hope that humanity now has in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

    Brief History

    As part of the grand bargain between the Nuclear Weapon Sates (NWS) and the Non-Nuclear Weapon States (NNWS), the NWS agreed that they would “pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament.” In exchange, the NNWS would not acquire nuclear weapons.

    For decades, the NWS have not lived up to their part of their bargain to completely eliminate their nuclear weapons. Because of their opposition, 14,000 nuclear weapons still exist today. Additionally, the NWS have continuously modernized their nuclear weapons arsenals. In the case of the United States (U.S.), it plans to spend $494 billion over the next decade, which is an average of around $50 billion per year. Furthermore, according to the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, U.S. modernization plans could cost as much as $1 trillion over the next three decades. Consequently, the NWS have continued to dangle Damocles’ Sword over the heads of all states and humanity.

    At countless NPT Review meetings, the NWS claimed that the “conditions were not yet ripe” for them to disarm their nuclear weapons. They also praised themselves for agreeing upon on a glossary of terms as a “step” towards a world free of nuclear weapons.

    Emergence of the TPNW

    As it became increasingly clear that the NWS would not ban their nuclear weapons, the NNWS and Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) said enough is enough and took matters into their own hands. These states recognized the missing legal gap in Article VI of the NPT in the form of a legal prohibition for the complete and total elimination of nuclear weapons as articulated in the Humanitarian Pledge.

    With this in mind, the vast majority of states, in partnership with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), successfully negotiated a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in July of 2017 and one hundred and twenty two states voted in favor of the adoption of the treaty. The treaty unequivocally bans nuclear weapons once and for all. It is compatible with the NPT and is a necessary element for its implementation.

    To date, eighty states have signed and thirty-four states have ratified it. Fifty states are required to ratify it before it enters into humanitarian law. Once it becomes part of international customary humanitarian law, it will create a legal norm against nuclear weapons and completely prohibit them.

    2019 First Committee: Civil Society Statements

    To highlight the importance of the TPNW, the ICAN and international youth underscored the necessity for states to support the TPNW. ICAN underscored that:

    14,000 nuclear weapons that exist in the world today pose an acute existential threat to all of us. No nation is immune to the radioactive fallout that would transcend national borders if these weapons were ever used again. No nation is immune to the climate disruption, agricultural and economic collapse, mass human displacement and famine that would inevitably follow even a limited nuclear war.

    Additionally, young people reiterated that nuclear weapons remain an immediate threat facing humanity; and therefore, they must be banned.

    2019 First Committee’s resolution

    Due to the fact that an overwhelming number of states have expressed their support for the TPNW and their opposition to the status quo, fifty states delivered statements in support of the treaty during First Committee.

    Austria introduced its resolution entitled “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” (L.12). Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Botswana, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Chile, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Libya, Liechtenstein, Malawi, Mexico, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, South Africa, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay and Viet Nam co-sponsored the resolution.

    The resolution contains seven operative paragraphs, including:

    Op 5, which calls upon those States in a position to do so to promote adherence to the Treaty through bilateral, sub regional, regional and multilateral contacts, outreach and other means;

    Op. 6. Requests the Secretary-General, as depositary of the Treaty, to report to the General Assembly at its seventy-fifth session on the status of signature and ratification, acceptance, approval or accession of the Treaty;

    States requested votes on both operative paragraphs.

    On Op. 5, 128 states voted in favor, 40 states voted against it, and 13 abstained on it. Concerning Op. 6, 109 states voted in favor, 26 states voted against, and 23 states abstained. As a whole, 119 states voted in favor, 41 states voted against, and 15 states abstained.

    The Opposition

    The NWS and their allies opposed the resolution. In a joint statement, France, the United Kingdom (UK), and the U.S. explained that “nuclear deterrence is essential to international security.” They further contended that the TPNW “denies this reality.” This assertion that nuclear deterrence is essential to international security completely contravenes the spirit and intent of the NPT.

    In its national statement, the U.S. articulated that the TPNW “will not move us any closer to the eliminating nuclear weapons and has increased political divisions that make future disarmament efforts more difficult.” It further claimed that methodical approaches, such as creating the environment/conditions, including verification and compliance, will be more effective than the TPNW at achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.

    Even though the U.S. claims that it supports the creation of an environment or conditions for nuclear disarmament, President Trump’s actions suggest otherwise. As described in the 2018 US Nuclear Posture Review, the Trump administration is interested in developing low-yield nuclear weapons. Further, the posture explicitly mentions the U.S. could employ nuclear weapons in response to “significant non-nuclear strategic attacks.” This includes but is not limited to “attacks on U.S., allied, or partner civilian population or infrastructure.” Furthermore, the document asserts that the U.S. “could employ nuclear weapons in response to “attacks on U.S. or allied nuclear forces, their command and control, or warning and attack assessment capabilities.” This new policy suggests that the U.S. would use nuclear weapons to respond to a cyber attack and categorically rejects a sole purpose policy. Considering the policies set forth in U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, it is hard to fathom that the U.S. cares about creating the environment or conditions for a world free of nuclear weapons.

    The UK presented a similar argument, contending that the TPNW risks undermining the NPT and fails to address technical and procedural challenges that must be overcome to achieve nuclear disarmament.

    Hope

    Despite the opposition from the NWS and their allied states, the TPNW will enter into force extremely soon. In fact, as illustrated in the  Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty Monitor, the rate of ratification and adherence to the TPNW amongst states after 24 months has been higher than the majority of other WMD treaties as is shown in the graph below.

    The entry into force of the TPNW will mark a new era for the international community. It will strengthen the rule of law and the NPT. It will also send a clear signal that the vast majority of states will not remain hostage to a small group of states.

    We cannot continue to live on the precipice of annihilation. Thus, states and civil society groups must continue to collaborate to ensure that the TPNW- a robust complementary instrument to the NPT- enters into force.

    Top image of UN General Assembly Hall by Patrick Gruban, cropped and downsampled by Pine – originally posted to Flickr as UN General Assembly, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4806869

  • Each New Year

    Each New Year

    EACH NEW YEAR

    another revolution
    around the sun

    a moment of pause
    to take account

    a fresh beginning
    to make our world right

    another chance to be
    a good citizen of Earth

    new hope that love
    may conquer fear

    CADA NUEVO AÑO

    Traducción de Rubén D. Arvizu

    otra revolución
    alrededor del sol

    un momento de pausa
    para considerar

    un comienzo fresco
    para hacer bien al mundo

    otra oportunidad de ser
    un buen ciudadano de la Tierra

    nueva esperanza de que el amor
    pueda conquistar al temor.

  • My Last Message as NAPF President

    My Last Message as NAPF President

    In just a few days, I will retire after serving as President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation for the past 37 years. I give my deepest thanks to all of you who have educated yourselves and others through our books and monthly newsletter, who have spoken out for peace and nuclear disarmament through our Action Alert Network, and who have made this institution possible through your generous financial support.

    When we founded NAPF in 1982, the world was adrift in nuclear dangers. We began with a belief in the necessity of awakening people everywhere to the dangers of the Nuclear Age – a time in which our technological prowess exceeded our ethical development. This dilemma continues today. For nearly four decades, we have been a steady, consistent and creative voice for peace and a world free of nuclear weapons.

    As the calendar page turns to 2020, we are working to create a peace literate world, based upon empathy, caring, kindness and overcoming fear, greed and trauma: a world in which nuclear weapons can be abolished and stay abolished. Our Peace Literacy Initiative, headed by Paul K. Chappell, a West Point graduate, goes to the root causes of war and nuclear weapons. It is a profound way of waging peace.

    As the next generation prepares to take the helm at NAPF, I ask you to believe in the power of our work now more than ever. We have exciting plans to scale up our Peace Literacy work and deliver measurable and increasing impacts over the coming months and years.

    Your financial support is essential to making these plans a reality. Please consider a year-end gift to the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation so that we can maximize our reach to train students, teachers, and community leaders in 2020 and beyond.

    In peace,

    David Krieger
    President

  • Sunflower Newsletter: December 2019

    Sunflower Newsletter: December 2019

     

     

  • Which Would You Prefer―Nuclear War or Climate Catastrophe?

    Which Would You Prefer―Nuclear War or Climate Catastrophe?

    To:      The people of the world

    From:  The Joint Public Relations Department of the Great Powers

    The world owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, Boris Johnson, and other heroic rulers of our glorious nations.  Not only are they hard at work making their respective countries great again, but they are providing you, the people of the world, with a choice between two opportunities for mass death and destruction.

    Throughout the broad sweep of history, leaders of competing territories and eventually nations labored at fostering human annihilation, but, given the rudimentary state of their technology, were only partially successful.  Yes, they did manage to slaughter vast numbers of people through repeated massacres and constant wars.  The Thirty Years War of 1618-1648, for example, resulted in more than 8 million casualties, a substantial portion of Europe’s population.  And, of course, World Wars I and II, supplemented by a hearty dose of genocide along the way, did a remarkably good job of ravaging populations, crippling tens of millions of survivors, and blasting much of world civilization to rubble.  Even so, despite the best efforts of national rulers and the never-ending glory they derived from these events, large numbers of people somehow survived.

    Therefore, in August 1945, the rulers of the great powers took a great leap forward with their development―and immediate use―of a new, advanced implement for mass destruction:  nuclear weapons.  Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin were all eager to employ atomic bombs against the people of Japan.  Upon receiving the news that the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima had successfully obliterated the population of that city, Truman rejoiced and called the action “the greatest thing in history.”

    Efforts to enhance national grandeur followed during subsequent decades, as the rulers of the great powers (and some pathetic imitators) engaged in an enormous nuclear arms race.  Determined to achieve military supremacy, they spared no expense, employed Nazi scientists and slave labor, and set off vast nuclear explosions on the lands of colonized people and in their own countries.  By the 1980s, about 70,000 nuclear weapons were under their command―more than enough to destroy the world many times over.  Heartened by their national strength, our rulers threw down the gauntlet to their enemies and predicted that their nations would emerge victorious in a nuclear war.

    But, alas, the public, failing to appreciate these valiant efforts, grew restive―indeed, disturbingly unpatriotic.  Accordingly, they began to sabotage these advances by demanding that their governments step back from the brink of nuclear war, forgo nuclear buildups, and adopt nuclear arms control and disarmament treaties.  The popular clamor became so great that even Ronald Reagan―a longtime supporter of nuclear supremacy and “winnable” nuclear wars―crumpled.  Championing nuclear disarmament, he began declaring that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”  National glory had been sacrificed on the altar of a cowardly quest for human survival.

    Fortunately, those days are long past.  In the United States, President Trump is determined to restore America’s greatness by scrapping nuclear arms control and disarmament agreements, spending $1.7 trillion on refurbishing the entire U.S. nuclear weapons complex, and threatening to eradicate other nations through nuclear war.  Meanwhile, the president’s good friends in Moscow, Beijing, London, Paris, New Delhi, and elsewhere are busy spurring on their own national nuclear weapons buildups.  As they rightly insist:  The only way to stop a bad nation with the Bomb is with a good nation with the Bomb.

    Nor is that all!  Recently, our rulers have opened up a second opportunity for a planetary destruction:  climate catastrophe.  Some scientists, never satisfied with leaving the running of public affairs to their wise rulers, have claimed that, thanks to the burning of fossil fuels, rising temperatures are melting the polar icecaps, heightening sea levels, and causing massive hurricanes and floods, desertification, agricultural collapse, and enormous wildfires.  As a result, they say, human and other life forms are on their way to extinction.

    These scientists―and the deluded people who give them any credence―are much like the critics of nuclear weapons:  skeptics, nay-sayers, and traitorously indifferent to national grandeur.  By contrast, our rulers understand that any curbing of the use of fossil fuels—or, for that matter, any cutbacks in the sale of the products that make our countries great―would interfere with corporate profits, undermine business growth and expansion, and represent a retreat from the national glory that is their due.  Consequently, even if by some remote chance we are entering a period of climate disruption, our rulers will refuse to give way before these unpatriotic attacks.  As courageous leaders, they will never retreat before the prospect of your mass death and destruction.

    We are sure that you, as loyal citizens, are as enthusiastic as we are about this staunch defense of national glory.  So, if you notice anyone challenging this approach, please notify your local Homeland Security office.  Meanwhile, rest assured, our governments will also be closely monitoring these malcontents and subversives!

    Naturally, your rulers would love to have your feedback.  Therefore, we are submitting to you this question:  Which would you prefer―destruction by nuclear war or destruction by climate catastrophe?  Nuclear war will end your existence fairly quickly through blast or fire, although your death would be slower and more agonizing if you survived long enough to die of radiation sickness or starvation.  On the other hand, climate catastrophe has appealing variety, for you could die by fire, water, or hunger.  Or you might simply roast slowly thanks to unbearable temperatures.

    We’d appreciate receiving your opinion on this matter.  After all, providing you with this kind of choice is a vital part of making our nations great again!

  • Sunflower Newsletter: November 2019

    Sunflower Newsletter: November 2019

     

  • 2019 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award Acceptance Speech

    2019 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award Acceptance Speech

    Thank you, Hal Maynard and Sandy Jones for the beautiful song; Perie Longo for reading my poems and for her poetic response; and Dan Ellsberg, Rick Wayman, Steve Parry, Rob Laney and Mara for their kind and eloquent remarks.

    Thank you also to the Board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation for this honor.

    And thank you all for being here and making this Evening for Peace so special.

    I have been very fortunate in my life to have a loving wife and family, and to have been able to do the work that mattered most to me – the work of trying to assure a human future.

    When we founded the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, the world was adrift in nuclear dangers. We began with no resources, only a belief in the necessity of awakening people everywhere to the dangers of the Nuclear Age – a time in which our technological prowess exceeds our ethical development.

    We took a chance in 1982, and here we are nearly four decades later. The Foundation has been a steady, consistent and creative voice for Peace and a world free of nuclear weapons.

    In the mid-1980s there were over 70,000 nuclear weapons in the world. Today there are less than 14,000.

    This is progress, but clearly the job is not completed. The use of only a small percentage of these remaining weapons could end civilization as we know it and possibly the human species.

    To end the nuclear threat to life on our planet, we must overcome ignorance and apathy. We must, as Einstein warned, change our modes of thinking or face “unparalleled catastrophe.”

    At the Foundation we are working to create peace literate societies – societies based upon empathy, caring, kindness and overcoming fear, greed and trauma. Our Peace Literacy Initiative, headed by Paul Chappell, a West Point graduate, goes to the root causes of war and nuclear weapons. It is a profound way of waging peace.

    As the next generation prepares to take the helm at the Foundation, I leave to them these thoughts, which go back to our founding:

    First, peace is an imperative of the Nuclear Age. Any war can become a nuclear war – by malice, madness, mistake, miscalculation or manipulation.

    Second, we must abolish nuclear weapons before they abolish us. There is no doubt that this potential exists.

    Third, to succeed will require extraordinary ordinary people to lead their political leaders.

    I put great faith in Rick Wayman’s leadership skills. I know he will steer the Foundation competently into the future.

    Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.” I would add, as I’m sure he would, that we must work diligently to attain this reality. That is what the Foundation does each day, and its work must continue.

    It is up to all of us to assure that this happens. The future requires no less from us, and we should demand no less from ourselves.

    Among the books I’ve written is a dialogue with the Buddhist leader, philosopher, poet and educator Daisaku Ikeda called Choose Hope. My hope for each of you is that you will choose hope, continue to support the Foundation, and help change the world.

    I will conclude with a poem, “A Conspiracy of Decency.”

    A CONSPIRACY OF DECENCY

    We will conspire to keep this blue dot floating and alive,
    to keep the soldiers from gunning down the children,

    to make the water clean and clear and plentiful,
    to put food on everybody’s table and hope in their hearts.

    We will conspire to find new ways to say People matter.
    This conspiracy will be bold.

    Everyone will dance at wholly inappropriate times.
    They will burst out singing non-patriotic songs.

    And the not-so-secret password will be Peace.

  • For David Krieger

    For David Krieger

    Perie Longo read this poem that she wrote for David Krieger at the 36th Annual Evening for Peace on October 20, 2019. The poem is a response to Krieger’s poem “I Refuse.”

    For David Krieger

    2019 Distinguished Peace Leader
    Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

    Yes David, our hero, we hear you in the words
    of the dissenting Meija, and in hundreds
    of your writings and poems that circle the globe
    for good, insisting return to common sense
    in this trigger happy age. Seer and sage,

    you must wear a fire proof shield
    the way you’ve confronted the flames of evil
    and still be in one piece, waving your pen
    at once dove gentle and warrior fierce.

    From the beginning you’ve crossed many lines,
    and crossed out some too, stating your case
    in the name of truth. In the field of this room,
    we, who’ve followed your lead, gather
    as many more will because of your valor

    speaking volumes loud and clear. Nukes, never!
    For humanity’s sake, Hope and Peace forever!
    David, your distinguished life’s work is the poem,
    blend of mind and heart which knows no end.

    by Perie Longo
    Santa Barbara Poet Laureate 2007-09
    Oct. 20, 2019
    36th Annual Evening for Peace

  • Honoring My Dad, David Krieger, The Peace Dude

    Honoring My Dad, David Krieger, The Peace Dude

    Dr. Mara Sweeney delivered these remarks at the 36th Annual Evening for Peace on October 20, 2019.

    My name is Mara, and I am David Krieger’s daughter. It is an honor to be standing up here tonight speaking about my dad. My dad, David Krieger. (The Peace Dude.)

    I grew up in a home where some of the finest people of our time came. The Dalai Lama, Jacques Cousteau, Daniel Ellsberg, and Linus Pauling to name a few, have all been to my house. In fact, a few times a year, someone was at our house, sitting at our dining table or in our living room with my dad. I knew this wasn’t normal, but it actually kind of was at my house. These people came to speak with my Dad. What I am really proud of and continue to be in awe of is my dad’s thoughtful, measured and deliberate responses and questions. He is wise.

    My dad has a PhD in international relations and is also an attorney. He had opportunities to teach at university, to practice law…shoot he was almost the in house counsel to a little gaming company called Nintendo way back in the day…However, he could not turn away from the work of waging peace and nuclear abolition. I am so proud of his dedication.

    When my son, Nat, and I joined my dad on a trip to Japan a few years ago, I was overwhelmed at the reception he received in so many places there. In Japan, where people sadly know the horrors of nuclear weapons, my dad is a hero. It was like a rock star had entered the room when he entered. It was wonderful to see the appreciation.

    My dad has worked toward his goal of a world free of nuclear weapons and the threat they pose for as long as I can remember. He has worked toward a more peaceful world, a safer world for all of us, day after day, year after year because it is the right thing to do. It has not been easy. He has pushed back against complacency, ignorance and fear. He has dug in when others might have quit. He has never stopped writing, speaking, and thinking of how to accomplish this goal. I am proud of his perseverance.

    Like so many daughters, my dad is my hero. He is wise, he is thoughtful, dedicated, creative.

    On behalf of my family, my mom, my brothers, my husband, my kids, my niece and nephews and my uncle who are all here tonight, and those in the family who were unable to be here but are sending their love from afar,  We congratulate you Dad!! Thank you for inspiring us all to be better people, for inspiring us to be global citizens.

  • Encomium for David Krieger

    Encomium for David Krieger

    NAPF Chair Robert Laney delivered these remarks on October 20, 2019, at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 36th Annual Evening for Peace.

    With this assignment to speak about David I feel the dilemma that others have felt in similar circumstances when trying against impossible odds to do justice to a subject too large for their talents and too large for the time allotted. I proceed.

    David Krieger has played a variety of roles in my life and, I suspect, in the lives of our many friends in and around the Foundation, past and present. Many of you already know much of what follows, but please bear with me.

    First, David as our visionary: Since the Foundation’s beginning in 1982 David has personified a vision of a better world than the world in which we live today — a more safe, sane, secure, just, and peaceful world — a world free of the threat that nuclear weapons pose to all of humanity.  Many people, especially in the political world, have scoffed at such a vision and continue to scoff. But David, knowing the true nature of the nuclear threat and having grappled with it over many years, has never lost heart or waivered from his vision of a better world. As David has reminded us on countless occasions, peace is an imperative of the nuclear age.

    Next, David as our leader: The Foundation’s 37-years-and-counting campaign to create a more safe, sane, and secure world has faced daunting odds in the powers-that-be who always resist the changes that we seek. Nevertheless throughout this period the Foundation has been able to keep its lights on, its telephones and computers in operation, and its amazing and dedicated Staff fully engaged with the challenges we face. Let me be clear: none of this would have been remotely possible without David’s steady, clear-eyed leadership and hand on the helm. I shall cite just a few examples among many:

    It has been David who assembled and trained our Staff of all-stars, each of whom treats his or her responsibilities as a calling rather than just a job.

    It has been David who has done the heavy lifting in fund-raising throughout this period.

    It has been David who has kept the Foundation current with developments in the field of nuclear weapons policy.

    It has been David who caused the Foundation to achieve consultative status at the United Nations and to play an active and influential role in nuclear weapons-related conferences at the UN in New York and in Europe.

    It has been David who forged essential alliances with other NGOs and various political, social, and religious leaders around the world, some of whose names you would recognize instantly.

    It has been David who has guided each Staff member in his or her personal growth as a peace activist and as an effective member of our team.

    And it has been David who established our program for interns and has guided our interns not only in their contributions to the work of the Foundation but also in their personal growth as peace activists.

    I could go on about David’s decisive accomplishments as our leader since 1982, but you get my drift. As an organization with an effective voice in the world, we owe our existence this evening to David Krieger.

    Next, David as our teacher: Not all of us were peace activists or anti- nuclear weapons campaigners when we first met David. Some of us needed to be “brought along,” as they say, and in my case, over a period of years. I confess this as one who came from all the educational

    advantages that one would expect should have taught me such things. But under David’s gentle guidance I gradually came to understand not only the gravity of the nuclear threat, but also the moral impossibility of staying on the sidelines while this threat exists. I know that some of you were more developed in this respect than I was upon first meeting David.  Nevertheless I suspect that you have your own stories about how David has influenced your thinking about why and how to create a safer and more secure world. But David as a teacher has gone far beyond our circle at the Foundation. As everyone knows, David’s books, essays, and letters to editors over many years have provided the public with a rich source of education on matters of peace and security in the nuclear age.

    Next, David as our brother and comrade in the campaign for a  better world: Throughout my association with David and the Foundation over more than two decades, I have observed how David places himself among our team rather than over our team, offering hints, praise, suggestions, and encouragement as circumstances would indicate.  Not one to feed his ego in the position of President and CEO even  though he has had plenty of opportunities to do so, David has preferred  to guide by soft-spoken example in the manner of an elder brother   rather than as chief executive. I have always felt and appreciated David’s genuine interest in the people of the Foundation for their own sakes, as if we are all a family.

    Finally, David as our poet in residence: Most of you know that David has a poetic soul. Indeed one wonders where this poetic inclination would have taken him but for his 37 years at the helm of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Look into his poetry, and you will see what I mean. This is where you will see David’s heart most clearly – the heart of one deeply in touch with humanity’s cri de coeur for a better world – a world free of war, free of mindless cruelty, and free of the threat that nuclear weapons present to all that we hold dear.

    So David, as our visionary, our leader, our teacher, our brother and comrade, and our poet in residence, you have brought us farther in 37 years than we ever had a right to expect. But our journey is not over, and I for one look forward to continuing our work together in the ranks of our comrades in disarmament. May it ever be thus.