I applaud your continuing to commemorate August 6th, the day in 1945 on which the first atomic bomb was used in warfare, dropped by the United States on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The use of that bomb took 70,000 lives immediately and 140,000 lives by the end of 1945. It was a bomb that vaporized people, leaving behind, for some, only shadows and elemental particles. The use of atomic weapons was a war crime and crime against humanity. Three days later these crimes were repeated on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, killing 40,000 people immediately and 70,000 by the end of 1945.
When these atrocities were committed in August 1945, there were no additional nuclear weapons in the world. Today there are more than 15,000 nuclear weapons, most far more powerful than those that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And most of the world is complacent in the face of these terrible devices of mass annihilation. In our world today, nuclear weapons bestow prestige rather than disgrace. We are like small children playing with fire. In our hubris, we believe that we can possess these weapons and threaten their use without adverse consequences. But this isn’t so. If countries continue to rely upon nuclear weapons for their security, eventually they will be used again – because we humans are fallible creatures and nuclear deterrence is a dangerous and unproven hypothesis.
Some 180 U.S. nuclear weapons are deployed in Europe, including in Turkey, where there was a recent attempted coup d’état that involved high-ranking military officers from Incirlik Air Force Base, the very base where the U.S. stores its nuclear weapons. Mass killings occur almost daily. The world is filled with terrorists and unstable individuals, who desire to do harm to innocent people. This is bad enough, but the ultimate evil would be to again use nuclear weapons. So long as they are relied upon for security, so long as they are possessed, there remains a not insignificant chance they will be used again by mistake or malice. We must abolish these weapons before they abolish us.
Nuclear weapons must be abolished so that we can get on with the task of building a more decent world. To achieve that more decent world we must move from apathy to empathy; from conformity to critical thinking; from ignorance to wisdom; and from denial to recognition of the dangers to all humanity posed by nuclear weapons.
On behalf of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and our 75,000 members, I send you our greetings, our good wishes and our appreciation for your reflections on this anniversary day of such significant consequence to all humanity.
Sincerely,
David Krieger
President
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
It is reported that President Obama is considering important changes in U.S. nuclear weapons policy that will make the world safer and that he can make as commander-in-chief without Congressional involvement. We urge the President to be bold and initiate the following seven policy changes:
1. Declare a No First Use policy. The U.S. currently maintains a policy that it is acceptable for it to use nuclear weapons first in certain scenarios. A No First Use policy would make nuclear war less likely.
2. Eliminate launch-on-warning. This would make mistaken launches due to computer error less likely.
3. De-alert the nuclear arsenal. Taking U.S. nuclear weapons off high-alert would allow decision makers more time to consider the use of nuclear weapons.
4. Remove U.S. nuclear weapons from foreign soil. This would decrease tensions with Russia and make nuclear war less likely.
5. Eliminate land-based nuclear weapons. This would remove these easy targets and alleviate the “use them or lose them” scenario.
6. Zero-out funding for “modernizing” the U.S. nuclear arsenal. This would reverse the current nuclear arms race and free hundreds of billions of dollars for fulfilling societal needs.
7. Convene the nine nuclear-armed countries to commence good faith negotiations for total nuclear disarmament. This would show that the U.S. is serious about complying with its legal obligations under Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Nuclear weapons are cruel weapons that destroy human beings.
The instant that the single nuclear bomb dropped by a U.S. military aircraft on Nagasaki City at 11:02 AM on August 9, 1945, exploded in the air, it struck the city with a furious blast and heat wave. Nagasaki City was transformed into a hell on earth; a hell of black-charred corpses, people covered in blistering burns, people with their internal organs spilling out, and people cut and studded by the countless fragments of flying glass that had penetrated their bodies.
The radiation released by the bomb pierced people’s bodies, resulting in illnesses and disabilities that still afflict those who narrowly managed to survive the bombing.
Nuclear weapons are cruel weapons that continue to destroy human beings.
In May this year, President Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to visit Hiroshima, a city which was bombed with a nuclear weapon. In doing so, the President showed the rest of the world the importance of seeing, listening and feeling things for oneself.
I appeal to the leaders of states which possess nuclear weapons and other countries, and to the people of the world: please come and visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Find out for yourselves what happened to human beings beneath the mushroom cloud. Knowing the facts becomes the starting point for thinking about a future free of nuclear weapons.
This year at the United Nations Office at Geneva, sessions are being held to deliberate a legal framework that will take forward nuclear disarmament negotiations. The creation of a forum for legal discussions is a huge step forward. However, countries in possession of nuclear weapons have not attended these meetings, the results of which will be compiled shortly. Moreover, conflict continues between the nations that are dependent on nuclear deterrence and those that are urging for a start of negotiations to prohibit nuclear weapons. If this situation continues, then the meetings will end without the creation of a roadmap for nuclear weapons abolition.
Leaders of countries possessing nuclear weapons, it is not yet too late. Please attend the meetings and participate in the debate.
I appeal to the United Nations, governments and national assemblies, and the civil society including NGOs. We must not allow the eradication of these forums where we can discuss legal frameworks for the abolition of nuclear weapons. At the United Nations General Assembly this fall, please provide a forum for discussing and negotiating a legal framework aimed at the realization of a world without nuclear weapons. And as members of human society, I ask you all to continue to make every effort to seek out a viable solution.
Countries which possess nuclear weapons are currently carrying out plans to make their nuclear weapons even more sophisticated. If this situation continues, the realization of a world without nuclear weapons will become even more unlikely.
Now is the time for all of you to bring together as much of your collective wisdom as you possibly can, and act so that we do not destroy the future of mankind.
The Government of Japan, while advocating nuclear weapons abolition, still relies on nuclear deterrence. As a method to overcome this contradictory state of affairs, please enshrine the Three Non-Nuclear Principles in law, and create a “Northeast Asia Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone” (NEA-NWFZ) as a framework for security that does not rely on nuclear deterrence. As the only nation in the world to have suffered a nuclear bombing during wartime, and as a nation that understands only too well the inhumanity of these weapons, I ask the Government of Japan to display leadership in taking concrete action regarding the creation of a nuclear weapons-free zone, a concept that embodies mankind’s wisdom.
The history of nuclear weapons is also the history of distrust.
In the midst of this distrust between nations, countries with nuclear weapons have developed evermore destructive weapons with increasingly distant target ranges. There are still over 15,000 nuclear warheads in existence, and there is the ever-present danger that they may be used in war, by accident, or as an act of terrorism.
One way of stemming this flow and turning the cycle of distrust into a cycle of trust is to continue with persistent efforts to create trust.
In line with the peaceful ethos of the Constitution of Japan, we have endeavored to spread trust throughout the world by contributing to global society through efforts such as humanitarian aid. In order that we never again descend into war, Japan must continue to follow this path as a peaceful nation.
There is also something that each and every one of us can do as members of civil society. This is to mutually understand the differences in each other’s languages, cultures and ways of thinking, and to create trust on a familiar level by taking part in exchange with people regardless of their nationality. The warm reception given to President Obama by the people of Hiroshima is one example of this. The conduct of civil society may appear small on an individual basis, but it is in fact a powerful and irreplaceable tool for building up relationships of trust between nations.
Seventy-one years after the atomic bombings, the average age of the hibakusha, atomic bomb survivors, exceeds 80. The world is steadily edging towards “an era without any hibakusha.” The question we face now is how to hand down to future generations the experiences of war and the atomic bombing that was the result of that war.
You who are the young generation, all the daily things that you take for granted – your mother’s gentle hands, your father’s kind look, chatting with your friends, the smiling face of the person you like – war takes these from you, forever.
Please take the time to listen to war experiences, and the experiences of the hibakusha. Talking about such terrible experiences is not easy. I want you all to realize that the reason these people still talk about what they went through is because they want to protect the people of the future.
Nagasaki has started activities in which the children and grandchildren of the hibakusha are conveying the experiences of their elders. We are also pursuing activities to have the bombed schoolhouse at Shiroyama Elementary School, and other sites, registered as Historic Sites of Japan, so that they can be left for future generations.
Young people, for the sake of the future, will you face up to the past and thereby take a step forward?
It is now over five years since the nuclear reactor accident in Fukushima. As a place that has suffered from radiation exposure, Nagasaki will continue to support Fukushima.
As for the Government of Japan, we strongly demand that wide-ranging improvements are made to the support provided to the hibakusha, who still to this day suffer from the aftereffects of the bombing, and that swift aid is given to all those who experienced the bombing, including the expansion of the area designated as having been affected by the atomic bomb.
We, the citizens of Nagasaki, offer our most heartfelt condolences to those who lost their lives to the atomic bomb. We hereby declare that together with the people of the world, we will continue to use all our strength to achieve a world without nuclear weapons, and to realize everlasting peace.
This letter, by Hiroshima survivor and NAPF Advisory Council member Setsuko Thurlow, was delivered to President Obama via Ben Rhodes on June 6, 2016.
Dear President Obama,
Since your historic visit to Hiroshima in May, several people have been asking me to share my thoughts. What would I have said to you directly if we’d had an opportunity to sit down and speak face to face?
Setsuko Thurlow at the 2015 NAPF Evening for Peace.
The first thing that comes to mind that I would have shared with you is an image of my four-year-old nephew Eiji — transformed into a charred, blackened and swollen child who kept asking in a faint voice for water until he died in agony. Had he not been a victim of the atomic bomb, he would be 75 years old this year. This idea shocks me. Regardless of the passage of time, he remains in my memory as a 4-year-old child who came to represent all the innocent children of the world. And it is this death of innocents that has been the driving force for me to continue my struggle against the ultimate evil of nuclear weapons. Eiji’s image is burnt into my retina.
Many survivors have been passing in recent years with their dreams of nuclear abolition unfulfilled. Their motto was, “abolition in our lifetime”. The reality of our twilight years intensifies our sense of urgency, now met with stronger commitment. When you say: “it may not happen in my lifetime”, this gives us enormous grief.
I was not in Hiroshima when you visited, but I understand it was packed with media, and I could tell that of course your visit was carefully controlled and choreographed: who sat where; who were invited to approach you; the children and hibakusha who were hand picked by the Japanese Foreign Ministry. But still you came. Your speech was heartfelt but it avoided the issue. I know from my personal experience as hellish as all war is nothing can be equivalent to nuclear violence.
You said, “Mere words cannot give voice to such suffering. But we have a shared responsibility to look directly into the eye of history and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again.” To me your words echoed those of former German President Richard von Weizeker’s inspiring speech on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Germany’s surrender. Many Japanese people were deeply inspired by the manner in which he confronted the past and dealt with wartime atrocities with integrity, when he said, “We Germans must look truth straight in the eye – without embellishment and without distortion… There can be no reconciliation without remembrance.”
The Japanese Government should emulate this profound sentiment in confronting the past and dealing with our as yet unresolved relationships with neighboring countries, particularly Korea and China. Tragically, the current Abe Administration is seeking to expand Japan’s military role in the region and forsake our much-cherished Peace Constitution.
And in the United States, as you are no doubt aware, an unfortunate remembrance has been underway. The National Park Service and the Department of Energy will establish the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. Unlike the memorials at Auschwitz and Treblinka, the United States seeks to preserve the history of the once top-secret sites at Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Hanford, as a sort of celebration of that technological ‘achievement’. Among the first so-called ‘successes’ of this endeavor was creating hell on earth in my beloved Hiroshima.
Is this how we should ensure that the “memory of the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, must never fade”?
Setsuko Thurlow’s family in 1937.
As a 13-year-old schoolgirl, I witnessed my city of Hiroshima blinded by the flash, flattened by the hurricane-like blast, burned in the heat of 4000 degrees Celsius and contaminated by the radiation of one atomic bomb. A bright summer morning turned to dark twilight with smoke and dust rising in the mushroom cloud, dead and injured covering the ground, begging desperately for water and receiving no medical care at all. The spreading firestorm and the foul stench of burnt flesh filled the air.
Miraculously, I was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building, about 1.8 kilometers from Ground Zero. Most of my classmates in the same room were burned alive. I can still hear their voices calling their mothers and God for help. As I escaped with two other surviving girls, we saw a procession of ghostly figures slowly shuffling from the centre of the city. Grotesquely wounded people, whose clothes were tattered, or who were made naked by the blast. They were bleeding, burnt, blackened and swollen. Parts of their bodies were missing, flesh and skin hanging from their bones, some with their eyeballs hanging in their hands, and some with their stomachs burst open, with their intestines hanging out.
Through months and years of struggle for survival, rebuilding lives out of the ashes, we survivors, or ‘hibakusha’, became convinced that no human being should ever have to repeat our experience of the inhumane, immoral, and cruel atomic bombing. And it is our mission, to warn the world about the reality of the nuclear threat; and to help people understand the illegality and ultimate evil of nuclear weapons. We believe that humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist.
And still today, to paraphrase President Kennedy, the sword of Damocles dangles evermore perilously. Most experts agree that nuclear weapons are more dangerous now than at any point in our history due to a wide variety of risks including: geopolitical saber rattling, human error, computer failure, complex systems failure, increasing radioactive contamination in the environment and its toll on public and environmental health, as well as the global famine and climate chaos that would ensue should a limited use of nuclear weapons occur by accident or design.
Thus, we have a moral imperative to abolish nuclear arsenals, in order to ensure a safe and just world for future generations. As you said in Hiroshima, “we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them.”
Why then, with all due respect to you Mr. President, is the US government boycotting the United Nations disarmament negotiations born of the Humanitarian Initiative, the most significant advance for nuclear disarmament in a generation?
Within the last five years, I have witnessed the rapid development of a global movement involving states without nuclear weapons and NGOs working together to achieve the elimination of nuclear weapons. This movement has shown beyond all doubt that nuclear weapons are first and foremost a grave humanitarian problem, and that the terrible risks of these weapons cast all techno-military considerations into irrelevance. Following three International Conferences on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons – inexcusably boycotted by your administration – 127 nations have joined the Humanitarian Pledge to fill the legal gap for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons. These nations are calling on Nuclear Weapon States and those who stand with them, to begin a process for nuclear disarmament.
To repeat the words of Richard von Weizeker: “We must look truth straight in the eye – without embellishment and without distortion.” The truth is, we all live with the daily threat of nuclear weapons. In every silo, on every submarine, in the bomb bays of airplanes, every second of every day, nuclear weapons, thousands on high alert, are poised for deployment threatening everyone we love and everything we hold dear.
Last month in Japan you poignantly said: “That is why we come to Hiroshima. So that we might think of people we love. The first smile from our children in the morning. The gentle touch from a spouse over the kitchen table. The comforting embrace of a parent. We can think of those things and know that those same precious moments took place here, 71 years ago.”
I beg you to reframe this profound sentiment to understand that the people we love, our smiling children, the embrace of loved ones, these precious moments and precious people are all under threat of annihilation because of the existence of nuclear weapons, and the policy of deterrence that you currently authorize and provide for nations under the US nuclear umbrella, including my home country Japan. This perversion, in its truest sense, means that the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack in war now seeks its own protection through far more diabolical hydrogen bombs. And you Mr. Obama, the only sitting US President to visit Hiroshima, came accompanied by a duty bound officer with the nuclear briefcase, should you need the codes to command a remote missileer to insert a floppy disc as a prelude to the end of life on earth.
If you truly wanted to hasten our “own moral awakening” through making nuclear disarmament a reality, here are three immediate steps:
Stop the U.S. boycott of international nuclear disarmament meetings and join the 127 countries that have endorsed the Humanitarian Pledge to create a new legal instrument and new norms for a nuclear weapons ban treaty as a first step in their elimination and prohibition.
Stop spending money to modernize the US nuclear arsenal, a staggering $1 trillion over the next three decades, and use this money to meet human needs and protect our environment.
Take nuclear weapons off high alert and review the aging command and control systems that have been the subject of recent research exposing a culture of neglect and the alarming regularity of accidents involving nuclear weapons.
President Obama, you uniquely have the power to enact real change. This could be your legacy. To usher in an era of real disarmament where lifting the threat of nuclear war could ease all people to “go through their day in peace. What a precious thing that is. It is worth protecting, and then extending to every child.”
A few days ago, the U.S. Air Force announced that it is seeking proposals from “industry” to replace its nuclear weapons and delivery systems. While the Air Force’s plans for nuclear weapons “modernization” aim to please the for-profit weapons industry, the stakeholders it should be considering are the people and the planet.
The People
Will the people benefit from $1 trillion being spent on new nuclear weapons, delivery systems and production infrastructure?
Let’s ask Pope Francis. In a December 2014 message to the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, he said:
Spending on nuclear weapons squanders the wealth of nations. To prioritize such spending is a mistake and a misallocation of resources which would be far better invested in the areas of integral human development, education, health and the fight against extreme poverty. When these resources are squandered, the poor and the weak living on the margins of society pay the price.
Now, $1 trillion over 30 years might sound like a lot of money to spend on nuclear weapons. That’s approximately $4 million per hour for three decades. However, we must also keep in mind that this is only the additional money that the U.S. will be spending to “modernize” its nuclear arsenal. It will also be spending money to maintain and deploy its systems, to the tune of tens of billions more dollars annually.
Also, the U.S. is not the only country engaged in nuclear weapons modernization. Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea are all engaged in some level of modernization of their own nuclear forces.
The Planet
Will the planet benefit from a new generation of nuclear weapons?
Let’s ask the people of St. Louis, Missouri, where an underground landfill fire is approaching buried radioactive waste created over 70 years ago during the Manhattan Project. Community members living near the West Lake Landfill have been organizing to have this extraordinarily dangerous issue addressed as a matter of top priority to the nation, but every day the uncontrolled fire creeps closer to buried radioactive waste.
There are many other sites in the U.S. that are similarly — and in many cases more — contaminated from nuclear weapons production. Again, the U.S. is but one of nine nuclear-armed countries, and sadly this legacy of environmental carelessness has played out all over the world.
Profit
Next time you hear an Air Force general or a member of Congress say just how urgent and necessary it is to modernize U.S. nuclear weapons, think about what they are really saying, and where their priorities truly lie.
Our collective future should not be held hostage by profit-driven corporations enabled by politicians who believe in the fantasy of indefinite global security through the threat of mass annihilation. As we reflect on the 71st anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki this week, we are offered a reminder of what nuclear weapons are really designed to do: indiscriminately kill hundreds of thousands of people in an instant.
This speech was delivered by Setsuko Thurlow in Toronto, Canada on August 6, 2016.
Setsuko Thurlow at the 2015 NAPF Evening for Peace.
Today is the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The calendar never fails to bring me the special reminder each year of the unforgettable day, August 6, 1945, that changed my life and that of the entire world. As I attempt to ponder the meaning of my survival from that hell on Earth I remember Einstein’s words, “Splitting the atom has changed everything except our way of thinking, thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe”. Try to visualize his words! It is a chillingly frightening truth. His words have been ringing in our ears for the past 71 years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but with more intensity in recent years; as the world we live in is getting more dangerous with over 15,000 nuclear weapons, which are far more destructive than those that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while the majority of the world’s people continue to live in denial, blissfully ignorant and complacent of the reality.
Having lived through such an unprecedented catastrophe, we survivors, Hibakusha, became convinced of our mission to warn the world about the reality of those indiscriminate, inhumane, and cruel nuclear weapons, and their utter unacceptability. Thus, we have been calling for the total abolition of such devices of mass murder. We believe that as long as nuclear weapons exist there is no guarantee of security.
It was because of this awe-inducing power of the atomic bombs that some enlightened leaders of the world, foreseeing the potential annihilation of civilization, speedily established the United Nations and called for stringent control on nuclear technologies to ensure that no one would ever use them for weapons again. The UN General Assembly’s first ever resolution tried to address “the problems raised by the discovery of atomic energy”. The U.S. enjoyed a monopoly for testing and producing nuclear weapons until the USSR caught up in 1949, and other nuclear weapon nations followed soon after. As the arms race intensified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty came into force in 1970 and in 1996 the International Court of Justice, the highest court of International Law, was requested to give an advisory opinion on the legality of nuclear weapons and the legal obligations of the nuclear weapon states. Many of us here remember those days with occasional small “moral victories” we celebrated, but mostly fury and outrage for the lack of progress in the disarmament diplomacy.
In the past several years witnessing nuclear disarmament diplomacy at work in the United Nations and at international conferences has been a relatively new experience for me. I found it to be profoundly disturbing to see the lack of tangible progress in diplomatic negotiations in spite of the 46 years since the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty came into force. The nuclear weapon states are not genuinely committed to the treaty as demonstrated by their not having complied with their legal obligations under Article VI to work toward nuclear disarmament in good faith. They are acting as if it is their right to keep their nuclear weapons indefinitely, and are manipulating the negotiation process to suit their perceived national interest. This totally unacceptable nuclear status quo has been driving many exasperated non-nuclear weapon states and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to demand a legally binding instrument to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.
This condition was conducive to the birth of a rapidly growing global movement, the Humanitarian Initiative, involving 127 non-nuclear weapon states and over 440 non-governmental organizations in 98 countries and the United Nations and its agencies, working together to outlaw nuclear weapons. Over several years with three successful conferences on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons hosted by the governments of Norway, Mexico and Austria, this movement refocused attention from the military doctrine of deterrence to the humanitarian dimension of nuclear weapons. The result has been a strong push for a legally binding treaty to ban nuclear weapons.
The Humanitarian Pledge was issued by the Austrian government at the conclusion of the Vienna conference in December 2014, committing Austria to “identify and pursue effective measures to fill the legal gap for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons”. This pledge has now been endorsed by 127 nations although unfortunately not by Canada. This reference to the “existing legal gap” is the reality that while chemical and biological weapons are banned, nuclear weapons, the most destructive of all weapons of mass destruction, have not yet been explicitly banned under international law.
In the many years of my work for nuclear disarmament I have never felt as hopeful and as encouraged as I do now. To witness how the Humanitarian Initiative movement has mobilized people around the world to overcome the resistance by the nuclear weapon states and to move towards prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons. This year the United Nations established the Open Ended Working Group to “substantively address and make recommendations to the United Nations General Assembly about concrete, effective legal measures, legal provisions and norms” to attain and maintain a nuclear weapons free world. Now, the working group is in its final, crucial phase. A growing number of non-nuclear weapon states are expressing support for the immediate commencement of negotiations on a legally binding agreement to prohibit nuclear weapons, despite strong opposition from the nuclear weapon states and their allies. The General Assembly will vote on this report in October. We are on the verge of a breakthrough for a path for this most significant chance in our lifetime for nuclear disarmament. We must seize this opportunity.
Now, let me tell you an inspiring and empowering story about the recent successful campaign that our ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a global coalition of NGOs) colleagues in the Netherlands achieved. Frustrated by the Dutch government policy of supporting NATO policies a citizens’ initiative by PAX, ASN Bank and the Dutch Red Cross, made great efforts collecting 45,608 Dutch citizens’ signatures for a petition supporting a ban treaty and to calling for a parliamentary debate on nuclear weapons on April 28th of this year. The result was that a vast majority of their Parliament voted for a nuclear weapons ban, which the government was forced to accept. The public gallery was so crowded that another room was needed for the overflow of supporters. The news media extensively covered this huge success of citizens’ action. The intent of the motion was that the Netherlands should now be working actively to reach out to other NATO member states to build solidarity. I was gratified to play a small part of this campaign by speaking to the Members of Parliament via a recorded video statement. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Canadian people can follow in the footsteps of the Netherlands?
And now, where does our Canadian government stand in the fast developing international negotiations for a legally binding instrument for the prohibition of nuclear weapons? Regrettably, Canada presents itself as a subservient defender of the nuclear weapons superstar state south of the border, and its allies with their heavy reliance on the doctrine of deterrence.
For many of us working for nuclear disarmament we rejoiced the arrival of the Trudeau government too soon because this government seemed to have inherited the same retrograde nuclear policies from the previous government. Foreign Minister Stephane Dion’s letters to Canadian peace groups are full of retrograde ideas and leaves me chilled, and it feels as if we are on different planets. He is rigidly maintaining the nuclear status quo and has a seeming unwillingness to consider different perspectives of disarmament initiatives. Sadly, his opposition to the Humanitarian Initiative leaves Canada out of step with the majority of the world. His total lack of sense of urgency about the increasing risk of nuclear weapons can be seen in this quote from one of his letters:
“Canada has consistently promoted the notion that complete nuclear disarmament can only occur in an environment that guarantees security for all states.”
Is he waiting for an ideal, perfect time to initiate disarmament? Has there ever been any time as that in human history? Will there be in the future?
We must wake up the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and the entire Parliament as our colleagues in the Netherlands have succeeded in doing. Otherwise, like Einstein says, this beautiful country of Canada, together with the rest of the world, will drift toward “unparalleled catastrophe”.
The Open Ended Working Group is winding up, with the final report being issued in Geneva this month. The momentum is growing. Let’s join the historic initiative for nuclear disarmament. Let’s seize this opportunity. This action of hope will be the best way to honour those annihilated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 71 years ago.
1945, August 6, 8:15 a.m. Slicing through the clear blue sky, a previously unknown “absolute evil” is unleashed on Hiroshima, instantly searing the entire city. Koreans, Chinese, Southeast Asians, American prisoners of war, children, the elderly and other innocent people are slaughtered. By the end of the year, 140,000 are dead.
Those who managed to survive suffered the aftereffects of radiation, encountered discrimination in work and marriage, and still carry deep scars in their minds and bodies. From utter obliteration, Hiroshima was reborn a beautiful city of peace; but familiar scenes from our riversides, patterns of daily life, and cultural traditions nurtured through centuries of history vanished in that “absolute evil,” never to return.
He was a boy of 17. Today he recalls, “Charred corpses blocked the road. An eerie stench filled my nose. A sea of fire spread as far as I could see. Hiroshima was a living hell.” She was a girl of 18. “I was covered in blood. Around me were people with skin flayed from their backs hanging all the way to their feet—crying, screaming, begging for water.”
Seventy-one years later, over 15,000 nuclear weapons remain, individually much more destructive than the one that inflicted Hiroshima’s tragedy, collectively enough to destroy the Earth itself. We now know of numerous accidents and incidents that brought us to the brink of nuclear explosions or war; today we even fear their use by terrorists.
Given this reality, we must heed the hibakusha. The man who described a living hell says, “For the future of humanity, we need to help each other live in peace and happiness with reverence for all life.” The woman who was covered in blood appeals to coming generations, “To make the most of the life we’ve been given, please, everyone, shout loudly that we don’t need nuclear weapons.” If we accept these appeals, we must do far more than we have been doing. We must respect diverse values and strive persistently toward a world where all people are truly “living together.”
When President Obama visited Hiroshima in May, he became the first sitting president of the country that dropped the atomic bomb to do so. Declaring, “… among those nations like my own that hold nuclear stockpiles, we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear, and pursue a world without them,” he expressed acceptance of thehibakusha’s heartfelt plea that “no one else should ever suffer as we have.” Demonstrating to the people of the U.S. and the world a passion to fight to eliminate all remaining nuclear weapons, the President’s words showed that he was touched by the spirit of Hiroshima, which refuses to accept the “absolute evil.”
A group of 30 young people from 23 countries met in Hiroshima in August 2015 to work together for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Is it not time to honor the spirit of Hiroshima and clear the path toward a world free from that “absolute evil,” that ultimate inhumanity? Is it not time to unify and manifest our passion in action? This year, for the first time ever, the G7 foreign ministers gathered in Hiroshima. Transcending the differences between countries with and without nuclear weapons, their declaration called for political leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and fulfillment of the obligation to negotiate nuclear disarmament mandated by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This declaration was unquestionably a step toward unity.
We need to fill our policymakers with the passion to solidify this unity and create a security system based on trust and dialogue. To that end, I once again urge the leaders of all nations to visit the A-bombed cities. As President Obama confirmed in Hiroshima, such visits will surely etch the reality of the atomic bombings in each heart. Along with conveying the pain and suffering of the hibakusha, I am convinced they will elicit manifestations of determination.
The average age of the hibakusha has exceeded 80. Our time to hear their experiences face to face grows short. Looking toward the future, we will need our youth to help convey the words and feelings of the hibakusha. Mayors for Peace, now with over 7,000 city members worldwide, will work regionally, through more than 20 lead cities, and globally, led by Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to promote youth exchange. We will help young people cultivate a shared determination to stand together and initiate concrete action for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Here in Hiroshima, Prime Minister Abe expressed determination “to realize a world free of nuclear weapons.” I expect him to join with President Obama and display leadership in this endeavor. A nuclear-weapon-free-world would manifest the noble pacifism of the Japanese Constitution, and to ensure progress, a legal framework banning nuclear weapons is indispensable. In addition, I demand that the Japanese government expand the “black rain areas” and improve assistance to the hibakusha, whose average age is over 80, and the many others who suffer the mental and physical effects of radiation.
Today, we renew our determination, offer heartfelt consolation to the souls of the A-bomb victims, and pledge to do everything in our power, working with the A-bombed city of Nagasaki and millions around the world, to abolish nuclear weapons and build lasting world peace.
August 6, 2016
MATSUI Kazumi
Mayor
The City of Hiroshima
Did you know that all nine nuclear-armed countries are modernizing their nuclear forces? The United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea together spend over $100 billion annually on their nuclear forces.
While the majority of nuclear weapons funding comes from taxpayers in nuclear-armed countries, private sector investors also provide financing that enables the production, maintenance and modernization of nuclear arsenals.
A new report by PAX entitled “Don’t Bank on the Bomb” examines in great detail the companies that produce nuclear weapons and the financial institutions that back them.
State Farm, an insurance and financial services company in the United States, is one of the many companies that finance nuclear weapon producers. State Farm presents itself as a “good neighbor” – their advertisements tell you, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”
Please take a moment today to write to State Farm CEO Michael Tipsord to let him know that financing nuclear weapons is unacceptable.
Are you a CREDO customer? Help nominate NAPF for a grant from CREDO. For more details, please click here or email Elena at enicklasson@napf.org with any questions you might have. Thank you for your support!!
Perspectives
Ten Lessons from Chernobyl and Fukushima by David Krieger
NATO: Increasing the Role of Nuclear Weapons by Susi Snyder
Looking Back: The 1996 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice by John Burroughs
Nuclear Disarmament
Open Ended Working Group to Conclude in Geneva
U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy
Attempted Coup in Turkey Shines Light on U.S. Nuclear Weapons
Whistleblowers at Risk
U.S. Navy Returns to New Zealand After 30-Year Nuclear Weapons Disagreement
Nuclear Proliferation
Russia Claims to Be Developing Outer Space Nuclear Bomber
Missile Defense
Definition of Success Is Fluid
Nuclear Insanity
British Prime Minister Writes “Letter of Last Resort”
South Korean Lawmaker Urges Nuclear Armament
Japan Opposes a U.S. “No First Use” Policy
Nuclear Modernization
Senators Speak Out on Nuclear Modernization
UK Parliament Votes to Replace Trident Nuclear Weapons System
Resources
August’s Featured Blog
This Month in Nuclear Threat History
Book Review: Almighty
Foundation Activities
Sadako Peace Day on August 9
Noam Chomsky to Receive NAPF Distinguished Peace Leadership Award
Peace Leadership in Minneapolis
Take Action
Quotes
Perspectives
Ten Lessons from Chernobyl and Fukushima
by David Krieger
George Santayana famously said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The same may be said of those who fail to understand the past or to learn from it. If we failed to learn the lessons from the nuclear power plant accident at Chernobyl more than three decades ago or to understand its meaning for our future, perhaps the more recent accident at Fukushima will serve to underline those lessons.
The nuclear power plant accident at Chernobyl was repeated, albeit with a different set of circumstances, at Fukushima. Have our societies yet learned any lessons from Chernobyl and Fukushima that will prevent the people of the future from experiencing such devastation? As poet Maya Angelou points out, “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage doesn’t need to be lived again.” We need the courage to phase out nuclear power globally and replace it with energy conservation and renewable energy sources. In doing so, we will not only be acting responsibly with regard to nuclear power, but will also reduce the risks of nuclear weapons proliferation and strengthen the global foundations for the abolition of these weapons.
The Heads of State and Government that participated in the NATO summit in Warsaw Poland on 8-9 July 2016 issued a series of documents and statements, including a Summit Communiqué and the Warsaw Declaration on Transatlantic Security. Whereas the majority of countries worldwide are ready to end the danger posed by nuclear weapons and to start negotiations for a treaty banning nuclear weapons, both NATO documents reaffirmed the NATO commitment to nuclear weapons, and the Communiqué included a return to cold war style language on nuclear sharing.
The summit documents weaken previously agreed language on seeking a world without nuclear weapons by tacking on additional conditions. Instead of simply saying that NATO is seeking to create the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons, now NATO is seeking to create the conditions “in full accordance with the NPT, including Article VI, in a step-by-step and verifiable way that promotes international stability, and is based on the principle of undiminished security for all.” Not only that, but instead of creating conditions for further reductions, now the alliance only remains “committed to contribute to creating the conditions for further reductions in the future on the basis of reciprocity.”
Looking Back: The 1996 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice
by John Burroughs
The 1996 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was the culmination of a decades-long debate on the legality of nuclear weapons. In recent years, it has shaped how international law is invoked by the initiative focused on the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons use and served as a foundation for the nuclear disarmament cases brought by the Marshall Islands in the court.
The Open Ended Working Group taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations, which met in February and May 2016, will conclude with four days of meetings in August. At the August session, delegates are expected to approve a report to the United Nations General Assembly that calls for the start of multilateral negotiations to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.
A draft report of the Open Ended Working Group is available on the UN website. The report details the substantive issues discussed and presents proposals for moving forward.
U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy
Attempted Coup in Turkey Shines Light on U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe
The recent attempted military coup in Turkey has brought a pressing issue into the spotlight: the safety of U.S. nuclear stockpiles abroad.
The question of nuclear security has been raised before, but is substantially more present now. As a NATO member, Turkey claims the “right” to nuclear-sharing provided by the United States, whose nuclear umbrella spreads throughout Europe. Turkey actively houses an estimated 50 B-61 nuclear bombs at its Incirlik Air Base in Adana, the most of any other NATO state. Other nations housing U.S. nuclear weapons are Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
The attempted coup also raises questions of whether or not Turkey can maintain NATO status. The unprecedented coup presents NATO with many problems it may not have previously considered. As Aaron Stein of Atlantic Council think tank stated, “It says a lot about the ability of Turkey to operate in coalition operations if its army can’t be trusted.” The lack of stability in the region has existed for quite some time, but the attempted coup introduces a wealth of new problems and doubts.
On July 14, 2016, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report charging the Department of Energy (DOE) with unlawful retaliation against nuclear whistleblowers. The report came shortly after the firing of Sandra Black, the head of Savannah River Site’s employee complaints program. Colleagues of Black had come to her expressing grievances about unsafe, illegal, and wasteful practices at the nuclear site. After following through with her colleagues’ complaints, Black was fired.
The GAO report was the product of an investigation into whistleblower retaliation complaints made two years earlier at Washington’s Hanford nuclear facility. Though the investigation initially sought only to investigate Hanford, its scope eventually increased to include 87 complaints by workers at 10 major DOE nuclear facilities.
While a pilot program was built for whistleblower protection at nuclear sites, the investigation reports that neither Savannah River Site nor Hanford administrations had attempted to implement the program–leaving workers and whistleblowers unprotected. To date, over 186,000 nuclear workers have been exposed to recordable levels of radiation while on the job. But many remain silent, fearing that voicing concerns will cost them their livelihoods. “They will make an example of anyone who challenges them” said one nuclear worker. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who helped initiate the GAO report, said, “It’s clear that DOE contractors are going to amazing lengths to send the message to their employees that when you blow the whistle it’s going to be the end of your career.”
U.S. Navy Returns to New Zealand After 30-Year Nuclear Weapons Disagreement
The U.S. Navy plans to make a port call in New Zealand for the first time since 1985. Thirty years ago, the New Zealand government refused a port call request by the USS Buchanan because the U.S. would neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons on board the ship.
Explaining the decision to overturn 30 years of New Zealand’s anti-nuclear laws, Prime Minister John Key said that it is not necessary for a nation to declare a ship nuclear-free if it can be ascertained from the ship’s specifications.
Russia Claims to Be Developing Outer Space Nuclear Bomber
The Russian Strategic Missile Forces Academy is developing a nuclear bomber capable of striking from outer space, Lt. Col. Aleksei Solodovnikov reported in July. The weapon will be able to travel at hypersonic speed and is expected to have the capability of reaching any point on Earth from outer space in less than two hours.
“The idea is that the bomber will take off from a normal home airfield to patrol Russian airspace,” Colonel General Sergei Karakayev stated this month. He continued, “Upon command it will ascend into outer space, strike a target with nuclear warheads and then return to its home base.”
Regardless of the veracity of this specific claim, it shows that Russia continues to rely heavily on nuclear weapons for its perceived security, and is invested in the new nuclear arms race.
On January 28, the Missile Defense Agency conducted a flight test of a new and supposedly improved thruster, a key component of the interceptors that make up the U.S. missile defense system. Shortly after the test, the agency released a statement calling it a “successful flight test.” However, the test was anything but a success. The closest the interceptor came to the target was a distance 20 times greater than what was expected.
In a letter to the editor published on July 9, NAPF President David Krieger wrote, “Perhaps raking in more than $40 billion from taxpayers since 2004 to produce a useless product is what the Missile Defense Agency and its contractors define as success.”
British Prime Minister Writes “Letter of Last Resort”
One of the first acts of a new British Prime Minister is to write a “letter of last resort” that is kept locked in a safe in each of the UK’s four nuclear-armed submarines. Only the Prime Minister or another individual designated by the Prime Minister may give an order to launch British nuclear weapons. The letter of last resort is to be used by submarine commanders if these people are no longer alive or are completely out of contact.
Prior to writing the letter, the Prime Minister is briefed by the chief of the defense staff, who explains the damage that could be caused by a nuclear strike.
Rep. Won Yoo-chul of South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party plans to initiate a forum on nuclear armament in hopes of achieving lawmaker consensus. Set to begin on August 4, Won hopes this forum will generate a new sense of urgency in the wake of North Korean threats.
The lawmaker promotes a strategy that would lead to automatic nuclear armament once North Korea conducts its next nuclear test. Won also explained the “need” for South Korea to develop a nuclear arsenal can be credited to Donald Trump’s claims that South Korea and Japan should increase their payments for deployed U.S. troops.
The Japanese government has expressed concern over reports that the Obama administration may be planning to implement a policy of “No First Use,” meaning that the U.S. would pledge never to use nuclear weapons first in a conflict. A senior Japanese government official said, “From the [standpoint of] Japan’s security, it is unacceptable.”
The Japanese government believes strongly in the idea of nuclear deterrence, relying on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for its national security.
Groups of U.S. Senators have sent letters in favor of and in opposition to the country’s plans to spend $1 trillion to modernize its nuclear arsenal. On July 8, 14 senators, including Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Tim Kaine, wrote to Defense Secretary Ash Carter seeking the Pentagon’s continued outspoken support for the vast program of nuclear modernization. The Senators who signed the letter are Hoeven (R-ND), Daines (R-MT), Tester (D-MT), Hatch (R-UT), Donnelly (D-IN), Heitkamp (D-ND), Rubio (R-FL), Warner (D-VA), Vitter (R-LA), Heinrich (D-NM), Barrasso (R-WY), Fischer (R-NE), Reed (D-RI), and Kaine (D-VA).
In a very different tone, 10 senators wrote to President Obama encouraging him to take numerous steps to reduce nuclear weapons spending and reduce the risk of nuclear war. The Senators who signed this letter are Markey (D-MA), Warren (D-MA), Feinstein (D-CA), Boxer (D-CA), Franken (D-MN), Merkley (D-OR), Brown (D-OH), Leahy (D-VT), Wyden (D-OR), and Sanders (I-VT).
To read the pro-nuclear weapons letter, click here. To read the letter from 10 senators encouraging a less aggressive approach to nuclear policy, click here.
UK Parliament Votes to Replace Trident Nuclear Weapons System
On July 18, Prime Minister Theresa May and the Conservative party won the vote to update current British nuclear capabilities. The vote, which Members of the House of Commons passed 472-117, clears the way for the UK to replace its four Trident nuclear-armed submarines with a new system at a cost of up to $250 billion.
George Kerevan, a Member of Parliament who is part of the Scottish National Party, asked Prime Minister May during the debate whether she is “personally prepared to authorize a nuclear strike that can kill 100,000 innocent men, women, and children.” Ms. May responded, “Yes…the whole point of a deterrent is that our enemies need to know that we would be prepared to use it.”
The UK’s Trident system is based in Scotland; 58 out of 59 Scottish Members of Parliament voted against replacing Trident.
History chronicles many instances when humans have been threatened by nuclear weapons. In this article, Jeffrey Mason outlines some of the most serious threats that have taken place in the month of August, including the August 29, 2007 incident in which six nuclear-armed cruise missiles were mistakenly loaded on a B-52 bomber and flown from North Dakota to Louisiana, where they sat unguarded on the tarmac for hours.
For more information on the history of the Nuclear Age, visit NAPF’s Nuclear Files website.
Book Review: Almighty
Almighty, by Dan Zak, is a compelling new book that exposes the intimate truths behind the 2012 Y-12 break-in through the lens of the peace-activist perpetrators. Fluidly weaving between the past and the present, this intriguing account resembles a thriller novel. As the unique background of the three activists, Sister Megan Rice, Michael Walli, and Greg Boertje-obed, unfolds, the egregious history of nuclear weapons elucidates the United States’ futile attempt at non-proliferation.
To read the full review by NAPF summer intern Madeline Atchison, click here.
Foundation Activities
Sadako Peace Day on August 9
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation will host its 22nd Annual Sadako Peace Day commemoration on Tuesday, August 9, at 6:00 p.m. at La Casa de Maria in Montecito, California. The event – featuring music, poetry and reflection – remembers the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and all innocent victims of war.
Sadako Sasaki was a two-year-old girl living in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the morning the atomic bomb was dropped. Ten years later, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Japanese legend holds that one’s wish will be granted upon folding 1,000 paper (origami) cranes. Sadako set out to fold those 1,000 cranes, writing, “I will write peace on your wings, and you will fly all over the world.”
Students in Japan were so moved by her story, they began folding cranes, too. Today the paper crane is a symbol of peace. A statue of Sadako now stands in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. And to this day, we honor Sadako’s fervent wish for a peaceful world. For more information, click here.
Noam Chomsky to Receive NAPF Distinguished Peace Leadership Award
Noam Chomsky, one of the greatest minds of our time, will be honored with NAPF’s Distinguished Peace Leadership Award at this year’s Evening for Peace on Sunday, October 23, in Santa Barbara, California.
We’re calling the evening NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH because that’s what Chomsky is about– truth. He believes humanity faces two major challenges: the continued threat of nuclear war and the crisis of ecological catastrophe. To hear him on these issues will be highly memorable. Importantly, he offers a way forward to a more hopeful and just world. We are pleased to honor him with our award.
The annual Evening for Peace includes a festive reception, live entertainment, dinner and an award presentation. It is attended by many Santa Barbara leaders and includes a large contingent of sponsored students.
As a West Point graduate, Iraq war veteran, and former U.S. army captain who has struggled through extreme childhood trauma, racism, and rage, NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell will bring his hopeful message of equity in education, our shared humanity, and the skills of peace literacy to the Minneapolis area November 1-5, 2016. He will address the plenary session of the annual Missing Voices conference at St. Mary’s University on November 3. The audience will include 350 educators, administrators, and students.
To read more about this upcoming trip, click here. For a full list of Paul’s upcoming lectures and workshops, click here.
Take Action
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s latest action alert encourages you to send a message to President Obama regarding the many things he could do during his last months in office to make a difference for nuclear disarmament. Proposed actions include declaring a No First Use policy, removing U.S. nuclear weapons from foreign soil, cutting funding for nuclear weapons “modernization,” and commencing good faith negotiations for the elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide.
“What the Hiroshima survivors are telling us is that no one else should ever go through the experience they suffered. An atomic bombing creates a living hell on Earth where the living envy the dead.”
— Tadatoshi Akiba, former Mayor of Hiroshima. This quote appears in the book Speaking of Peace: Quotations to Inspire Action, which is available for purchase in the NAPF Peace Store.
“If keeping and renewing our nuclear weapons is so vital to our national security and our safety, then does the Prime Minister accept the logic of that position is that every other country must seek to acquire nuclear weapons? And does she really think that the world would be a safer place if they did? Our nuclear weapons are driving proliferation, not the opposite.”
— Caroline Lucas MP, speaking during the UK parliamentary debate over whether to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system.
Editorial Team
Madeline Atchison
Will Brown
Ricky Frawley
Erika Ito
David Krieger
Carol Warner
Rick Wayman
I applaud your continuing to commemorate August 6th, the day in 1945 on which the first atomic bomb was used in warfare, dropped by the United States on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The use of that bomb took 70,000 lives immediately and 140,000 lives by the end of 1945. It was a bomb that vaporized people, leaving behind, for some, only shadows and elemental particles. The use of atomic weapons was a war crime and crime against humanity. Three days later these crimes were repeated on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, killing 40,000 people immediately and 70,000 by the end of 1945.
The instant that the single nuclear bomb dropped by a U.S. military aircraft on Nagasaki City at 11:02 AM on August 9, 1945, exploded in the air, it struck the city with a furious blast and heat wave. Nagasaki City was transformed into a hell on earth; a hell of black-charred corpses, people covered in blistering burns, people with their internal organs spilling out, and people cut and studded by the countless fragments of flying glass that had penetrated their bodies.
Now, $1 trillion over 30 years might sound like a lot of money to spend on nuclear weapons. That’s approximately $4 million per hour for three decades. However, we must also keep in mind that this is only the additional money that the U.S. will be spending to “modernize” its nuclear arsenal. It will also be spending money to maintain and deploy its systems, to the tune of tens of billions more dollars annually.
Let’s ask the people of St. Louis, Missouri, where an underground landfill fire is approaching buried radioactive waste created over 70 years ago during the Manhattan Project. Community members living near the West Lake Landfill 
1945, August 6, 8:15 a.m. Slicing through the clear blue sky, a previously unknown “absolute evil” is unleashed on Hiroshima, instantly searing the entire city. Koreans, Chinese, Southeast Asians, American prisoners of war, children, the elderly and other innocent people are slaughtered. By the end of the year, 140,000 are dead.
