Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Author: NAPF

  • NAPF IS HIRING A NEW PRESIDENT

    NAPF IS HIRING A NEW PRESIDENT

    THE ORGANIZATION
    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization with consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Our mission is to educate, advocate, propose, and pursue denuclearizing actions with the intention of achieving a just and peaceful world, free of nuclear weapons. Our work includes informed commentary and public stands on current policies that heighten or reduce risks of the use of nuclear weapons by calculation or mistake.

    THE POSITION
    NAPF is seeking an Executive Director to lead the Foundation forward. The ideal candidate is someone with a deep commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons and someone with demonstrated experience in fundraising who will make this aspect of his or her work a priority.

    It is highly preferable that the candidate live in or near Santa Barbara, although the Foundation is prepared to consider candidates who would continue to live outside the area. Finding that special leader who possesses the above qualifications is our top priority. Salary will be negotiated on the basis of experience and circumstances.

    Applications for this position will be accepted until September 1, 2021 or until the position is filled.

    If you are interested in applying for this position, please send a resume and cover letter explaining your interest and
    qualifications to Sandy Jones (sjones@napf.org).

  • Bernard Lown, a founder of IPPNW and long-time member of the NAPF Advisory Council, died at age 99. Rest in peace, Dr.

    “The deadly nuclear shadow will not vanish without public education, arousal and involvement. Politicians do not respond to the insistent beckoning of history. They rise to the challenge only when a powerful, public opinion perseveringly clamors for change.”

    He was a giant in cardiology, and in health and humanitarian advocacy for the abolition of nuclear weapons and nuclear war.

    https://apnews.com/article/boston-nobel-prizes-lithuania-massachusetts-2ce00f16b928b60fe3ec4b3858e7fc23

  • GROUND BREAKING TREATY MAKES NUCLEAR WEAPONS ILLEGAL UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

    GROUND BREAKING TREATY MAKES NUCLEAR WEAPONS ILLEGAL UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

    Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will soon into force.

    January 22, 2021 – In what many are calling a new chapter for nuclear disarmament, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will enter into force, effective January 22, 2021. This landmark treaty prohibits nations from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons, or allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed on their territory. It also prohibits assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone to engage in any of these activities.

    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), a Santa Barbara-based non-profit and partner organization with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) was involved in the initial negotiations leading up to the nuclear ban treaty at the United Nations in 2017. David Krieger, President Emeritus of NAPF commented on the treaty’s entry into force, “The entry into force of this long-awaited treaty is the culmination of more than 75 years of effort on the part of survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and many more nuclear abolitionists throughout the world. At a minimum, this treaty delegitimizes the possession, threat and use of nuclear weapons. This day marks the beginning of the end for these weapons of mass annihilation. It will be remembered in history.“

    Despite their catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences, nuclear weapons were the only weapons of mass destruction not subject to a comprehensive ban. The TPNW closes this crucial gap in international law and now, nuclear weapons will join land mines, chemical and biological weapons as weapons of mass destruction that are declared illegal by the international community.

    While the treaty is only binding on the states that ratified it, it is expected to grow in influence over time. A nation that possesses nuclear weapons may join the treaty, so long as it agrees to destroy them in accordance with a legally-binding, time-bound plan. Similarly, a nation that hosts another nation’s nuclear weapons on its territory may join, so long as it agrees to remove them by a specified deadline.

    This effort to ban nuclear weapons has been led by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which is made up of more than 500 non-governmental organizations from 103 countries. NAPF has been a Partner Organization of ICAN since the campaign began in 2007. ICAN received the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for their ground-breaking efforts to achieve the TPNW.

    Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of ICAN, commented, “This is just the beginning … States that haven’t joined the treaty will feel its power too — we can expect companies to stop producing nuclear weapons and financial institutions to stop investing in nuclear weapon-producing companies.”

    The treaty was approved by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on July 7, 2017 by a vote of 122 in favor, the Netherlands opposed, and Singapore abstaining. Of note, among countries voting in favor was Iran. The original five nuclear powers – China, France, Russia, UK and the United States – and four other countries known to currently possess nuclear weapons — India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel — boycotted negotiations and the vote on the treaty.

    Not only did the U.S. boycott the negotiations in 2017 and refuse to sign the treaty, the Trump administration urged countries that had already ratified the treaty to withdraw their support. The treaty still has the potential to significantly impact U.S. behavior regarding nuclear weapons issues. While the new Biden administration’s most immediate task will be to get control of the Covid-19 pandemic and lessen its impact on the U.S. economy, there are many nuclear weapons issues that Biden will need to tackle, beginning with extending the New START nuclear agreement with Russia which is set to expire on February 5, 2021.

    United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, commented, “Entry into force is a tribute to the survivors of nuclear explosions and tests, many of whom advocated for this Treaty.” He went on to describe the entry into force as “the culmination of a worldwide movement to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons. It represents a meaningful commitment towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons, which remains the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations.”

    The treaty is a clear indication that the majority of the world’s countries no longer accept nuclear weapons and do not consider them legitimate. It demonstrates that the indiscriminate mass killing of civilians is unacceptable and that it is not possible to use nuclear weapons consistent with the laws of war.

    ICAN will be having a compelling and inspiring online event beginning at 12:00 PM (PST) celebrating this once in a lifetime treaty. Register at https://www.icanw.org/studio_2221

    If you would like to read the treaty in its entirety go to http://undocs.org/A/CONF.229/2017/8

    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission is to educate, advocate, propose and pursue denuclearizing actions with the intention of achieving a just and peaceful world, free of nuclear weapons. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with consultative status to the United Nations. For more information, visit wagingpeace.org.

  • Don’t miss Studio 22.21: Entry into Force Day, ICAN’s online event

    Don’t miss Studio 22.21: Entry into Force Day, ICAN’s online event

    Don’t miss International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)‘s online event on January 22, the day the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force.  https://www.icanw.org/studio2221

  • U.S. to Launch Minuteman III Missile Test Just Five Days After 50th Country Ratified Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

    U.S. to Launch Minuteman III Missile Test Just Five Days After 50th Country Ratified Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

    For Immediate Release

    Contact: Sandy Jones  (805) 965-3443; sjones@napf.org

    U.S. TO LAUNCH MINUTEMAN III MISSILE TEST JUST FIVE DAYS AFTER 50TH COUNTRY RATIFIED TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

    SANTA BARBARA, CA– Early tomorrow morning, between 12:01 a.m. and 6:01 a.m., the United States will launch an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base. While the Air Force maintains that missile tests are planned many months in advance, the timing of this test is questionable, at best.

    This test will take place just five days after Honduras became the 50th country to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). With the 50th ratification, the treaty will enter into force on January 22, 2021. The treaty prohibits the possession, testing, use, or threat of use of nuclear weapons.

    Rick Wayman, CEO of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, a non-profit based in Santa Barbara committed to the abolition of nuclear weapons and solving the most dangerous technological, social, and psychological issues of our time, commented on the timing of the missile test. He noted, “This past Saturday, the world took an important step toward the elimination of nuclear weapons with the 50th ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Now, in addition to its diplomatic undermining of the treaty through threatening letters, the U.S. government plans to demonstrate its active defiance of the treaty’s provisions by testing a nuclear-capable missile.”

    Wayman further commented, “While most of the world’s countries are evolving to a view that nuclear weapons are unacceptable under all circumstances, the U.S. is testing a nuclear missile built to fight the Cold War; one which is designed to cause the indiscriminate slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people.”

    The military will track the unarmed ICBM as it travels to a predetermined target, typically some 4,200 miles away near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Between 1946 and 1958, the United States detonated 67 nuclear bombs on, in and above the Marshall Islands — vaporizing islands, creating craters into its shallow lagoons and exiling hundreds of people from their homes and their land.

    #                                         #                                         #

    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission is to educate and train people of all ages and backgrounds to solve the most dangerous technological, social, and psychological issues of our time, and to survive and thrive in the 21st century. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with consultative status to the United Nations. For more information, visit wagingpeace.org.

  • Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Will Enter Into Force Soon

    Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Will Enter Into Force Soon

    For Immediate Release                                                      

    Contact:

    Sandy Jones: (805) 965-3443; sjones@napf.org

    TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL ENTER INTO FORCE SOON

    Historic step makes the world a safer and more secure place in which to live.

    New York– On October 24, 2020, Honduras became the 50th country to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). With this 50th ratification, the treaty will enter into force on January 22, 2021, at which time it will become illegal to possess, use, and threaten to use nuclear weapons.

    Jaimaica and Nauru have also recently ratified the treaty. A complete list of countries that have signed and/or ratified the treaty can be found at https://www.icanw.org/signature_and_ratification_status.

    The TPNW opened for signature on September 20, 2017 at the UN headquarters in New York. Article One of the treaty prohibits states parties from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons, or allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed on their territory. It also prohibits them from assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone to engage in any of these activities.

    The treaty is a major advance toward creating a safer and more secure world. Rick Wayman, CEO of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), a Santa Barbara-based non-profit that works for the abolition of nuclear weapons, played a key role in the initial negotiations leading up to the nuclear ban treaty in 2017. Wayman was thrilled at the ratification, saying, “Today the world has moved a big step forward to finally eliminating the long-standing existential threat posed by nuclear weapons.”

    While the United States chose to boycott the negotiations in 2017 and has refused to sign the treaty, the treaty still has the potential to significantly impact U.S. behavior regarding nuclear weapons issues. Previous weapon prohibition treaties, including the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, have demonstrated that changing international norms leads to concrete changes in policies and behaviors, even in countries not party to the treaty.

    Wayman went on to say, “International law and legal norms are vital to changing nations’ behavior. The upcoming entry-into-force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons makes it clear that nuclear weapons are illegal.”

    This effort to ban nuclear weapons has been led by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which is made up of over 500 non-governmental organizations from 103 countries. NAPF has been a Partner Organization of ICAN since the campaign began in 2007. ICAN received the 2017 Nobel Peace for their efforts to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and their ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.

    The treaty expresses in its preamble deep concern “about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from any use of nuclear weapons.” It further recognizes “the consequent need to completely eliminate such weapons, which remains the only way to guarantee that nuclear weapons are never used again under any circumstances.”

    Another important aspect of the TPNW is that it creates obligations to support the victims of nuclear weapons use and testing and to remediate the environmental damage caused by nuclear weapons. Wayman further commented, “The upcoming entry-into-force of the TPNW marks a huge milestone in using the law to end nuclear weapons. At NAPF, we are educating and training people of all ages to address the tangles of trauma that fuel and sustain the desire for nuclear weapons in the first place. The root causes of nuclear weapons are in many cases the same root causes that lead to wars, mass shootings, racism, and many other serious issues.”

    The treaty is a clear indication that the majority of the world’s countries no longer accept nuclear weapons and do not consider them legitimate. It demonstrates that the indiscriminate mass killing of civilians is unacceptable and that it is not possible to use nuclear weapons consistent with the laws of war.

    The treaty can be read in its entirety at http://undocs.org/A/CONF.229/2017/8

    #                                         #                                         #

    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is committed to the abolition of nuclear weapons. Its mission is to educate and train people of all ages and backgrounds to solve the most dangerous technological, social, and psychological issues of our time, and to survive and thrive in the 21st century. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with consultative status to the United Nations. For more information, visit wagingpeace.org and peaceliteracy.org.

  • 2020 Winning Poems

    2020 Winning Poems

    These are the winning poems of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 2020 Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards. For more information on the peace poetry contest, and to read the winning poems from previous years, click here.

    Adult Category, First Place
    Ana Reisens

    The Gathering

    In the movie we sleep fearlessly on open planes because we cannot imagine
    any danger more tragic than those that have already passed. For weeks we

    have been arriving over the earth’s broken skin, over mountains
    and rivers, shaking the aching flagpoles from our shoulders. Now

    all the priests and imams and rabbis and shamans are gathered beside
    the others, teachers, brothers and kings and they’re sharing recipes

    and cooking sweet stories over fires. Suddenly we hear a voice
    calling from the sky or within – or is it a radio? – and it sings

    of quilts and white lilies as if wool and petals were engines. It’s a lullaby,
    a prayer we all understand, familiar like the scent of a lover’s skin. And

    as we listen we remember our grandmothers’ hands, the knitted strength
    of staying, how silence rises like warmth from a woven blanket. And slowly

    the lines begin to disappear from our skin and our memories spin until we’ve forgotten
    the I of our own histories and everyone is holy, everyone is laughing, weeping,

    singing, It’s over, come over, come in. And this is it, the story,
    an allegory, our movie – the ending and a beginning.

    The producer doesn’t want to take the risk. No one will watch it, he says,
    but we say, Just wait. All the while a familiar song plays on the radio

    and somewhere in a desert far away a soldier in a tank stops
    as if he’s forgotten the way.

     

    Adult Category, Honorable Mention
    Jerome Gagnon

    In the Cool of Morning

    1.

    At dawn, we rise to the remains of a moon
    shrouded in smoke,
    news of a mass shooting in the capitol.
    Drinking coffee, we contemplate the future,
    swallowing our hearts.

    2.

    Children in cages, separated from their mothers.
    In the cities, the homeless sleep in cardboard boxes
    and under freeway ramps, while the cunning invest in prisons.
    Yet there’s something that resists greed
    and frees the oppressed: fathom that.

    3.

    In the cool of morning, I sweep up bamboo leaves
    and cellophane, thinking of the poet Du Fu
    who wrote about suffering in a time of rebellion –

    755 A.D., in China – still pausing to observe
    willow twigs sprouting at his gate.

     

    Youth Category (13-18), First Place (tie)
    Amber Abrar

    For the Martyrs of My School

    (In memory of the victims of the terrorist attack at the Army Public School Peshawar, Pakistan on 16th Dec 2014 in which 150 people were killed including 132 students)

    Studying the laws of geometry
    Staring at the clock
    Waiting for the dreadful class to be over
    When all of a sudden I hear a bang
    Everything goes silent
    Until I hear screams of terror and a man with a black mask
    Points his gun at me
    He shoots and I fall
    Blood circles around me and I slowly drift away
    Locked in a cupboard choking with cries
    I tell her I might not make it today
    I hear her trying to hold back tears
    I cry and cry till safety arrives
    Lying on the floor hiding behind the dead body
    I close my eyes because this might be the last thing I see
    I try to keep calm
    But I burst into tears
    When her body was dragged right in front of me
    I lost it
    I could not wait for this dreadful day to be over
    A bell rings. Safety has arrived
    We pass through the bloodied hallway
    With her hands up
    We get out and we run
    We run towards the ones we thought we’d never see again
    while we cry into their arms and feel thankful to be alive.

    Youth Category (13-18), First Place (tie)
    Sabrina Guo

    Open Sun

    “I watched my baby girl die slowly.”
    —The NewYork Times

    Behind wires in cages of crinkling aluminum.

    On TV, I watch the colorful dreams of children
    shrivel in the open sun.

    Held in cages, each family
    loses hope that summer will end—the rusting
    fences, the humanity of drinking rain.
    Metal bowls scratch the wooden tables until dawn.

    In a video, the ribs of malnourished babies protrude
    from tattered clothes, from rows
    of huddled families, aluminum foil blankets.

    Down the road
    from my house, I watch
    gulls fighting across red sand beaches
    over small nests of fries, and I cup
    the sand in my hands, hoping
    summer won’t end.

    To the beach, my father brings buckets
    of water to me, my mother
    molding the sandcastles—and still
    the castle washes away on the shore.
    In its place, a heap of mud.

    On the news most nights, I watch
    babies with vomit-stained bibs
    around their necks. I think of them
    for days.

    From his place in the sand, my father

    shouts be careful, be careful—still I run
    into the sea, I laugh, I keep running.

     

    Youth Category (12 and Under), First Place
    Kaya Kastanie Ankerbo Brown

    Drawing Peace

    War is so ugly that I refuse to even draw it
    but peace I would love to draw
    I draw children playing
    I draw flowers blossoming
    I draw birds chirping

    If you are a child in a country at war you have to be careful
    and you have to hide under the trees
    can you draw from there I wonder?

    Let’s draw a blossoming beautiful world
    where nobody is fighting
    where nobody envies what the others have
    where we share what we have
    let’s draw now!!!

  • David Krieger to Receive the 2020 Santa Barbara United Nations Association Peace Prize

    David Krieger to Receive the 2020 Santa Barbara United Nations Association Peace Prize

    SANTA BARBARA, CA–David Krieger, President Emeritus of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), has been selected to receive the 2020 Santa Barbara United Nations Association Peace Prize in the category “Creating Peace in the World.” The online awards ceremony will take place Thursday, September 24 at 7:00 pm.

    The Santa Barbara United Nations Association Peace Prize began in 2017 to recognize the incredible work being done in the world by local individuals. “This prize truly recognizes our amazing community members waging peace around the globe, advancing the cause of human rights, and helping developing nations advance with key supplies and infrastructure,” said Peace Prize Committee co-chair Debbie Cregan, with Youth For Human Rights International.

    The 2020 awardees also include Barbara Tellefson of The Unity Shoppe, an organization that empowers people experiencing poverty and hardship, and Thomas Tighe of Direct Relief International, which provides critical medical supplies for humanitarian aid globally.

    David Krieger is a founder of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and served as its president from the day NAPF opened its doors in 1982 until 2019, when he retired. He has been a leader in the global movement to abolish nuclear weapons and build a more peaceful world. Under Krieger’s leadership, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation created many innovative and important initiatives for building peace, strengthening international law, abolishing nuclear weapons and empowering peace leaders.

    Krieger has lectured throughout the world on issues of peace, security, international law, and the abolition of nuclear weapons and has received many awards for his work for a more peaceful and nuclear weapons-free world. He has been interviewed on CNN, MSNBC, BBC and many other national and international television and radio programs.

    Rick Wayman, NAPF’s current President and CEO, expressed his deep appreciation for Krieger, saying “This is such a well-deserved honor for David. In my travels around the world representing NAPF – whether at United Nations events, a conference in Hiroshima, or a lecture at a college in rural Wisconsin – I would always meet people who were effusive in their praise for David’s work. I often heard comments such as, ‘He inspired me to dedicate my life to peace,’ or, ‘I have many of his books on my bookshelf,’ or ‘I value his courage in speaking out for peace in all situations.‘”

    Wayman went on to say, “All of the work that NAPF continues to do in Santa Barbara, around the United States, and across the world has been made possible by the vision of David Krieger and NAPF’s co-founders in creating an institution dedicated to achieving peace in the age of nuclear weapons.”

    This year’s event theme is “Celebrating Santa Barbara Stars Changing The World” and features a special keynote speech by Ambassador Anwarul Chowdury, former UN Ambassador from Bangladesh, former UN Under-Secretary, and founder of the United Nations Culture of Peace organization. Krieger will be introduced at the event by Joe White, director of A Year Without War, who received the prize last year.

    The event will be held virtually over Zoom. For reservations, please go to unasb.org. You do not need to be a UNA member to attend the event. The cost for general admission is $5.

    “This is an unprecedented time in human history, to be sure,” said Santa Barbara United Nations Association President Barbara Gaughen-Muller. “Yet look at our three incredible finalists for the prize! They are beacons of so much good work being done to help our world, especially right now. It’s imperative that we continue to focus on encouraging that kind of work, and celebrate how one person CAN make a difference. That’s what the UNA Peace Prize is all about.”

    #                                         #                                         #

    If you would like to interview David Krieger or Rick Wayman, please call (805) 965-3443 or (805) 696-5159. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission is to educate and train people of all ages and backgrounds to solve the most dangerous technological, social, and psychological issues of our time, and to survive and thrive in the 21st century. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with consultative status to the United Nations. For more information, visit wagingpeace.org and peaceliteracy.org.

  • U.S. Launches Minuteman III Missile Test Just Four Weeks After the Last Test

    U.S. Launches Minuteman III Missile Test Just Four Weeks After the Last Test

    For Immediate Release

    Contact: Sandy Jones  (805) 965-3443; sjones@napf.org

    Rick Wayman  (805) 696-5159; rwayman@napf.org

    SANTA BARBARA, CA– Early this morning, for the second time in less than a month, a Minuteman III missile was tested during a launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

    Less than a month ago on August 4th, just two days prior to the 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the U.S. Air Force launched a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, which was loaded with three mock nuclear warheads.

    Rick Wayman, CEO of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, a non-profit based in Santa Barbara committed to the abolition of nuclear weapons and solving the most dangerous technological, social, and psychological issues of our time, commented on the close succession of missile tests by saying, “Less than one month ago, while the U.S. was launching a missile test, the majority of the world was solemnly remembering the 75th anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and vowing that such a catastrophe will never happen again. Wednesday’s test, combined with the three-warhead missile test last month, appear to be in preparation for the expiration of New START in February when limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons will be lifted and the U.S. will be able to put multiple nuclear warheads back on each Minuteman missile.”

    Wayman went on to say, “The unnecessarily provocative tests by the U.S. is an important reminder that the nuclear threat remains very real. We have decision makers who are willing and able to escalate nuclear threats even further by putting multiple warheads back on ICBMs – something that has not been done for decades.”

    #                                         #                                         #

    If you would like to interview Rick Wayman, please call (805) 965-3443 or (805) 696-5159.

    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission is to educate and train people of all ages and backgrounds to solve the most dangerous technological, social, and psychological issues of our time, and to survive and thrive in the 21st century. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with consultative status to the United Nations. For more information, visit wagingpeace.org and peaceliteracy.org.

  • U.S. Launches Minuteman III Missile Test Less Than 48 Hours Before 75th Anniversary of Hiroshima Atomic Bombing

    U.S. Launches Minuteman III Missile Test Less Than 48 Hours Before 75th Anniversary of Hiroshima Atomic Bombing

    For Immediate Release

    Contact:
    Sandy Jones  (805) 965-3443; sjones@napf.org
    Rick Wayman  (805) 696-5159; rwayman@napf.org

    Santa Barbara, CA – The U.S. Air Force launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile Tuesday morning, August 4, at 12:21 a.m. PDT from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The missile traveled over 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

    While Air Force Global Strike Command asserts that missile tests are scheduled years in advance, it is difficult to ignore the timing of this test – less than 48 hours before the 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

    Rick Wayman, CEO of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, a non-profit based in Santa Barbara committed to solving the most dangerous technological, social, and psychological issues of our time, including the abolition of nuclear weapons, commented on the missile test. He said, “This week, the majority of the world is solemnly remembering the 75th anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and vowing that such a thing will never happen again. Hundreds of thousands of our fellow human beings were indiscriminately slaughtered by two primitive U.S. atomic bombs in August 1945. The weapon that was tested this morning is designed for far greater damage.”

    Wayman went on to say that “The unnecessarily provocative test by the U.S. today is an important reminder that the nuclear threat remains very real, and that there are people in this country – along with a few other countries – who are willing to sacrifice us all in a battle that can never be won and must never be fought.”

    #                                         #                                         #

    If you would like to interview Rick Wayman, CEO of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, please call (805) 696-5159. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission is to educate and train people of all ages and backgrounds to solve the most dangerous technological, social, and psychological issues of our time, and to survive and thrive in the 21st century. NAPF is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with consultative status to the United Nations. It is a Partner Organization of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. For more information, visit wagingpeace.org or peaceliteracy.org.