Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Tag: Vandenberg

  • 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.

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    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.

  • 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.”

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    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.”

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    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.

  • U.S. to Launch Minuteman III Missile Test Days After Suspending Landmark Nuclear Weapons Treaty

    U.S. to Launch Minuteman III Missile Test Days After Suspending Landmark Nuclear Weapons Treaty

    For Immediate Release

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

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

     

    Santa Barbara, CA – An unarmed Minuteman III ICBM missile test is scheduled for launch early  Wednesday morning, Feb. 6, from Vandenberg AFB. The missile will travel some 4,200 miles to a predetermined target in the central Pacific Ocean’s Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

    David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation stated, “The Marshall Islanders take the brunt of America’s nuclear testing program, and they have already suffered enough from such tests. It’s time for Americans to wake up. These tests don’t make us safer, they make the world more dangerous. Rather than continuing to test nuclear weapons, we should be leading negotiations to rid the world of these weapons of indiscriminate mass annihilation.”

    While Global Strike Command representatives assert that missile tests are scheduled months or years in advance, this test comes just four short days after the Trump administration suspended from the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a crucial landmark Treaty between the U.S. and Russia that eliminated entire categories of nuclear weapons.

    Rick Wayman, Deputy Director at the Foundation commented on the approaching launch, saying “Just four days ago, the Trump administration suspended the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, one of the most important arms control treaties ever achieved between the United States and Russia. The very same week, both of these countries now appear set to test-launch Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. While ICBMs would not have violated the INF Treaty, it is alarming that this extraordinary tension is coming to a head with major nuclear-capable missile tests just hours or days apart.”

    Wayman went on to say, “The U.S. and Russia together possess over 90% of the approximately 14,500 nuclear weapons in the world. The Air Force always seeks to explain away ICBM tests as routine and disconnected from current geopolitical events. But there is nothing routine about rehearsing the annihilation of millions of people. President Trump’s reckless decision to torch the INF Treaty has put us all at even higher risk of nuclear catastrophe, and the United States’ ongoing testing of ICBMs must be viewed in this light.”

    Putting an end to the nuclear age need not be a partisan issue. The freshly-discarded INF Treaty was negotiated by President Reagan, who famously said, “Why wait until the end of the (20th) century for a world free of nuclear weapons?”

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    If you would like to interview David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, or Rick Wayman, Deputy Director of the Foundation, please call (805) 965-3443 or (805) 696-5159. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission is to educate, advocate and inspire action for a just and peaceful world, free of nuclear weapons. Founded in 1982, the Foundation is comprised of individuals and organizations worldwide who realize the imperative for peace in the Nuclear Age. 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.

    Vandenberg AFB – Spaceflight Now

    spaceflightnow.com
  • Nuclear Hypocrisy

    Nuclear Hypocrisy

    The United States brought nuclear weapons into the world. It is the only country to have used them, and it did so on innocent civilians.

    Nuclear weapons are now many times more powerful than the fission bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They make no nation safer but imperil all nations and the planet we all live on. Nuclear weapons are intrinsically immoral.

    Fifty years ago, the United States signed the Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We joined the four other nuclear countries in 1968 to promise to work “in good faith” toward “complete disarmament,” while other nations that signed the treaty agreed to never obtain them.

    The current nuclear arsenal of the United States, however, and its plans to modernize its nuclear weaponry over the next 30 years (at a cost of $1.2 trillion, according to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office), radically belie the promise our nation made when it signed the Nonproliferation Treaty. Our country’s current deployment of more than 1,500 nuclear warheads in its triad of intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic bombers, and submarine-launched ballistic missiles endows us with monstrous nuclear capacity and supremacy over all other nations.

    In February of this, the 50th anniversary of our signing the Nonproliferation Treaty, the Pentagon released its “Nuclear Posture Review” (NPR). In his preface, General Jim Mattis stated:

    “This review confirms the findings of previous NPRs that the nuclear triad—supported by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) dual-capable aircraft and a robust nuclear command, control, and communications system—is the most cost-effective and strategically sound means of ensuring nuclear deterrence.”

    And further:

    “This review affirms the modernization programs initiated during the previous Administration to replace our nuclear ballistic missile submarines, strategic bombers, nuclear air-launched cruise missiles, ICBMs, and associated nuclear command and control.”

    So, 50 years after promising to help purge the world of nuclear weapons, our nation insanely believes the best way to prevent the use of nuclear weapons is to assure that they are ever more effective. Moreover, we have the audacity to demand that other nations such as Iran and North Korea not have such weapons.

    Has there ever been a greater and more dangerous hypocrisy in the history of civilization?

    We are people who have protested at Vandenberg Air Force Base against nuclear weaponry. We protest at Vandenberg, because our nation tests its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) by firing them from the base to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, degrading the environment, health, and economic welfare of the small country’s indigenous peoples. We also protest at Vandenberg because the soldiers assigned to launch our nation’s nuclear ICBMs are trained at the base.

    Many of us have protested at Vandenberg for decades. We are old and young. We are Asian, black, brown, Native American, Pacific Islander, and white. We are agnostics, atheists, Buddhists, Catholics, Jews, Protestants, and Quakers. Some of us are military veterans of wars; others are lifelong pacifists. Many of us have been arrested during our peaceful protest at Vandenberg. Some of us have gone to prison; one of us went before the U.S. Supreme Court.

    We are all one in our opposition to the possession of nuclear weapons by any nation, foremost our own. We are also one in our love for humanity, and we hope that our nation will one day rid itself of its nuclear arsenal and authentically lead other nations to join it.

    Until that day, we continue our protest.

    Signed:

    Sue Ablao (Bremerton, WA); Mary Lou Anderson (Las Vegas, NV); John Dennis Apel (Guadalupe, CA); Mary Becker (Montecito, CA); Kelly Bowles Gray (Los Olivos, CA); Kent Carlander (Santa Barbara, CA); Karen Claydon (Santa Barbara, CA); Felice Cohen-Joppa (Tucson, AZ); Jack Cohen-Joppa (Tucson, AZ); Peggy Coleman (Los Gatos, CA); Dudley Conneely (Goleta, CA); Susan Crane (Redwood City, CA); Lucas Dambergs (Tacoma, WA); Reverend John Dear (Santa Fe, NM); Jeff Dietrich (Los Angeles, CA); Clancy Dunigan (Langley, WA); Dennis DuVall (Prescott, AZ); MacGregor Eddy (Salinas CA); Ed Ehmke (Menlo Park, CA); Daniel Ellsberg (Kensington, CA); Marilyn Fahrne (Santa Cruz, CA); Scott Fina (Orcutt, CA); Elizabeth U. Flanagan (Santa Barbara, CA); Toni Kathleen Flynn (Arroyo Grande, CA); Karan Founds-Benton (Los Angeles, CA); George Franklin (San Francisco, CA); Bruce K. Gagnon (Brunswick, ME); Cris Gutierrez (Santa Monica, CA); Jim Haber (San Francisco, CA); Chris Hables Gray (Santa Cruz, CA); Lynn Hamilton (Monterey, CA); Anne Hall (Lopez Island, WA); David Hall (Lopez Island, WA); David Hartsough (San Francisco, CA); Jan Harwood (Santa Cruz, CA); Tom H. Hastings (Portland, OR); Tensie Hernandez (Guadalupe, CA); Susan Hubbard (Monterey, CA); Brother Senji Kanaeda (Bainbridge Island, WA); Reverend Stephen Kelly, SJ (Oakland, CA); Katie Kelso (New Orleans, LA); Jane Kesselman (North San Juan, CA); Mary Klein (Palo Alto, CA); David Krieger (Santa Barbara, CA); Richard Lai (Las Vegas, NV); Frances E. Lamb (Bend, OR); Andrew Lanier, Jr. (San Jose, CA); Sandy Lejeune (Santa Barbara, CA); Sherrill A. Lewis (San Luis Obispo CA); Reverend Jeannette Love (Carpinteria, CA); Peter Lumsdaine (Port Hadlock, WA); Nancy Lynch (Santa Barbara, CA); Max Magen (West Marlboro, VT); Jorge Manly Gil (Guadalupe, CA); S.C. Maurin (San Francisco, CA); John Mazurski (San Francisco, CA); Betty McElhill (Tucson, AZ); Allison McGillivray (Eugene, OR); Gale McNeeley (Santa Maria, CA); Christine Milne (Santa Barbara, CA); Jessica Morley (Grants Pass, OR); Ken Murphy (Santa Barbara, CA); Elizabeth Murray (Poulsbo, WA); Donald Nollar (Los Angeles, CA); Mary Jane Parrine Ehmken (Menlo Park, CA); Hilary Peattie (Goleta, CA); Lacksana Peters (San Leandro, CA); Lorin Peters (San Leandro, CA); Lawrence Purcell (Redwood City, CA); Susan Pyburn (San Luis Obispo, CA); Mary Rice (Crozet, VA); Sister Megan Rice (Washington, DC); George W. Rodkey (Tacoma, WA); Jack Schultz (Santa Cruz, CA); Martin Sheen (Malibu, CA); Valerie Sklarevsky (Malibu, CA); Lida Sparer (Ridgecrest, NC); Starhawk (San Francisco, CA); Anne Symens-Bucher (Oakland, CA); Laura-Maire Taylor (Las Vegas, NV); Edward Van Valkenburgh (Santa Cruz, CA); Tom Webb (Oakland, CA); J. Webb Mealy (Santa Barbara, CA); dress wedding (Oakland, CA); Lynda Williams (Sebastopol, CA); Michael Wisniewski (Hacienda Heights, CA); Samuel Yergler (Eugene, OR); John Yevtich (New Orleans, LA); Brother Gilberto Zamora Perez (Bainbridge Island, WA); Randy Ziglar (Santa Monica, CA).

    The 91 co-signers of this commentary have all protested at Vandenberg Air Force Base. They come from 11 states (and the District of Columbia) and both coasts of our country, and include such notable national figures as Daniel Ellsberg, actor Martin Sheen, peace activist Sister Megan Rice, author Father John Dear, and David Krieger, founding executive director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • Minuteman III Missile Test Launched from Vandenberg

    Minuteman III Missile Test Launched from Vandenberg

    For Immediate Release

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

     

    Minuteman III Missile Test Launched from Vandenberg Early Tuesday Morning

    Less than two months ago, U.S. and North Korea held a summit, jointly committing to North Korea’s denuclearization. What kind of message does missile test send?

    Vandenberg–The U.S. is scheduled to test a Minuteman III Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) carrying a mock nuclear warhead early Tuesday morning between 12:01 a.m. and 6:01 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, California. This particular test is just a month-and-half after the high-stakes summit between the U.S. and North Korea, in which Trump and Kim Jong-un signed a vaguely-worded statement, agreeing to  “work toward complete denuclearization on the Korean peninsula.”

    What kind of message is the U.S. sending to North Korea with this missile test? Rick Wayman, Deputy Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, noted, “This is the same class of missiles for which the U.S. has been highly critical of the North Koreans for developing and testing. How can the United States demand North Korea’s good faith on denuclearization while the U.S. continues its own ICBM testing? The hypocrisy is nothing new, but what stands out with this test is the potential for blowing up the peace process underway with North Korea.”

    It is widely recognized that the path to North Korean denuclearization will be anything but smooth. In fact, after Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, went to Pyongyang to continue negotiations after the June summit, North Korea criticized the U.S. for having a stance that was “… regrettable, gangster-like and cancerous.”

    David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, commented, “With its continuing missile tests, the U.S. is itself doing what it seeks to stop other countries from doing. If the U.S. were serious about achieving global denuclearization, it would be showing leadership toward that end. Instead, it continues to test its nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles. Hypocrisy will never achieve the desired goal of a nuclear weapons-free world.”                                           

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    If you would like to interview David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation or Rick Wayman, Deputy Director, please call the Foundation at (805) 965-3443. 

    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission is to educate and advocate for peace and a world free of nuclear weapons and to empower peace leaders. Founded in 1982, the Foundation is comprised of individuals and organizations worldwide who realize the imperative for peace in the Nuclear Age. 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.

  • Press Release: Minuteman III Missile Test Launched from Vandenberg

    Press Release: Minuteman III Missile Test Launched from Vandenberg

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    For Immediate Release

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

    Minuteman III Missile Test Launched from Vandenberg Early Monday Morning

    U.S., North Korea summit just one month away – what message does missile test send?

    Kwajalein Atoll
    The U.S. fired an intercontinental ballistic missile at Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

    Vandenberg–The U.S. tested a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile carrying a mock nuclear warhead early Monday morning at 1:23 AM (PDT). from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The U.S. typically conducts three to four ICBM tests each year. Monday’s test comes less than a month prior to the high-stakes summit between the U.S. and North Korea that is aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

    What kind of message is the U.S. sending to North Korea with this latest launch when these are the same class of missiles for which the U.S. has been highly critical of the North Koreans for developing and testing?

    David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, commented, ”When it comes to ballistic missile tests, the U.S. continues to operate on a hypocritical double standard. Its own missile tests and those of its allies are treated as necessary and business-as-usual, while the missile tests of non-allied countries are treated as provocative and dangerous. What the world needs is a single standard aimed at ending the nuclear arms race and achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.  It also needs U.S. leadership rather than U.S. hypocrisy.”

    One month ago, Kim Jong-un suspended nuclear and missile tests in North Korea and stated that he will shut down the site where the previous six nuclear tests had been conducted. One cannot help but view this as a sign of good faith on the part of North Korea heading into the negotiations with the United States. As its own sign of good faith, the U.S. should also cancel all its planned ballistic missile tests prior to its summit meeting with North Korea.

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    If you would like to interview David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation or Rick Wayman, Director of Programs and Operations, please call the Foundation at (805) 965-3443.

    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission is to educate and advocate for peace and a world free of nuclear weapons and to empower peace leaders. Founded in 1982, the Foundation is comprised of individuals and organizations worldwide who realize the imperative for peace in the Nuclear Age. 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.

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  • Letter to Secretary Mattis: Postpone the U.S. ICBM Tests During the Olympic Truce

    Photo | U.S. Department of Defense

    On February 2, 2018, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis. The letter called on Secretary Mattis to respect the Olympic Truce, which began on February 2nd in advance of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.

    The U.S. had scheduled two tests of its Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile in the month of February, during the Olympic Truce period.

    On the afternoon of Monday, February 5, the Air Force announced that it would be conducting the first Minuteman III missile test in the early morning hours of February 7. Just a couple of hours later, the Air Force cancelled the test with no explanation.

    A full copy of the letter to Secretary Mattis is available at this link, and the text of the letter is reproduced below.

    Gen. James Mattis
    Secretary of Defense
    1000 Defense Pentagon
    Washington, DC 20301-1000

     

    February 2, 2018

     

    Dear Secretary Mattis,

    We were very pleased to learn of the decision by South Korea and the United States to postpone joint military exercises until after the official period of the Olympic Truce. It was with great alarm, then, that we read a January 11 article in Bloomberg indicating that the Air Force Global Strike Command has no plans to postpone two Minuteman III ICBM tests in February, also during the Olympic Truce.

    Captain Anastasia Schmidt of Global Strike Command stated, “There are two launches currently scheduled for February that have been scheduled for three to five years.”

    Regardless of advance planning, it is essential to global security that the United States be flexible and respect worthwhile initiatives for peace such as the Olympic Truce. The Air Force has postponed launches due to unfavorable weather conditions, technical problems, and other issues. There is no reason why the Air Force cannot, at a minimum, postpone these ICBM tests until after the designated weeks of the Olympic Truce.

    If North Korea were to test an ICBM during the Olympics, many nations, including the United States, would view the act as provocative and threatening. One does not have to stretch the imagination too far to guess how North Korea might react to our testing of ICBMs during the same period.

    For the sake of global stability and to honor the Olympic spirit, I urge you to postpone the February ICBM tests.

    Sincerely,

     

    David Krieger                                                                     Robert Laney
    President                                                                            Chairman
    Nuclear Age Peace Foundation                                  Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

  • U.S. Plans Missile Defense Test From Vandenberg, Aiming at Intercept, Tuesday, May 30

    For Immediate Release

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

    Santa Barbara–The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is planning a test of its Ground-based Mid-Course Interceptor Missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base on May 30, 2016.

    The targeted intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) will lift off from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The ground-based interceptor will launch out of an underground silo from Vandenberg between noon and 4:14 P.M. in an attempt to intercept the targeted ICBM.

    According to the Missile Defense Agency, “This will be the first time a ground-based missile interceptor launched from California attempts to smash into a ‘threat-representative’ intercontinental ballistic missile in its mid-course over the Pacific.”

    The U.S. has already spent at least $41 billion on the Ground Missile Defense System. According to Rick Wayman, Programs Director at the Santa Barbara-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, “The Ground Missile Defense System is a boondoggle of the highest order. The U.S. continues to shovel billions of dollars into a system that simply will never work reliably. It’s long past time to stop throwing good money after bad and end this misguided missile system.”

    The U.S. Department of Energy recently submitted their 2018 budget request in which they proposed “$10.2 billion for Weapons Activities to maintain and enhance the safety, security, and effectiveness of our nuclear weapons enterprise.” This particular test alone will have a price tag upwards of $244 million.

    It should be noted that the test comes on the heels of negotiations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons in international law. These negotiations took place under the auspices of the United Nations and more than 130 nations participated. A draft treaty has been released and is expected to be finalized by early July.

    David Krieger, President of the Foundation, stated, “The U.S. ground-based missile defense system has only a 53 percent success rate in 17 tests. It will not be able to protect Americans or anyone else. It is simply an efficient and cynical way to funnel funds to defense corporations.” He continued, “There is simply no good prospect for this kind of weapons testing, especially with rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. What is needed is an all-out diplomatic push for true security to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.”

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    If you would like to interview David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation or Rick Wayman, Director of Programs, please call the Foundation at (805) 965-3443.

    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission is to educate and advocate for peace and a world free of nuclear weapons and to empower peace leaders. Founded in 1982, the Foundation is comprised of individuals and organizations worldwide who realize the imperative for peace in the Nuclear Age. 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.

  • Vandenberg to Launch Minuteman III Missile Test

    For Immediate Release

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

    Vandenberg to Launch Minuteman III Missile Test

    Santa Barbara, CA – A Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test is scheduled for launch between 11:39 p.m. Wednesday and 5:39 a.m. Thursday of this week, from Vandenberg AFB to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. While it won’t carry an armed nuclear warhead, the purpose of the United States’ 450 land-based ICBMs is to deliver powerful nuclear warheads to any target on Earth in under an hour.

    The U.S. Air Force tested this Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile on February 20, 2016. Photo | U.S. Department of Defense
    The U.S. Air Force tested this Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile on February 20, 2016. Photo | U.S. Department of Defense

    The scheduled test comes just days after the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Iran to punish them for their latest ballistic missile test. President Trump tweeted that “Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE.” Michael T. Flynn, Trump’s national security advisor, said, “The ritual of convening a United Nations Security Council in an emergency meeting and issuing a strong statement is not enough. The Trump administration will no longer tolerate Iran’s provocations that threaten our interests.”

    USAF officials regularly boast of U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile tests as “messages we send to our allies who seek protection from aggression and to adversaries who threaten peace.” Clearly, this kind of double standard cannot be lost on the rest of the world.

    David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, commented, “Test-firing these missiles while expressing criticism when other countries conduct missile tests is a clear double standard. Such hypocrisy encourages nuclear proliferation and nuclear arms races and makes the world a more dangerous place.”

    William Perry, former defense secretary under President Bill Clinton, has stated unequivocally that his experiences have led him to believe the U.S. should remove ICBMs from its nuclear triad, which also includes strategic bombers and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

    With each missile test, the U.S. sends a clear and expensive message that it continues to be reliant on nuclear weapons. Each test costs tens of millions of dollars and contributes to the U.S. plans to spend $1 trillion modernizing its nuclear arsenal over the next thirty years.

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    If you would like to interview David Krieger, please call the Foundation at (805) 965-3443.

    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission is to educate and advocate for peace and a world free of nuclear weapons and to empower peace leaders. Founded in 1982, the Foundation is comprised of individuals and organizations worldwide who realize the imperative for peace in the Nuclear Age. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with consultative status to the United Nations. For more information, visit www.wagingpeace.org.