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By David Swanson, World
BEYOND War, January 15, 2020
https://worldbeyondwar.org/new-york-city-prepares-nuclear-option/
https://worldbeyondwar.org/new-york-city-prepares-nuclear-option/
There really only is one
option when it comes to nuclear weapons, and that is to do everything we can to
abolish them before they abolish us. New York City Council will be voting on
January 28, 2020, to do its part by voting on two measures that already have
enough sponsors to give them veto-proof majorities.
One is a bill that will create an “advisory committee to
examine nuclear disarmament and issues related to recognizing and reaffirming
New York city as a nuclear weapons-free zone.”
The second is a resolution that “calls upon the New York City Comptroller
to instruct the pension funds of public employees in New York City to divest
from and avoid any financial exposure to companies involved in the production
and maintenance of nuclear weapons, reaffirms New York City as a Nuclear
Weapons Free Zone, and joins the ICAN Cities Appeal, which welcomes the
adoption of and calls on the United States to support and join the Treaty on
the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”
The “whereas” clauses that
lead up to the statement above are specific to New York City, but could be
modified for any location on earth. They include these:
“Whereas, Catastrophic
humanitarian and environmental consequences would result from any nuclear
detonation in New York City and could not be adequately addressed; eliminating
nuclear weapons remains the only way to guarantee that nuclear weapons are
never used again under any circumstances; and . . .
“Whereas, New York City has
a special responsibility, as a site of Manhattan Project activities and a nexus
for financing of nuclear weapons, to express solidarity with all victims and
communities harmed by nuclear weapons use, testing and related activities;”
The resolution makes clear
that divestment will be no mere formality:
“Whereas, According to the
2018 report compiled by Don’t Bank on the Bomb, 329 financial institutions
around the world including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase
among others have invested through financing, manufacturing or production of
nuclear weapons with BlackRock and Capital Group, the highest contributors
among United States based financial institutions, with their investments
totaling $38 billion and $36 billion respectively; and
“Whereas, The pension system
for the City of New York retirees has significant investments in these
financial institutions and other companies involved in producing key components
for and maintaining nuclear weapons through equity holdings, bond holdings, and
other assets, according to the annual report issued by the New York City
Employees’ Retirement System;”
A large coalition of
organizations has been supporting the resolution and bill that are now
scheduled for a vote. Alice Slater, a Board Member of World BEYOND War, and the
UN Representative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, will be one of numerous
individuals testifying on January 28th. The following is her prepared
testimony:
____________
________________ _______________ ______________
Dear Members of the New York
City Council,
I am so deeply grateful and
thankful to each one of that has sponsored this pending legislation, Res. 976
and Int.1621. Your willingness is laudable in showing the world that the New
York City Council is stepping up to the plate and taking historic action to
support the recent global efforts to finally ban the bomb! Your resolve to use
the power and clout of New York City to call on our US government to sign and
ratify the new Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons(TPNW) and to work
for the divestment of NYC pensions from investments in nuclear weapons
manufacturers is so greatly appreciated.
In this effort, New York City will be joining the historic Cities Campaign of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its successful ten-year campaign resulting in a UN negotiated ban treaty. By your action, New York City will be joining with other cities in recalcitrant nuclear weapons states and states under the protection of the US nuclear deterrent whose national governments refuse to join the PTNW– cities including Paris, Geneva, Sidney, Berlin, as well as US cities including Los Angeles and Washington, DC. all urging their governments to join the treaty.
In this effort, New York City will be joining the historic Cities Campaign of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its successful ten-year campaign resulting in a UN negotiated ban treaty. By your action, New York City will be joining with other cities in recalcitrant nuclear weapons states and states under the protection of the US nuclear deterrent whose national governments refuse to join the PTNW– cities including Paris, Geneva, Sidney, Berlin, as well as US cities including Los Angeles and Washington, DC. all urging their governments to join the treaty.
I have been working to end
wars since 1968 when I learned on television that Ho Chi Minh, the President of
North Vietnam had begged Woodrow Wilson in 1919, to help him get the French
colonial rulers out of Vietnam. The US turned him down and the Soviets were
more than happy to help, which is why he became a communist! That same night I
saw on TV that the students at Columbia University had locked the President of
the school in his office and were rioting on campus, because they didn’t want
to be drafted to fight in the illegal and immoral Vietnam War. I was living in
the suburbs with my two babies and was absolutely terrified. I couldn’t believe
this was happening in America, at Columbia University, in my New York City,
where my grandparents settled after emigrating from Europe to escape war and
bloodshed and my parents and I grew up. Filled with righteous
indignation, I went to a debate between the hawks and the doves at my local
Democratic club, in Massapequa, joined the doves, soon becoming Co-Chair of
Eugene McCarthy’s campaign in Long Island’s 2nd Congressional
District, and never stopped fighting for peace. I worked through McGovern’s
campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination to end the Vietnam War, to
the days of the nuclear freeze in New York City and the homeport movement here
that kept nuclear-bomb laden ships out of New York City’s harbors, to the most
recent triumph of citizen action, the adoption of the new Treaty for the
Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This new treaty bans nuclear weapons just as
the world has banned chemical and biological weapons and landmines and cluster
bombs.
There are about 16,000
nuclear weapons on our planet and 15,000 of them are in the US and Russia. All
the other nuclear-armed states have 1,000 between them—UK, France China, India,
Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea. The 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) had a promise from five countries—the US, Russia, UK, France, and
China—to give up their nuclear weapons if all the other countries of the world
promised not to get them. Everyone signed, except for India, Pakistan,
and Israel and they built their own nuclear arsenals. The NPT’s Faustian
bargain promised all the countries who agreed not to acquire nuclear weapons an
“inalienable right” to “peaceful” nuclear power, giving them all the keys to
the bomb factory. North Korea got its “peaceful” nuclear power and then
walked out of the NPT and made nuclear bombs. We were fearful that Iran
was doing that too, although they asserted that they were only enriching
uranium for peaceful uses.
Today, all the nuclear
weapons states are modernizing and updating their arsenals, despite treaties
and agreements over the years that reduced global nuclear arsenals from a
height of 70,000 bombs. Sadly, our country, the US, has been the provocateur
for nuclear proliferation over the years:
–Truman refused Stalin’s
request to turn the bomb over to the newly established UN and put it under
international control after the catastrophic devastation in Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, where it is estimated that at least 135,000 people died instantly,
despite the UN’s mission to “end the scourge of war”.
–After the wall fell, and
Gorbachev miraculously ended the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, Reagan
refused Gorbachev’s offer to abolish nuclear weapons in return for Reagan
abandoning US plans for Star Wars to achieve domination in space.
–Clinton refused Putin’s
offer to cut to 1,000 weapons each and call everyone to the table to negotiate
an abolition treaty, provided the US stopped its plans to violate the 1972
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and put missiles in Romania and Poland.
–Bush actually walked out of
the ABM treaty in 2000 and now Trump has walked out of the 1987
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force agreement with the USSR.
–Obama, in return for a
modest cut in our nuclear arsenals that he negotiated with Medvedev of 1500
nuclear bombs, promised a one trillion dollar nuclear program over the next 30
years with two new bomb factories in Oak Ridge and Kansas City, and new missiles,
planes, submarines and warheads. Trump continued Obama’s program and even
raised it by $52 billion over the next 10 years [i]
–China and Russia proposed
in 2008 and 2015 negotiations on a Model Treaty they put on the table to ban
weapons in space and the US blocked any discussion in the consensus-bound UN
Committee for Disarmament
–Putin proposed to Obama
that the US and Russia negotiate a treaty to ban cyberwar, which the US
rejected. [ii]
Walt Kelly, the 1950s
cartoonist of the Pogo comic strip, has Pogo saying, “We met the enemy and he
is us!”
With the negotiation of the
new Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, we now have a breakthrough
opportunity for citizens and Cities and States around the world to take action
to reverse course from plummeting our Earth into catastrophic nuclear disaster.
At this moment, there are 2500 nuclear tipped missiles in the US and Russia
targeting all of our major cities. As for New York City, as the song
goes, “If we can make it here, we’ll make it anywhere!” and it’s wonderful and
inspiring that this City Council is willing to add it’s voice to demand lawful
and effective action for a nuclear free world! Thank you so much!!
--
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He
is executive director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation
Radio. He
is a 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.
Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook.
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DavidSwanson.org, WarIsACrime.org, and TalkNationRadio.org by clicking
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