Greenpeace's 'Most Wanted'
deck of nuclear proliferators also includes
George Bush.
11/02/205 — George Bush's war on weapons
of mass destruction has just had its first
concrete result: the world now has 8 countries
with declared nuclear weapons instead of 7.
North Korea has officially announced that
they have manufactured "enough nuclear
weapons to deter a US attack." Nice going,
George.
North Korea made the first public admission
that it has nuclear weapons on February 10th.
They simultaneously announced they are leaving
the Six Party talks, which began in 2003 to
address concerns about a possible North Korean
nuclear weapons programme. Those talks have
been stalled since last September.
The talks have been marred by hypocrisy and
fault on all sides.
China, Russia, and the US fail in their international
obligations to pursue nuclear disarmament,
and are actively upgrading their nuclear arsenals.
South Korea has been embroiled in controversy
over its own experiments with nuclear weapons
materials.
Japan is sitting on a massive 5-ton domestic
stockpile of plutonium. They plan to open
a reprocessing facility at Rokashu-Mura capable
of separating much more, and the capacity
to turn that stockpile into weapons is well
within their reach.
Nuclear brinkmanship is inevitable in a climate
of nuclear hypocrisy. Only when all countries
pursue nuclear disarmament in good faith can
we begin putting the nuclear genie back in
the bottle by banning the use and manufacture
of fissile materials.
North Korea's decision means troubled waters
ahead for all of us. A new nuclear arms race
in Asia all but guarantees a global response
of more weapons, more sabre-rattling from
the US, and more borderline nuclear powers
deciding it's time to do as George Bush does
and not as he says: i.e. join the global love
affair with weapons of mass destruction.
North Korea can turn that tide by doing the
right thing. They should immediately set aside
their weapons and rejoin the Nuclear Non Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) regime. They should advocate
for the disarmament of the US and other nuclear
weapons states from within the treaty system,
not from without.
There must be one rule for all: no nukes.
Take Action
Ask North Korea to do the right thing: rejoin
the NPT and advocate for the complete nuclear
disarmament that the nuclear weapons states
agreed under the treaty.
Play Nuclear Solitaire, a fun and educational
way to while away the time while the NPT unravels.
