Anne Readel, New York Times, March 28, 2022
August 2021 - On Aug. 6, 2020, Hiroshima Day, Presidential Candidate Joe Biden proclaimed: “I will work to bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons.” That was encouraging to the many Americans who favor a world without nuclear weapons, and to the 122 countries that voted for the Nuclear Ban Treaty of 2017.
But President Biden has instead joined in a 3-way hypersonic arms race with Russia and China, with basically unstoppable nuclear and non-nuclear missiles traveling 4,000 to 14,000 mph. This shrinks the time of deciding whether what seems like an incoming nuclear attack is really an attack, or just a false alarm. Having about 10 minutes to decide, as we had in the past, has twice saved us from worldwide nuclear catastrophe. First by Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov on Sept. 26, 1983, when he faced a computer warning of a US attack of "high reliability" calling for "full nuclear retaliation". Bless him for not following his orders, for what turned out to be the sun's reflection off some clouds. A second false alarm came before Boris Yeltsin on Jan. 25, 1995, but he could not believe that “my friend Bill” could do such a thing.
With hypersonic missiles, we’d lose those 10 valuable minutes. If the world is EVER going to save itself from nuclear destruction by eliminating its 13,132 nuclear weapons, this present moment could be the last chance. Russia has already deployed a hypersonic ICBM, with “reportedly” a nuclear warhead, according to the Congressional Research Service.
TAKE ACTION: Contact Pres. Biden and urge him to make the necessary arrangements to “negotiate in good faith” with a goal of worldwide nuclear disarmament as we and the U.K., Russia, China, and France solemnly committed to do in the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970. It is high time. The world is heading into a continually deeper trap, so the sooner we do this, the better chance we have.
CONTACT: President Biden
Web: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Tel: 1-202-456-1111
Mail: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20500
Please write a letter-to-the-editor on this important issue.
It is a good way to educate others and build support for needed policies.
Comments