wfn.org | Speaker Calls For Abolishment of Nuclear Weapons

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

19-June-1997 
GA97091 
 
              Speaker Calls For Abolishment of Nuclear Weapons 
                         at Peace Breakfast 
 
                           by Julain Shipp 
 
SYRACUSE--Imagine the stench of rotting corpses the likes of which the 
world may never have known and you'll grasp but a tenth of the horror of 
nuclear winter, a likely scenario following global nuclear war, according 
to Dr. Helen Caldicott. 
 
    "A cloud from 1000 (nuclear) bombs dropped on 100 cities could cover 
the earth and produce nuclear winter, and the possible end of all life on 
this planet," Caldicott said. "We're still living on the precipice of 
extinction." 
 
    Guest speaker at the Peace Breakfast of the Presbyterian Peace 
Fellowship here June 19, Caldicott presented a chilling account of the 
threat of nuclear annihilation. An Australian physician and activist, she 
is founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, whose umbrella 
organization, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, 
won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. 
 
    Caldicott said although the Berlin Wall has fallen and the Cold War has 
ended, very little has been done by world leaders to reduce the number of 
strategic nuclear weapons.  She said it is believed the U.S. and the former 
Soviet Union both have approximately 10,000 strategic nuclear weapons 
including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), but acknowledged the 
Pentagon keeps this information classified. 
 
    She said the U.S. has approximately 18 Trident submarines armed with 
240 D-5 nuclear weapons, enough to destroy every major city in the northern 
hemisphere with "extremely accurate" first-strike capability.  Caldicott 
said the U.S. also maintains 50 MX  "Peacekeeper" missiles armed with 10 
MIRVs (multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicles).  A MIRV is an 
intercontinental ballistic missile with several warheads, each of which can 
be directed to a different target. 
 
    Caldicott called for the abolishment of all nuclear arms by the year 
2000. She said a recent poll revealed 90 percent of Americans support a 
treaty to support the elimination of nuclear arms. She contrasted this with 
a 1983 poll, which she said showed 80 percent of Americans supported a 
bi-lateral freeze on nuclear weapons. 
 
    Her harsh words against the U.S. military's weapons stockpiles and 
defense policies drew stern looks from some onlookers, but Caldicott said, 
the U.S. can police the world "only if she is globally responsible" and 
must take the lead in the abolishment of nuclear arms since many other 
nations view America as a superpower. 
 
    She called upon the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to continue its 
historic fight for the abolishment of nuclear weapons. Ironically, 
Caldicott's remarks came on the heels of Commissioners' Resolution 97-26 on 
the abolition of nuclear weapons. The 209th General Assembly (1997) 
overwhelmingly approved the resolution June 18. 
 
    Even so, Caldicott said she is aware of  no one currently in the 
scientific or military community who has a plan for disposing of plutonium 
and other radioactive materials due to their extreme volatility and 
half-life. 
 
    During the program, Jan Hus Presbyterian Church in New York City and 
the Rev. Jan Orr-Harter, church pastor, were honored with the 1997 
Peaceseeker Award for their lifestyle commitment to peace. For decades, the 
church has organized for a nuclear weapons freeze and for justice issues in 
Central America. 
 
    "The Peace Fellowship honors all of us...who believe ordinary people 
like us can learn about and care about and never cease working towards 
those global efforts towards peace," Orr-Harter said. "Together, we have 
made a difference for peace." 
 
    The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship covenants with Presbyterians working 
towards the abolition of war and a prophetic biblical vision for the 
nation. 

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