Nuke Watch8/6 Livermore, CA: Hiroshima Memorial - Reflection and Action
No Nukes! No Wars! No Profiteers!
What: In the Shadow of the Bomb, a memorial ceremony and nonviolent direct action at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab will mark the 62nd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Through poetry, music and spoken word, we will recall the history of that terrible day and the ongoing effects of nuclear weapons use, production and testing. We will commemorate the victims of nuclear weapons and war at the gate of the government laboratory that is designing the next U.S. nuclear weapon, the so-called “Reliable Replacement Warhead” >> Read More
7/31: US-India Nuke Deal May Spark Asian Arms RaceThe U.S. decision last week to proceed with a controversial civilian nuclear deal with India has triggered strong negative responses from peace activists, disarmament experts and anti-nuclear groups. >> Read More
5/25: Petition for the Marshall Islands - Effect of US Nuclear Bombs
Please sign the petition demanding justice for the Marshallese nuclear survivors, many of whom are sick and unable to get adequate medical treatment and monetary compensation that the US promised them because the US refuses to increase the allocation for compensation. >> Read More
1/7/07: The Myth and Danger of 'Bunker Buster' Weapons
The report strongly suggests that the notion that 'Bunker Buster' weapons can be used in such a way that radiation is contained in the ground is a fantasy (or a lie). --"[I]t is simply not possible for a kinetic-energy weapon to penetrate deeply enough into the earth to contain a nuclear explosion," wrote Robert W. Nelson, a theoretical physicist at Princeton University. >> Read More
10/12: Peace Movement to Bush: Negotiate With North Korea Now! [United for Peace & Justice] North Korea's apparent nuclear test is chilling evidence of how the Bush administration's policy of shunning negotiations has failed. There is no doubt: People in the U.S. and around the world are far less safe than we were five years ago.But the primary blame for this situation lies with the Bush administration, not North Korea. The nuclear test is a direct reaction to the Bush administration’s policy of shunning negotiations and threatening North Korea with war and regime change.There is only one way to address the current crisis: Direct negotiations with North Korea. With few exceptions, much of the mainstream media is going along with the White House’s claims that negotiations won’t work. The media played a major role in the run-up to the war in Iraq -- we can’t let them do that again.
North Korea resource link:
United for Peace and Justice opposes any military action against Iran, as well as covert action and sanctions. We reject the doctrine of "preventive war." All diplomatic solutions must be pursued.President Bush has refused to rule out a U.S. nuclear attack on Iran if Iran doesn't halt its uranium enrichment activities, declaring on April 18th: "All options are on the table."United for Peace and Justice calls upon the U.S. Congress and the United Nations Security Council to oppose military action against Iran, uphold the law, support diplomatic solutions to the crisis, and put an end to U.S. nuclear hypocrisy. We urge you to add your signature to two letters:
TELL CONGRESS: Oppose any attack on Iran or covert military actions there.
And if you haven't already done so, sign AfterDowningStreet's petition to President Bush and Vice-President Cheney opposing an attack on Iran. Read More »
The 61st Hiroshima Day [Indy Media] 61 years ago on 6th August 1945 the first nuclear bomb, "Little Boy", a uranium bomb, was dropped on a civilian target, the city of Hiroshima in Japan, 3 days later on 9th August "Fat Man", a plutonium bomb, was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. These Americian acts of genocide, which killed as many as 210,000 people, were unnecessary and were designed "to kick-start the Cold War rather than end the Second World War".Protests against nuclear weapons are expected to take place around the world, 80 protests have been organised across the USA: To mark the 61st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, rallies, vigils, teach-ins, and nonviolent protests will be held in more than 60 cities in 24 states across the country to demand an end to nuclear weapons and wars. Antiwar, nuclear abolition and indigenous rights groups are focusing on facilities run by the Bechtel Corporation, one of the world's leading nuclear weapons contractors, war profiteers, and violators of indigenous rights. Activities will take place under the banner: From Hiroshima to Yucca Mountain to the Middle East: No Nukes! No Wars! End War Profiteering! Support Indigenous Rights!Protests are also expected in Perth and across Europe.CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) in the UK have shown that 59% opposes the replacement of Trident, Britian's submarine-launched nuclear ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missiles) system. On Friday 5th August protestors handed in 53,000 signatures on a petition to 10 Downing Street calling on the government not to replace Trident or develop any new nuclear weapons system. On Tuesday 2nd August two peace activists were arrested after painting "Trident is Terrorism" outside Faslane naval base. In October Faslane 365 begins — a year-long continuous peaceful blockade at Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons submarine base.The threat of thermonuclear genocide is now worse than it has been for many years — Bush's war plan includes use of nuclear weapons, Michel Chossudovsky argues that the US plans to use nuclear weapons against Iran and according to Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed UK Government sources have confirmed that war with Iran is on. Plans to nuke Iran are totally insane however this might not prevent it happening because "our 'leaders'... are are psychopaths" and war criminals — John Kampfner has reported that At a Downing Street reception not long ago, a guest had the temerity to ask Tony Blair: "How do you sleep at night, knowing that you've been responsible for the deaths of 100,000 Iraqis?" The Prime Minister is said to have retorted: "I think you'll find it's closer to 50,000."Ardeshir Mehrdad has pointed out that "The struggles of the Iranian people and the peoples of the Middle East against Imperialism and reactionary forces are a struggle that will directly influence the destiny of humanity on our planet. In this battle we will either witness the burial of the architects of the New World order of slavery, and their twin allies in the backward religious movements, or the world will succumb to violence and barbarism. There will be few places left in the world that can remain immune to events in the Middle East."The Doomsday Clock is ticking away, it has read 7 minutes to midnight since 2002, it is now, perhaps, much closer to midnight...
The Iranian Nuclear Standoff
1/27: China welcomes Russian nuclear proposal China welcomed a plan to enrich Iran's uranium on Russian territory Thursday, saying the nation supports all kinds of diplomatic efforts to properly resolve the Iran nuclear issue.
"We believe the proposal could be a useful attempt to break the stalemate," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said, "We hope all parties involved will use their wisdom to provide new proposals and resume the talks." >> Read More
1/23: Keeping Iran Nuclear Negotiations Critical By allowing inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit and verify its nuclear programme this week, Iran has indicated readiness to work with the United Nations watchdog, while continuing to limit the role of the Western powers.
>> Read More
1/17: Greenpeace letter on Iran
Read the Letter
There has been no official acknowledgment of any such talks on either side, so it is a little speculative. But I think the reports are at least plausible, and are worth thinking about seriously.
Iraqi politicians have repeatedly said that they might accept troops from other Muslim countries, but not from any direct neighbors. Egypt might therefore in principle be acceptable to them. The problem is that the government of Iraq is dominated by Shiites and Kurds, who are fighting Sunni Arabs. The Egyptians are Sunni Arabs, and will be suspected in Baghdad of sympathizing with the guerrilla movement. Still, if it were a matter of avoiding civil war or being taken out and shot by Zarqawi, perhaps the Shiite and Kurdish leaders could accept Egyptian troops out of desperation.
Mubarak would certainly be happy to crack down on Muslim radicals such as the Zarqawi group, just as he has virtually destroyed the al-Jihad al-Islami and the al-Gama'ah al-Islamiyah in Egypt itself.
The wording of the Al-Zaman article suggests that Cheney is angling with Mubarak for a contingency plan, in case things go very badly indeed when the US withdraws its troops. In other words, the Bush administration is going on hands and knees to Cairo because it is very, very desperate and very, very worried.
Al-Zaman says that Cheney will also talk to Saudi Arabia about the issue. Since Saudi Arabia is a neighbor, and anyway doesn't have much of an army, presumably Cheney would be asking Riyadh to fund the Egyptian/ Arab peacekeeping force in Iraq. Saudi Arabia had played a similar role in funding the Syrian peacekeepers in Lebanon in the 1970s and after.
Cheney will also seek greater support in the Arab world for the new Iraqi government, which will begin being formed as soon as the final results of the December 15 elections are announced. The previous Iraqi government had sometimes tense relations with the Arab League. Arab nationalist governments had tilted toward Saddam Hussein's Baath regime and had viewed the rise of a Shiite-Kurdish government in Baghdad, established by an American military intervention and with implicit Iranian support, with sullen suspicion.
Mubarak may say "no." If he did show a willingness to get involved, what would impel it?
1. The Egyptian regime has been afraid of Iranian-inspired Muslim radicalism ever since the 1979 revolution. The opportunity to attempt to counter Iranian influence in Arab Iraq could seem attractive to the Egyptian military, and also could strike them as a form of self-defense. It is often forgotten that Muqtada al-Sadr's Kufa is not that far from Egypt's Asyut, and although Shiites are viewed as heretics by most Egyptians, Muslim radical ideas can jump across the sectarian divide.
2. Egypt receives $2 billion a year in US aid. Although that aid helps US corporations more than Egyptians, since it must be spent in the US, it is a prop for the regime. The opportunity to receive further aid from the US and Saudi Arabia for a role in Iraq could seem to the military regime in Cairo too good to pass up. Significantly, al-Hayat reports that Cheney is in charge of negotiating a free trade deal between Egypt and the United States, which would open the US market unrestrictedly to Egyptian exports and vice versa. Bahrain, Jordan and Morocco already have such an arrangement.
3. If the US dumps the Iraq mess on the United Nations, and the Egyptian troops could serve under a UN command, the enterprise might be made palatable and legitimate to the Egyptian movers and shakers. That is, establishing order in the Arab nation in the wake of an imperial withdrawal (coded as a defeat) is a task that might appeal to the Egyptian political elite.
4. The Egyptian military has many contacts with the old Baathist elite that is a key player in the guerrilla movement, and might be able to broker an end to the unconventional civil war.
5. The Arab League member states don't want Iran going nuclear, and the Saudis have spoken publicly on this. An Egyptian military and intelligence presence in Iraq might strengthen Cairo's ability to monitor the Iranian program and would be a way for the Arabs to pressure Iran over it. The Egyptians want as a quid pro quo for the Americans to pressure Israel to give up its nukes, so as to make the Middle East a nuclear-free zone and stop the arms race in the region (which the Israeli Bomb impels).
AP reported on Monday, Jan. 16 from Cairo: 'Egypt on Monday said it supported using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes but rejected the emergence of a nuclear military power in the region, in its first official reaction to the standoff over Iran's nuclear program. "All countries should adhere to their commitments in a way to allow the international community to be sure of the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program, as we do not accept the emergence of a nuclear military power," Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in a statement.'
If the Kurds and the Shiites could be talked into it, a US withdrawal from Iraq in favor of an Arab League peace-keeping force might be the least bad end game for a terrifyingly unstable situation.
The Article: http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/01/1796122.php
Iran Crisis: Cheney Plays the Egypt Card
Vice president deals Mubarak in on nuclear standoff
(1/17: Village Voice)
With both Russia and China seeking to quiet the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program, Vice President Dick Cheney’s current visit to the Middle East, where he met with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak Tuesday, seems likely to make matters worse. >> Read More
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Diplomats fail to agree on Iran
Tuesday 17 January 2006
aljazeera.net
 | | Iran maintains its nuclear research is for peaceful purposes |
The political stand-off over Iran's nuclear ambitions continues as an international meeting to discuss a possible referral to the UN Security council failed to produce an agreement.
European, Russian, Chinese and US officials met in London on Monday but, according to a senior German diplomat, could not reach a consensus on the substance of a resolution referring Iran to the Security Council.
Gernot Erler, Germany's deputy foreign minister, told German public television that the countries were still discussing what role the UN should take. He said that would be the main point of discussion at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) planned for early next month in Vienna.
"We remain in talks about what should be decided there and what the role of the United Nations should be," he said.
"That is a sign that we could not reach a full agreement [of] what the goal of the IAEA is through a resolution but that more time is needed."
Israeli talks
Meanwhile in separate talks over Iran's nuclear strategy, a delegation of Israeli atomic and security experts was due in Moscow on Tuesday for talks with Russian officials.
An official, speaking anonymously, said: "The visit, which was set up two months ago by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon [before he suffered a brain haemorrhage] is designed to enable an exchange of views and information on the state of play with Iran's nuclear programme."
The delegation includes Giora Eiland, the national security adviser, and Gideon Frank,the head of the country's atomic energy commission.
The official said the "working visit" was a follow-up to a trip two months ago to Washington by Tzahi Hanegbi, a cabinet minister without portfolio, where a dormant strategic dialogue with the United States was renewed.
Russia has offered to enrich uranium for Iran to allay international concern over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Moscow has close ties with the Iranian leadership and is building Iran's first nuclear power station at Bushehr, but has expressed concern at Iran's plans to resume nuclear research.
Enemy number one
Israel has come to view the regime in Tehran as its number-one enemy, and its fears were heightened after comments in October from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, when he called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map".
 | Ahmadinejad's tough stance has
increased international tensions
|
Israeli officials have played down the idea of a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, but Aharon Zeevi, the outgoing head of military intelligence, said last month that such action was "not impossible".
Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, although it has never admitted to possessing nuclear weapons.
Iran meanwhile lifted its ban on CNN on Tuesday, after it received an apology for misquoting Ahmadinejad. A translation error meant that CNN quoted Ahmadinejad as talking about "nuclear weapons" rather than "nuclear technology" during a press conference.
CHRONOLOGY-Iran's nuclear programTue Jan 17, 2006 6:28 AM ET
(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday Iran had "crossed the threshold" with its recent nuclear actions and must be taken to the U.N. Security Council fast.Here are the main events since the nuclear program, which Iran says is peaceful, first came to light.August 2002 - Exiled opposition group, National Council of Resistance of Iran, reports existence of uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and heavy water plant at Arak.December 2002 - United States accuses Iran of "across-the-board pursuit of weapons of mass destruction".June 2003 - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, after February inspection of Natanz and Arak, says Iran has failed to comply with nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.October 2003 - Iran tells France, Britain and Germany -- the "EU3" negotiating on behalf of European Union -- it will suspend all enrichment-related activities.December 2003 - Iran signs protocol allowing snap inspections of nuclear facilities.June 2004 - IAEA board complains of inadequate cooperation from Iran. In retaliation, Iran says it will resume production and testing of centrifuges.November 2004 - Iran promises EU3 it will suspend all nuclear fuel processing and reprocessing work.February 2005 - President Mohammed Khatami says no Iranian government will give up nuclear technology programs.-- September 2 - Report by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei confirms Iran has resumed uranium conversion at Isfahan.-- September 15 - New Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran ready to transfer nuclear know-how to other Muslim nations.-- November 6 - Iran confirms it has allowed U.N. nuclear inspectors to visit Parchin military complex.January 1, 2006 - Iran says it has developed machinery to separate uranium from its ore.-- January 7/8 - Russia and Iran discuss Russian proposal to enrich uranium for Iran. Talks due to resume on February 16.-- January 10 - Iran removes U.N. seals at Natanz uranium enrichment plant and resumes research on nuclear fuel despite Western warnings it would endanger efforts to find compromise.-- January 12 - EU3 call off nuclear talks with Iran and say Tehran should be referred to Security Council.-- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says military attack on Iran's nuclear program not on U.S. agenda "at this point".-- January 13 - Iran threatens to end voluntary cooperation with IAEA if taken to Security Council for possible sanctions.-- Jan 16 - Council's five permanent members and Germany meet in London to discuss Iran's resumption of atomic fuel research. |
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