HELP CREATE AN OPEN WORLD

[Dietrich Fischer <102464.1110 at compuserve.com>]

GLOBAL DEMILITARIZATION                             June 29, 2001

Dear friends, we hope you can take a moment to help urge political
leaders of the nuclear weapons states to disable all the nuclear
weapons in the world.  We appreciate if you can take the time to
send letters by postal mail, in addition to email.

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Please send the following or a similar letter, email, fax or phone
message to the President of the United States each month.  Also
please send copies to the Heads of State of the other nuclear
weapons nations, whose addresses are listed at the end.

If you are an officer of a peace, environmental or religious
organization: In your next correspondence with your members, please
urge them also to send these messages each month.

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HELP CREATE AN OPEN WORLD

President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC 20500, USA
tel +1-202-456-1111, fax +1-202-456-2461
email president at whitehouse.gov

Cc: Vladimir Putin, President, Russia <rusun at undp.org>
Tony Blair, Prime Minister, Britain (Fax +44-207-925-0918)
Jacques Chirac, President, France <fraun at undp.org>
Jiang Zemin, President, China <chnun at undp.org>
Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister, Israel (Fax +972-2-664838)
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister, India <indun at undp.org>
Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan <pakistan at undp.org>

Dear Mr. President,

     On your recent trip to Europe, you found some support for the
development of a National Missile Defense (NMD), but also
opposition from Presidents Putin and Chirac, Chancellor Schroder
and Dutch Prime Minister Kok.  You are right that it ultimately
matters most whether NMD improves our security.  But we are
convinced that it would rather hurt it.

     Paradoxically, one of the strongest arguments against a
missile defense was made by one of its supporters, former Defense
Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who said: "Imagine how dangerous it
would be if the Soviet Union got such a system first.  They could
launch their missiles without fear of retaliation."  The same, of
course, is true in reverse.

     Even if such a system never worked (and many believe it cannot
work reliably) a leader who falsely believed it would work could be
tempted to strike first.  Therefore Russia and China announced they
would have no choice but to increase their nuclear arsenals to make
clear that they could penetrate any such system.  Thus if the
United States were to embark on a plan to build a national missile
defense system, this would precipitate a new nuclear arms race.

     NMD would violate the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty and could
unravel the whole process of arms control.  Among the main
beneficiaries and supporters are U.S. defense contractors, who hope
to make at least $60 billion at taxpayers' expense.

     If the nuclear powers break their commitment under the Nuclear
Nonproliferation treaty gradually to eliminate all nuclear weapons,
this double standard encourages others to acquire their own nuclear
weapons.  India and Pakistan justified their nuclear weapons
programs by rejecting the monopoly of the established nuclear
weapons powers.

     If nuclear weapons proliferate, it is only a matter of time
until terrorist groups acquire some.  NMD would offer no
protection, even if it worked perfectly, because it cannot
intercept bombs delivered in a suitcase, on a truck, or sailboat.

     A good example of what we need is the treaty negotiated by the
Clinton administration in which North Korea committed itself to
abandoning its programs to develop nuclear weapons and long range
missiles, under international verification, in return for receiving
two nuclear power plants from the West which cannot generate
nuclear weapons fuel.

     We need a more open world in which nuclear weapons can be
effectively banned, as we have already concluded treaties banning
biological and chemical weapons.  We also need stringent
verification provisions.  If we want other countries to be
inspected, we must also allow such inspections on our soil.

     "National sovereignty" is a false issue here, since no country
today has sovereign control over the world's nuclear arsenals.  If
only one country were to sell nuclear weapons to terrorists, all
would be in grave danger.  By giving the International Atomic
Energy Agency effective authority to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons, we do not give up any control over our lives that we now
possess, but gain added control that we could never achieve at the
national level.

     We cannot be safe unless we destroy all nuclear weapons.  Some
have argued that we cannot disinvent nuclear weapons and therefore
will have to live with them as long as civilization exists.  But
nobody has disinvented cannibalism either, we simply abhor it.
Can't we learn to abhor equally the thought of incinerating entire
cities with nuclear weapons?

     Sincerely yours,

     [Your name, post address & country]

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Addresses of the heads of other nuclear weapons states:

President Vladimir Putin
Office of the Government
Krasnopresenskaya 2
Moscow, RUSSIA
tel +7-095-925-3581, fax +7-095-205-4219
email rusun at undp.org

Prime Minister Tony Blair
Prime Minister's Office
10 Downing Street
London, SW 1A 2 AA, BRITAIN
tel +44-171-270-3000
fax +44(207)925-0918
website www.number-10.gov.uk

President Jacques Chirac
Office du President, Palais De L'Elysee
55-57 rue du Faubourg St. Honore
75008 Paris, FRANCE
tel +33-1-4292-8100, Fax +33-1-4742-2465
email fraun at undp.org

President Jiang Zemin
Office of the Premier
225 Chaoyangmennei Dajie, Dongsi
Beijing, P. R. CHINA
email chnun at undp.org

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Office of the Prime Minister
3 Rehov Kaplan, Hakirya
Jerusalem 91007, ISRAEL
tel +972-2-705555, fax +972-2-664838

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Prime Minister's Office
South Block
New Delhi 110011, INDIA
tel +91-11-3013040, fax +91-11-3016857
email indun at undp.org

Gen. Pervez Musharraf
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
telex 5742
email pakistan at undp.org

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Best regards,
Sue & Marvin Clark
Co-directors, Global Demilitarization
42 Maple Avenue, Troy, NY, 12180 USA

Administrative Board Members:
Oscar Arias, Nobel Peace Laureate, honorary member
Jonathan Schell, Author
Mary Evelyn Jegen, SND, Pax Christi International
Dietrich Fischer, Author, Professor, Pace University
Bill Price, Director, World Peacemakers
Bill Hartung, Author
Organizations are for identification only
Emailings monthly since July 1996