Statement on the Bush Administration’s Nuclear Plans

from the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy & Socialism

March 25, 2002

We should be clear about the meaning and consequences of the Bush Administration’s recent Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) targeting seven nations—Russia, China, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Libya, and Iraq--- with weapons of mass destruction.

First, it will shatter the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which guarantees that nuclear-armed nations will never use such weapons against those with no nuclear capacity. That pledge is at the heart of the Treaty. Non-nuclear nations will only adhere to non-proliferation if they are assured that the major powers will not attempt nuclear blackmail or target them in the case of war. But the NPR proposes not only targeting non-nuclear nations, but also of using such weapons in the advent of a war between China and Taiwan, North and South Korea, or Israel and Iraq. Indeed, the document proposes launching nuclear weapons in response to "surprising military developments," a term so vague that it could cover virtually any American military setback. Under such a threat, non-nuclear nations will have no choice but to develop their own nuclear weapons.

Second, the NPR calls for creating a whole new generation of so-called "bunker busting" nuclear weapons. Since no nation will deploy such weapons without testing them, the U.S. will have to violate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty that has been so successful in slowing the development of new and deadlier weapons. Again, other nations could well think they have no choice but to violate the Treaty as well, re-igniting a global nuclear arms race.

If one adds to this the Bush Administration’s abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and its recent plan to stop destroying decommissioned warheads and store them instead---a violation of the Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement---the White House has succeeded in dismantling every single major nuclear treaty on the books.

The consequences abroad are obvious: The world is going to become a much more dangerous place than it was before.

There are tradeoffs on the home front as well. Ramping up the nuclear weapons industry will not only cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars; it will spread a deadly shroud of nuclear wastes across our communities. Each year the U.S. military produces 500,000 tons of hazardous wastes, more than the five top chemical companies combined, and generates 99 percent of all high level nuclear wastes, and 75 percent of all low level wastes. The new NPR will significantly increase these dangerous poisons.

Instability abroad, peril and economic crisis at home is the meaning of this new policy. It must be challenged.

In the interests of both world stability and its own constituents, the Congress must oppose an Administration that has cavalierly violated legally binding treaties, eviscerated social programs to pay for military spending, and is even now planning a new war against Iraq. Resisting this madness will require Congress to rejoin the vertebrates, put the breaks on our unconscionable military buildup, and to begin representing the great mass of people in this country who are rapidly losing their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS) appeals to progressive and peace-loving people everywhere to urgently take steps to register opposition to the plans of the Bush Administration and to insist that political leaders and elected officials take effective action to counter this threat to the well-being of the planet.