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CNN...
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A nuclear clash could starve the world
By Jayantha Dhanapala and Ira Helfand, Special to CNN
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updated 7:57 AM EDT, Fri May 11, 2012
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Sunao Tsuboi, who suffered horrific burns in Hiroshima, holds a photo of himself and friends taken hours after the explosion.
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Writers: India, Pakistan and North Korea missile tests bring up dangers of nuclear war
Study shows war using half of 1% of global nuke arsenals would set off world famine
U.S. and Russia have huge nuclear arsenals, they say, a lethal holdover from Cold War
It's urgent for talks about reducing arsenals, they write, with a ban on weapons the goal
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Editor's note: Jayantha Dhanapala is a former ambassador to the United States from Sri Lanka, U.N. under-secretary general for disarmament and chairman of the 1995 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference. Ira Helfand is the past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility and current North American vice president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
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(CNN) -- Recent ballistic missile tests by India, Pakistan and North Korea -- which has ominously threatened to "reduce to ashes" the South Korean military "in minutes" -- are once again focusing the world's attention on the dangers of nuclear war.
This concern was dramatically underscored in a new report released at the Nobel Peace Laureates Summit in Chicago. Titled "Nuclear Famine: A Billion People at Risk" (PDF), the study shows that even a limited nuclear war, involving less than half of 1% of the world's nuclear arsenals, would cause climate disruption that could set off a global famine.
The study, prepared by International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and its U.S. affiliate, Physicians for Social Responsibility, used a scenario of 100 Hiroshima-sized bombs exploded in a war between India and Pakistan. If there were such a war, the study estimated that 1 billion people, one-sixth of the human race, could starve over the following decade.
Along with recent events, these findings require a fundamental change in our thinking about nuclear weapons.
The study, in positing a war between India and Pakistan, shows the importance of understanding that smaller nuclear powers, not just the United States and Russia, pose a threat to the whole world.
But the greater lesson concerns the forces of the larger nuclear powers. Each U.S. Trident submarine can destroy 100 cities and produce the global famine described in the study. The United States has 14 of them, a fleet of land-based nuclear missiles, and an arsenal of nuclear weapons that can be delivered by bombers. The Russians possess the same grotesque overkill capacity.
Even the most ambitious arms reductions under discussion would leave the United States and Russia with 300 warheads each, most of them 10 to 30 times larger than a Hiroshima sized bomb. This would be a massive arsenal capable of producing the global famine scenario many, many times over.
These arsenals are an archaic, but lethal, holdover from the Cold War. Their continued existence poses an ongoing threat to all humanity.
Steps can and should be taken immediately to lessen this danger. Substantial numbers of these weapons remain on what The New York Times has described as "hair-trigger alert." They can be fired in 15 minutes or less and destroy cities a continent away 30 minutes later. This alert posture creates the needless danger of an accidental or unintended launch, and the United States and Russia have had many close calls, preparing to launch a nuclear strike at the other under the mistaken belief they were under attack.
The most recent of these near-misses that we know about took place in January 1995, well after the end of the Cold War. The United States and Russia should stand down their nuclear arsenals so that it takes longer to launch their missiles, lessening the danger of an accidental war. U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladamir Putin can take this step on their own without negotiating a formal treaty.
Beyond this, it is time to begin urgent talks aimed at reducing the U.S. and Russian arsenals as the next essential step toward multilateral negotiations for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, a binding, verifiable, enforceable treaty that eliminates nuclear weapons altogether.
As former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev observed on reviewing the new "Nuclear Famine" study: "I am convinced that nuclear weapons must be abolished. Their use in a military conflict is unthinkable; using them to achieve political objectives is immoral.
"Over 25 years ago, President Ronald Reagan and I ended our summit meeting in Geneva with a joint statement that 'Nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,' and this new study underscores in stunning and disturbing detail why this is the case."
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writers.
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A nuclear clash could starve the world
By Jayantha Dhanapala and Ira... more
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A 2005 shot of Brendan Margison surfing in front of the now-damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima. Photo: Aichner
AFTER A MONTH OF SHUT DOWN NUCLEAR REACTORS AT SAN O, THE HAZARDS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY SPELL POTENTIAL DISASTER IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAA 2005 shot of Brendan Margison surfing in front of the now-damaged nuclear power... more
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There is a spooky resemblance between the vast devastation caused by the bombing of Nagasaki on 9 August in 1945 and the earthquake that his Sendai on Friday 11 March 2011.There is a spooky resemblance between the vast devastation caused by the bombing of... more
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WWH- It is not enough that we remember the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All peace seeking persons must learn from the past and learn about the current and future impacts of our actions. The long term effects of uranium are so devastating that they are crimes against humanity perpetrated by the United States of America and War Profiteers around the world.WWH- It is not enough that we remember the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All... more
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With the mournful sound of a Buddhist temple bell and the release of a flock of doves, a crowd of 55,000 people on Friday solemnly marked the moment 65 years ago when the world’s first atomic attack incinerated Hiroshima under a towering mushroom cloud. For first time, a representative of the United States, Ambassador John V. Roos, participated in the annual ceremony, raising hopes of a visit by a more prominent guest, President Obama, who is scheduled to be in Japan in November. Calls for President Obama to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki have spread in Japan not only since his Prague speech, but also after he won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
Akihiro Takahashi, 79, the former head of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and a bombing survivor, stated: “We want President Obama to see with his own eyes what really happened here. This will give him stronger willpower to eliminate nuclear weapons.”
This piece includes vintage photographs, a slide show, two documentary shorts and an animated short film.
http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/commemorating-the-65th-anniversary-of-hiroshimas-bombing/With the mournful sound of a Buddhist temple bell and the release of a flock of doves,... more
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Hiroshima anniversary brings U.N. head's call for disarmament
By Brooke Elliott, CNN
August 5, 2010 9:29 p.m. EDT
A Japanese girl prays for victims of the atomic bombing at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on Thursday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* It has been 65 years since U.S. dropped bombs on Hiroshima, Nagasaki
* Ban Ki-moon is the first U.N. secretary-general to attend anniversary memorial
* It is also the first time the United States has sent an envoy to the ceremony
(CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used an appearance at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial ceremony in Japan to advocate for his five-point plan for worldwide nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.
August 6 marks the 65th anniversary of the atomic bomb dropped by the United States at the end of World War II on Hiroshima. Another was dropped a few days later on Nagasaki. The bombs devastated both cities and killed more than 200,000 people. Thursday was the first time a U.N. secretary-general took part in the ceremony.
"Together, we are on a journey from ground zero to global zero -- a world free of weapons of mass destruction," Ban said. "That is the only sane path to a safer world. For as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will live under a nuclear shadow."
This is Ban's first visit to Hiroshima. He also made the first visit of a U.N. secretary-general to Nagasaki when he participated in a wreath-laying ceremony on August 5.
Ban called for his plan for nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament to be acted upon. "It includes recommendations on security, verification, transparency, conventional weapons and the legal framework for nuclear disarmament," he said before laying the wreath in Nagasaki.
Video: Hiroshima survivor talks
In Hiroshima, Ban noted recent success in the nonproliferation movement. "We see new leadership from the most powerful nations. We see new engagement in the U.N. Security Council. We see new energy from civil society," he said.
Ban cited the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the United States and Russia, which would replace the 1991 START that expired last year. He also noted progress made at a nuclear summit in Washington earlier this year. "We will build upon [that] in Korea in 2012. ... We must keep up the momentum," he said.
Ban said he will convene a conference on disarmament in New York in September. "We will push for negotiations towards nuclear disarmament. A comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. A fissile material cut-off treaty," he said.
Ban further advocated for "disarmament education" in schools, calling for the translation of survivor testimony in all the world's major languages.
"We must teach an elemental truth: that status and prestige belong not to those who possess nuclear weapons, but to those who reject them," he said. "Let us realize our dream of a world free of nuclear weapons so that our children and all succeeding generations can live in freedom, security and peace."
Ban said his experience of living through the Korean War as a child motivated him to be a leader who seeks peace. "One of my earliest memories is marching along a muddy road into the mountains, my village burning behind me," he said. "All those lives lost, families destroyed, so much sadness. Ever since, I have devoted my life to peace. It has brought me here today."
United States Ambassador John Roos also attended, marking the first time the United States has sent an envoy to the Hiroshima memorial ceremony.Hiroshima anniversary brings U.N. head's call for disarmament
By Brooke Elliott,... more
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Hashima, an island located in Nagasaki Bay, is better known as Warship Island (Gunkanshima). The island was inhabited until the end of the 19th century, when it was discovered that the ground below it held tons of coal. The island soon became a center of a major mining complex owned by Mitsubishi Corporation. As the complex expanded, rock brought out of the shafts was used to artificially expand the island. http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php/bizzareweird/418-hashima-islandHashima, an island located in Nagasaki Bay, is better known as Warship Island... more
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The Francis Underhill Macy Hibakusha Initiative is a month-long educational opportunity for New York City school children to hear eyewitness accounts of one of the most significant events in human history— the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. The survivors are called Hibakusha.
Sponsored by Youth Arts New York in partnership with Peace Boat and Mayors for Peace, this program coincides with the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty at the United Nations in May of 2010.The Francis Underhill Macy Hibakusha Initiative is a month-long educational... more
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In 1943: Washington State on the Columbia River in Benton County, The Hanford Nuclear Site helped to create the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 killing an estimated
This video shows the massive effort put into the war as well as the daunting environmental clean up. In the aftermath of WWII the USA spends 2 billion a year to clean up this former plutonium production site. This project constitutes the biggest nuclear clean up in the world to date.
*Some of the footage I found disturbing, such as the school logo proudly showing a bomb.
What can we learn from this massive clean up? Do you think the people who helped make this bomb should be proud, considering the war, or not?In 1943: Washington State on the Columbia River in Benton County, The Hanford Nuclear... more
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On August 6th and 9th, 1945, two atomic bombs vaporized 210,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those who survived are called "hibakusha"--people exposed to the bomb--and there are an estimated 200,000 living today. Today, with the threat of nuclear weapons of mass destruction frighteningly real- the world's arsenal capable of repeating the destruction at Hiroshima 400,000 times over, Oscar® award-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki revisits the bombings and shares the stories of the only people to have survived a nuclear attack.
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXI0sgT3uoE&feature=channel_page
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg-HfhAbGdc&feature=channel_page
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REUVot49R9s&feature=channel_page
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C053SjnZ23s&feature=channel_page
6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smwr3VwSUN0&feature=channel_page
7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaE6ujCYN8A&feature=channel_page
8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-GaQYmwfDw&feature=channel_page
9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uii93EHKbo4&feature=channel_page
10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X0OstDX1fI&feature=channel_page
11: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U0DZBjnpho&feature=channel_page
12: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qQ-zjx12wM&feature=channel_page
HBO homepage:
http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/whitelightblackrain/On August 6th and 9th, 1945, two atomic bombs vaporized 210,000 people in Hiroshima... more
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Nagasaki today demanded North Korea fully abandon nuclear weapons and urged India to sign nuclear treaties, as the Japanese city marked 63 years since it was devastated by an atomic bomb.
Thousands of people observed a minute's silence at 11.02am, the exact moment the city was hit by the world's second and last nuclear attack on August 9, 1945, killing more than 70,000 people.
"As the victim of nuclear bombs, our country has a duty and responsibility for taking the initiative to eliminate nuclear weapons," Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue told the ceremony.
"The Japanese Government must strongly demand complete abolishment of nuclear weapons in North Korea," Mr Taue said, standing at the foot of the Peace Statue – a bronze figure of a man pointing to the sky.
"It should seriously consider the creation of a northeast Asian nuclear weapon-free zone," he said.
On Wednesday the city of Hiroshima held a ceremony to mark the 63rd anniversary of the first ever nuclear attack, which killed 140,000 people.
The dropping of the two bombs by the US was followed by Japan's surrender in World War II on August 15. However, it ushered in the nuclear age and an era of fear that atomic bombs would be used again. Nagasaki today demanded North Korea fully abandon nuclear weapons and urged India to... more
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When Steven Leeper first went to Hiroshima he could not of cared less about the atomic bombing, stating "In war, you just kill your enemy. And the atomic bomb is a big bomb and kills a lot of the enemy. So what's wrong with that?"
After reading the book "Children of Hiroshima" his oppinion drasticaly changed although he was not involved with any activists, working as a consultant for Japanese firms expanding abroad to work with Hiroshima-based Mazda Motor Corp.
Steven Leeper became the first non-japanese head of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation when the Hiroshima mayor appointed him in 2007. The foundation administers a museum that explains the consequences and horrors of atomic and nuclear weapons. Since appointed he has been working on an exhibition to take abroad to the USA touring 101 cities in all 50 states.
Leeper is also lobbying to set up and international treaty to ban all nukes called the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol, because radioactive weapons will kill us all.
Go Steve !When Steven Leeper first went to Hiroshima he could not of cared less about the atomic... more
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With insight and a creative new voice, two Chicago-area 13-year olds, Stephen Sotor and Trace Gaynor, have written, edited and produced Genie In A Bottle Unleashed, a film that explores the history and consequences of the development of the atomic bomb.
From the secrets of the Manhattan Project through the horrific devastation at Hiroshima and Nagasaki - these two 7th graders lead a new generation through our nuclear history; along the way they manage to interview Nobel prize winning scientists, the creator of the "Doomsday Clock," the mayor of Hiroshima and even a Hiroshima 7th grader about the legacy of the atomic bomb. Even more creatively, they also track down the proverbial "Genie" to find out why he has created such havoc. Screened at the United Nations, this 15-minute gem received a standing ovation.
Hmm, not bad for 13 year olds.
More on Mayors for Peace here:http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/index.htmlWith insight and a creative new voice, two Chicago-area 13-year olds, Stephen Sotor... more
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The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Debuting on the 62nd anniversary of the bombings, WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN provides a graphic, unflinching look at the reality of nuclear warfare through first-hand accounts of both survivors and American men who carried out the bombing missions.
By NEIL GENZLINGER
Published: August 6, 2007
Especially with another 9/11 anniversary not that far away, some of the survivor stories recounted tonight on HBO will sound to many New Yorkers like something they have been hearing a lot in the last six years.
''From under the rubble, my father cried for help,'' one man says.
Another recalls: ''I couldn't stand, much less walk. Someone carried me on his back.''
The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Debuting on the 62nd anniversary of... more
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