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Greenpeace volunteers project peace messages on to the bow of the USS Blue Ridge, command ship of the US 7th Fleet.
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“Governments attending the four week conference have failed to seize
the opportunity of reducing the nuclear threat, putting their own
nuclear self-interests before the desire for disarmament,” said
Greenpeace International’s Disarmament specialist William Peden at the
conference.
“This meeting needed to strengthen the treaty and send a strong signal on disarmament and on proliferation of nuclear weapons,” Peden said. “It has failed to do that and as a result the world is a far more dangerous place.”
The spectre of nuclear weapons in North Korea and Israel, US intransigence on disarmament and its imminent threat of a return to nuclear testing, controversy over Iran, and concerns over nuclear weapons usable plutonium production programs in Japan and other countries reprocessing all played a part in the collective failure of the conference.
“The conference gridlock only emphasises the need to bolster the disarmament side of the process,” Peden said. “Unless and until we get rid of all nuclear weapons, other countries are going to want them – and that’s the destructive dynamic we are witnessing.”
So what's next? Heads of state attending the UN Millennium Review Summit in September need to act on the challenge laid down by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in his opening speech to the conference, to take disarmament seriously.
The proposal by German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer to remove US nuclear weapons from Germany was a major positive to emerge from the conference, and we think all European countries that host US nuclear weapons should follow suit.
Let's start with Turkey, which has 90 nuclear weapons. Bordering on Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Russia, the nuclear weapons there pose a real risk to regional security, and ought to be removed. 72 percent of the Turkish people want Turkey to be nuclear-free. Why not send a note to the Prime Minister asking him to follow the will of his people? We've written the letter for you, all you need to do is fill in your name and address and click send. And with the push of button, you're a peace activist. Try it now!
“This meeting needed to strengthen the treaty and send a strong signal on disarmament and on proliferation of nuclear weapons,” Peden said. “It has failed to do that and as a result the world is a far more dangerous place.”
The spectre of nuclear weapons in North Korea and Israel, US intransigence on disarmament and its imminent threat of a return to nuclear testing, controversy over Iran, and concerns over nuclear weapons usable plutonium production programs in Japan and other countries reprocessing all played a part in the collective failure of the conference.
“The conference gridlock only emphasises the need to bolster the disarmament side of the process,” Peden said. “Unless and until we get rid of all nuclear weapons, other countries are going to want them – and that’s the destructive dynamic we are witnessing.”
So what's next? Heads of state attending the UN Millennium Review Summit in September need to act on the challenge laid down by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in his opening speech to the conference, to take disarmament seriously.
The proposal by German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer to remove US nuclear weapons from Germany was a major positive to emerge from the conference, and we think all European countries that host US nuclear weapons should follow suit.
Let's start with Turkey, which has 90 nuclear weapons. Bordering on Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Russia, the nuclear weapons there pose a real risk to regional security, and ought to be removed. 72 percent of the Turkish people want Turkey to be nuclear-free. Why not send a note to the Prime Minister asking him to follow the will of his people? We've written the letter for you, all you need to do is fill in your name and address and click send. And with the push of button, you're a peace activist. Try it now!
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