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If you want to join us in the anti-nuke
movement, attend our conference at Goucher College on November 17 from 10 AM to
4 PM. Go Prevent Nuclear War/Maryland. Kagiso, Max
Physicians Work to Bring
Back the Anti-Nuclear Movement
Various members of different
CND, anti-war and peace campaigners gathered to protest the bases of nuclear
capable submarines, September 22, 2018, in Helensburgh, Scotland.
STEWART KIRBY / SOPA IMAGES /
LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES
November
11, 2018
PART OF THE TRUTHOUT SERIES
It is a move that many,
including former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, believe
has ignited a new nuclear arms race. This is because the Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed by Gorbachev and former US President Ronald
Reagan, banned all short and mid-range nuclear and non-nuclear missiles, and
helped eliminate thousands of land-based missiles.
The situation is exacerbated by
the fact that Trump has already promised to build new nuclear weapons, in
addition to having withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal, heightening
tensions further after having previously threatened the use of nuclear weapons against
North Korea. Trump has also promised to build new nuclear weapons.
While these deeply concerning
issues, which are clear existential threats to the entire planet, often fly
under the radar, a large and diverse coalition of groups across Washington
State has formed with the aim of reviving the anti-nuclear movement.
“Kitsap Bangor Naval Base is the single largest collection of
nuclear weapons in the US, and each of those warheads is many times more
powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Estela Ortega, the
executive director of El Centro de la Raza, told Truthout. El Centro
de la Raza is a Seattle-based civil rights, human services, educational,
cultural and economic development organization.
Ortega explained that the
mission of her organization is “to struggle for a clean, safe, and nuclear
waste-free environment for our people and future generations. To work for a
rational use of natural resources in the interests of the preservation of
Mother Earth and the peaceful development of humankind.”
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She added, “Our commitment to a
nuclear free world and preserving Mother Earth has been with us since the
beginning of our organization.”
Ortega’s organization is now
part of Washington
Physicians for Social Responsibility’s (WPSR) effort to revive
anti-nuclear awareness across the state by developing what has become a broad,
socially diverse coalition of dozens of partners who share the same goal.
WPSR, which is the Washington
State chapter of Physicians
for Social Responsibility (PSR), reached out to Ortega and her
organization after she gave a speech at Hiroshima to
Hope’s annual remembrance event.
“Their mission and goals were
similar to ours in that nuclear weapons should be eliminated and those dollars
then used to end poverty,” she said. “In addition, the dollars should be used
to strengthen our nation by funding education, housing, health care, rebuilding
our country, creating jobs and now we need funds to combat climate change for
clean air, water, a green economy and healthy forests.”
Lilly Adams is the security
program organizer for WPSR, as well as the co-chair of the group’s Nuclear
Weapons Abolition Task Force. Adams coordinates WPSR’s statewide coalition,
Washington Against Nuclear Weapons.
“The primary aim of our work is
to reduce our nuclear weapons arsenal and spending on nuclear weapons, and
working towards a world without nuclear weapons,” Adams told Truthout. “Every
nuclear weapon that is dismantled makes us a little bit safer. These weapons
threaten our society simply by existing, because there is always the risk of
intentional use, unintentional use or accidents.”
The coalition includes
Earthcare Not Warfare, South Seattle Climate Action Network, Spokane Veterans
for Peace, Social Equity Educators, the Seattle Education Association, a
student group at the University of Washington called Beyond the Bomb, and more.
The aim of WPSR’s statewide
coalition is to mobilize leaders and their organization’s members in each
congressional district to apply consistent pressure to each member of Congress,
with the eventual aim of abolishing nuclear weapons altogether. It is working
in tandem with the national PSR organization, which has been advocating for
more than half a century to create what its website
states is “a healthy, just and peaceful world for both the
present and future generations.” PSR is the US affiliate of International Physicians
for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
Adams aims to reverse the
trends that have been laid out in the Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture
Review.
“This review lays out the
administration’s view of the role of nuclear weapons,” she said. “It calls for
more usable nuclear weapons, expands the situations in which we might use
nuclear weapons, and sidelines disarmament and diplomacy. In the short term, we
have to work to oppose these dangerous policies.”
Washington as Ground Zero
Laura Skelton, the executive
director of WPSR, told Truthout she knew building a coalition like this would
be challenging in Washington. This is because the Boeing company (which builds nuclear missiles), uranium mining,
nuclear weapons storage and the Hanford nuclear waste site have all played a
significant role in the state’s economy.
Additionally, the US military’s
standing presence in the state is highlighted by this statement on
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s website: “The Military and
Defense sector is Washington’s second largest direct public employer. This key
industry cuts across many sectors in Washington, helps create the backbone for
a strong economy through our diverse defense missions and military
installations, our pioneering companies, and our military friendly
communities.”
Governor Inslee, the so-called greenest governor, also
convened the Washington Military Alliance to ensure
military spending continues to flow into the state.
“It’s also delicate to bring up
Boeing’s role in nuclear weapons systems production,” Skelton said. “I doubt
most residents are aware of their role in the military economy, and in the
nuclear weapons industry in particular.”
Bangor, Washington, is one of
the largest depots of nuclear weapons in the US, and coupled with the other
aforementioned nuclear-related presences, Washington State is a sort of “ground
zero” for anti-nuclear organizing for the nation.
Bruce Amundson, WPSR’s vice
president and co-chair of our Nuclear Weapons Abolition Task Force, is a former
family physician, and was the catalyst for WPSR’s anti-nuclear weapons
coalition.
“Some of the old-guard
anti-nuclear leaders back then [during the 1980s] were early responders to our
requests to join a statewide coalition and have been some of the most engaged
folks,” Amundson told Truthout. “So, like the Trump phenomenon, our Washington
history has been a boon to organizing.”
On the other hand, the massive
presence of the military in Washington, coupled with the influence of Boeing
and the defense industries, have a grip on the state government that, Amundson
said, “is hard to break.”
However, according to Amundson,
several members of WPSR’s growing coalition are now linked to members of
Congress in each district of the state and are making “aggressive asks.” He
said the results have been notable.
Since the campaign began two
years ago, WPSR has seen members of Congress who were formerly absent on
nuclear issues now speaking out or supporting legislative initiatives for the
first time. Additionally, Amundson said two-thirds of Washington’s
congressional delegation have “moved” along the spectrum to a better position
on the issue.
“Our requests have been
supported by strong arguments, by the humanitarian perspective of human carnage
and by a clear message that something is happening in Washington around nuclear
issues and we are not going away,” Amundson said.
Adams pointed out that although
Boeing’s presence makes Washington a challenging place to form an anti-nuclear
coalition, many people simply don’t realize Boeing is one of the largest
nuclear weapons systems producers in the country. If they did, they might not
be so excited about its presence.
“Producers of other weapons of
mass destruction, like chemical weapons, are often condemned by the public, but
somehow this is still not true for producers of nuclear weapons and nuclear
weapons systems,” Adams said. “But often people simply don’t know this other
side of Boeing. Boeing is a big contributor to the Democratic and Republican
parties and individual elected officials in Washington State, and they spend a
massive amount of money lobbying Congress.”
According to Adams, all that power
and money being invested in the continued production of nuclear weapons by
Boeing points to a more general corporate nightmare: Much of the US nuclear
weapons production is carried out by private companies. These companies stand
to profit from the continued existence and reliance on nuclear weapons,
regardless of the negative impacts on communities.
The Kitsap Bangor naval base is
home to the largest collection of deployed (or ready-to-use) nuclear weapons in
the country, according to Adams.
If Washington were its own country,
it would be the third-largest nuclear weapons country in the world.
“This is on Hood Canal, just 20
miles from Seattle,” she said. “In fact, if Washington were its own country, it
would be the third-largest nuclear weapons country in the world.”
Therefore, it’s an uphill
battle to convince people in her state government to work towards disarmament
and to stop investing in nuclear weapons.
“This is especially true in the
6th District, which includes
Kitsap Bangor naval base, and where the military is a major employer,” Adams
said. “This makes this a challenging topic not just for members of Congress,
but also the people living there, who may see this as their livelihood. To be
clear, we do not advocate for closing the base itself.”
Nevertheless, Adams thinks the
movement is having impact, pointing to how positions of many members of state
Congress have shifted regarding nuclear weapons issues.
“We’ve seen some members of
Congress become strong and outspoken advocates for safer nuclear weapons
policies and reductions in US the arsenal and spending,” Adams said. “Some
members of Congress who previously had not engaged on this issue at all have
taken significant actions in the last couple of years, like co-sponsoring bills
or voting against new warheads, at our urging.”
Public opinion is ripe for
change, too. Skelton acknowledges that nuclear weapons policy is far outside
most people’s daily concerns, but added, “I imagine that most people would
prefer to spend the majority of our nuclear weapons budget on other things that
would improve their daily lives.”
Stopping the Nuclear Spending Spree
Under the Obama administration,
the US and Russia signed the New START Treaty, which requires both countries to
decrease their nuclear arsenals. In order to pass the treaty, the Obama
administration made a compromise allowing the remaining nuclear arsenal to be
“modernized.”
According to Adams, this kicked
off what is now a $1.7 trillion spending spree on nuclear weapons over the next
30 years, which comes out to $4.6 million every single hour.
This includes not only
upgrading existing weapons, but actually replacing every part of the nuclear
triad (submarines, ground-based missiles, bombers and air-launched missiles)
and making new nuclear weapons, like the heavily debated low-yield weapons that
came up this year.
Therefore, Adams urges people
to engage in a variety of forms of anti-nuclear advocacy, such as writing
op-eds, attending public forums and demonstrations, passing resolutions, or
undertaking civil disobedience and direct action in order to “favorably impact
policy makers and policies.”
Delegations including WPSR
members and staff, alongside representatives from the statewide coalition
they’ve formed, have been meeting with members of Congress in Washington in
most districts.
The meetings involve
reinforcing policy steps and pronouncements that the member has already made,
coupled with specific policy “asks” and explorations of areas of potential
collaboration. The coalition also works to influence Congress members on
impending legislation.
“Mobilizing hundreds of
individual contacts to a member of Congress within a few days on a specific
piece of legislation has been both possible and effective, a strategy for
eliciting public pressure and visibility not seen on nuclear issues in
Washington for years,” Adams said.
Skelton explained that WPSR
took the lead in forming this coalition at this particular time because no one
else was doing it. ”While we were still raising awareness of nuclear issues and
talking with elected representatives about them, we recognized that we would
make a much better case in doing so alongside others,” Skelton said. “Whether
or not a person chooses to think about it, nuclear weapons (including military
spending and the risks posed by nearby weapons) affect us all.”
Skelton believes that by
raising a chorus of diverse voices and concerns — and showing policy makers
that this is an issue that many people care about — they are once again putting
a spotlight on nuclear concerns in Washington State and demanding that their
lawmakers support better and safer nuclear policies.
Her hope is that if the
majority of members of Congress in Washington State call for nuclear weapons to
be taken off high alert and urged on a path toward disarmament, this could
inspire similar efforts elsewhere.
“If we had enough people
nationally saying these things, my dream would be for the US to ratify the UN
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” she said.
Adams is also concerned about
other nuclear issues, such as working to ensure peace and diplomacy with North
Korea – and the fact that President Trump has the sole authority to launch
nuclear weapons.
Amundson, who has been a member
of PSR for more than 35 years, believes one of the best policy outcomes from
WPSR’s latest effort would be “to stop most — or all — of the proposed
legislation to rebuild the entire nuclear triad.”
Amundson thinks this is a
critical time for doing so, given the cost is clearly unsustainable in addition
to it eclipsing other public needs. Two-thirds of the rest of the world’s
nations have already signed on to abolish nuclear weapons.
“Our position is that if these
policies succeed, and the US has a newly built arsenal, the die is cast for the
next 30-40 years,” he said. “Once in place, we know the power of the military/corporate/congressional
complex.”
Time to Bring Back the Anti-Nuclear Movement
Skelton again acknowledged that
nuclear issues aren’t currently one of the top concerns for most progressive
groups, but asks why, given the potential (and actual) consequences.
“Why are we not talking about
the massive spending earmarked for these weapons, or the unthinkable
destruction and destabilization they represent?” she asked. “For me, another
desirable outcome of our campaign would be that people are regularly asking
these questions, talking with candidates about them and demanding more progress
on nuclear policies.”
Although the Cold War has long
been officially over, few people are actively calling for changing Cold War-era
policies and making serious reductions in US nuclear arsenals.
Amundson believes that, via
WPSR’s work across the country with other PSR chapters and affiliated
organizations that oppose nuclear weapons, Washington now has the most
extensive and professionally organized anti-nuclear movement of any state.
“It’s a sad commentary on the
atrophy of anti-nuclear advocacy over the 30 years since the collapse of the
USSR, when everyone went to sleep on these threats,” he said.
However, there’s hope: Amundson
believes the work they are doing now serves as a model for other organizations
across the US. Meanwhile, what keeps Adams’s eyes on the proverbial ball is
continuing to work directly with communities across Washington State that have
been directly affected by the nuclear weapons industry.
“The entire process of creating
nuclear weapons harms those involved and the surrounding environment, and
historically, the communities most affected are communities of color,
Indigenous people and low-income communities,” she said. “This is clear around
the world, but also very clear right here in Washington, where many of our
communities have been devastated by the nuclear weapons industry.”
While the potential deaths due
to a nuclear catastrophe are what are usually considered when the topic of
nuclear weapons arises, people in the communities Adams mentioned are already
dying from the effects of nuclear weapons production.
“Their stories are not often
told, and in debates about nuclear policy, their voices are not often heard,”
Adams said. “As we work towards a world without nuclear weapons and try to
change policy, it’s crucial that we build relationships with these communities
and, hopefully, make it easier for them to be at the center of these debates
and help lead these efforts.”
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Dahr Jamail, a Truthout staff reporter, is the author of The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who
Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan (Haymarket Books,
2009), and Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches
From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq (Haymarket
Books, 2007). Jamail reported from Iraq for more than a year, as well as from
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Turkey over the last 10 years, and has won the
Martha Gellhorn Award for Investigative Journalism, among other awards. His third
book, The Mass Destruction of Iraq: Why
It Is Happening, and Who Is Responsible, co-written with William Rivers Pitt, is
available now on Amazon. Dahr Jamail is also the author of the book, The
End of Ice, forthcoming from The New Press. He lives and works in
Washington State.
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