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Nobel Laureates, Organizations Appeal for Removal of Nuclear Weapons From “Hair-Trigger” Status
More than 30 Nobel laureates have joined hundreds of organizations and lawmakers in signing a statement to be released today calling for all strategic nuclear weapons to be taken off “hair-trigger” and “launch on warning” alerts (see GSN, June 22, 2004). The statement is to be released in Melbourne, Geneva, Hiroshima, San Francisco, London and the United Nations in New York, according to the Association of World Citizens, one of the organizations coordinating the project. Signatories include the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), several members of the British and Australian parliaments, and other lawmakers and organizations from around the world. The European Parliament and Australian Senate also approved resolutions endorsing the statement, the Association of World Citizens said in a press release. A RAND Corp. report found that the United States and Russia have 4,000 warheads on hair-trigger alert that could be launched within minutes, the association said. The Statement of Endorsement calls on all known or suspected nuclear weapons powers “to support and implement steps to lower the operational status of nuclear weapons systems in order to reduce the risk of nuclear catastrophe.” The United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea should also “implement in good faith their obligations under international law to accomplish the total and unequivocal elimination of their nuclear arsenals,” according to the statement. Non-nuclear nations are encouraged to push for nuclear disarmament through international forums (Association of World Citizens release, April 5).
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