Citizen's Watch

Use Nukes in the "War on Terrorism," Say Some U.S. Officials

by Marylia Kelley
from Tri-Valley CAREs' December 2001 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

Would the United States use a nuclear weapon in its "war on terrorism"? Some conservative lawmakers and administration officials say we should. Low yield, earth-penetrating nukes are just the ticket for getting Osama bin Ladens in their caves (and Saddam Husseins in their bunkers), they say.

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) told radio station WABC: "I would never rule out tactical nuclear weapons if I thought they could do the job and I thought they were needed" in Afghanistan. Likewise, Rep. Stephen Buyer (R-IN) told an Indiana TV station that, "When there are hardened caves that go back half a mile, don't send in Special Forces to sweep... Put in tactical nuclear devices and close those caves for a thousand years."

Columnist, and former Defense Intelligence Agency official, Thomas Woodrow made the position of the "nuke 'em" crowd crystal clear in the Washington Times. "At a bare minimum, tactical nuclear weapons should be used against bin Laden camps in the desert of Afghanistan," he wrote. "To do less would rightly be seen... as cowardice on the part of the United States and the current administration."

Nuclear bluster? Certainly. But, they are not alone.

The Washington Post reported in Oct. that the Sept. 11 attacks had "invigorated national security strategists inside and outside the government who favor using nuclear arms..." The article details a report written earlier in the year by the National Institute for Public Policy advising that "U.S. nuclear weapons may be necessary... [for] providing unique targeting capabilities" for buried or bio weapon targets.

Just another report gathering dust? Maybe not. Among its authors are Stephen Hadley, now deputy national security advisor to President Bush, Robert Joseph, currently head of proliferation strategy at the National Security Council, and Stephen Cambone and William Schneider, Jr., two Bush defense advisors.

Even more troubling are the subtle, but nonetheless threatening, remarks of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. We reported in the October Citizen's Watch that Rumsfeld had appeared on ABC's "This Week" shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks and had demurred on the question of nuclear retaliation. On CBS's "Face the Nation," Rumsfeld was again questioned about the possibility of a U.S. nuclear strike in Afghanistan. Rumsfeld replied that the U.S. has never ruled out a first nuclear strike. He then added a thinly-veiled threat: "What we need to do, it seems to me, as a country is to recognize how different this situation is, and then the traditional-think of it-the deterrence that worked in the Cold War didn't work."

It is the official position of the U.S. that it may use a nuclear weapon first in combat. However, since the 1970s, in policy statements and other documents, the U.S. has pledged not to nuke a non-nuclear nation that has signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty unless that nation allies itself with a nuclear weapons state. Afghanistan signed the NPT in 1968.

Still, the U.S. has not forsworn nuclear first use, and, for the past three decades, the government has engaged in what it terms "deliberate ambiguity" regarding its nuclear intent.

What would it mean for the U.S. to use a tactical nuclear weapon in Afghanistan-or in Iraq, or Somalia? Or elsewhere?

First, recent government propaganda not withstanding, the human and ecological damage wrought by even a low yield earth-penetrating nuclear weapon would be horrific. When Rep. Buyer so cavalierly tossed off the remark about closing "those caves for a thousand years," he was alluding to the reality of plutonium and other long-lived radio nuclides poisoning the earth for untold generations. (Plutonium-239 has a half-life of 24,000 years. Its hazardous life is ten times that, or 240,000 years.)

Further, if the U.S. uses a nuclear weapon, why shouldn't others? If this country, the only nation to have ever used nuclear weapons in war, were to do so again, what would it signal to the rest of the world? The message will be: use nuclear weapons if you have them; get them if you don't.

Such outcomes are almost unthinkable. The mind wants to turn away, but face them squarely we must. In some circumstances, a nuclear exchange could result in (depending on the particulars) hundreds, or thousands or millions dead or waiting to die from the lingering effects of radiation.

Countries that had decided in decades past to forgo the development nuclear weaponry for moral and political reasons will rethink their positions. Many may feel they must now choose to develop nuclear and/or other weapons of mass destruction as a "deterrent."

Times call us to look beneath the seductive, false assurances of "techno-speak," with its language of "precision strike" and "containment" and see stark reality.

The U.S. has already used its so-called stockpile stewardship capability to develop a tactical, variable-yield earth penetrator. As a reader of Citizen's Watch, you already know it is called the B61-11. You know, too, that the Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia weapons labs are conducting research on a smorgasbord of additional low yield and mini-nuke options.

One plan would put "wings" on the B61-11 so it wouldn't need to be gravity-dropped over its target. Another proposal would add earth-penetrating capability to nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. Yet another lab project is reportedly investigating a range of mini-nuke designs (with nuclear yields of less than 5 kilotons), some of which could be put into the arsenal using stockpile stewardship methods, i.e., without the resumption of full-scale nuclear tests.

Last year, Congress requested a report from the Pentagon detailing methods for reaching deeply-buried, hardened targets. Nuclear options are expected to be included in the report. There are hints that the report may have been circulated recently to Congress in "classified" form. Tri-Valley CAREs is following up.

What can you do?

First, speak out. Call or write your U.S. Senators and Representative. Make the point that the U.S. must not use the ultimate terror weapon in its "war on terrorism." Then, work to curtail the stockpile stewardship program and to promote peace and global nuclear disarmament.

by Marylia Kelley
from Tri-Valley CAREs' December 2001 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

Community members of the "site team," including Tri-Valley CAREs, tasked with overseeing the public health assessment process at Livermore Lab are calling for an independent review of the impacts of two large radioactive tritium accidents at the weapons facility.

The accidents at the Lab, in 1965 and 1970, spewed 650,000 curies of tritium into the air. (Each curie equals 37 billion radioactive disintegrations per second.) Tritium is the radioactive hydrogen gas that boosts the explosive power of modern nuclear weapons; it is the H of the H-bomb.

With the sole exception of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, these two Livermore Lab releases are thought to be the largest tritium accidents in U.S. history.

The federal government's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is circulating a draft report that concludes the two releases were harmless and that no "adverse health effects [are] expected." That stands in stark contrast to other analyses performed in the past.

In 1987, Dr. John Gofman, former Associate Director of Livermore Lab and founder of its biomedical department, predicted that the two tritium releases would cause 60 cancer deaths.

In a November 7, 2001 letter to our group, Dr. Gofman refuted the ATSDR's conclusion and commented that the Lab tritium releases "could have been harmless only if they had exposed no one." Moreover, as tritium has a 12 year half-life (and therefore a 120 year hazardous life), "a good deal" of the tritium lurks in the environment "even today," noted Gofman.

Using Gofman's analysis and other data, the community members of the site team excoriated the draft ATSDR report, pointing out its many deficiencies, and calling it "incomplete, incoherent and inconsistent."

For example, despite the 12 year half-life of tritium, ATSDR looked at potential exposures only during the first half-hour following each accident. Further, ATSDR deleted 99% of the radiation from the accidents from its calculations -- focusing its analysis solely on the 1% of the tritium gas that would have converted to tritiated water during that first half-hour in the environment.

Community members are demanding that ATSDR: (1) supply funding to permit the community members of the site team to hire an independent scientist to assist them in evaluating ATSDR's draft report in detail, (2) include the comments - prepared by the community members with their independent expert - as part of the final report, (3) extend the public comment period by six months, and (4) improve the overall manner in which the agency accepts input from the site team and the community at large. Stay tuned.

Top Ten Ways to Promote Peace, Justice & the Environment with Tri-Valley CAREs

from Tri-Valley CAREs' December 2001 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

To create a more peaceful and just community (and world) requires collective action. Here are the "top 10" ways that you can help, and most require only a few hours. We must work together to promote positive social change. To volunteer, call Tara Dorabji at our office at (925) 443-7148.

1. PARTICIPATE: Meetings are at 7:15 PM on the third Thursday of each month at the main Livermore Library. Please come and share your ideas for Tri-Valley CAREs while getting a detailed report on current activities. Your input is important. We also have regular mailing parties at our office -- and you are invited.

2. ORGANIZE: Help us organize community events. We are planning a town meeting on plutonium in February. Can you help publicize this or other events? Do you have a truck to help transport items? Could you assist with child care? Ask what events we have scheduled; your help is always much appreciated.

3. WRITE: Compose a letter to the editor about Star Wars, disarmament, or which ever issue most concerns you. We must make our voices heard. Contact Tri-Valley CAREs for help on writing your own letter promoting peace, justice or the environment.

4. EDUCATE: Do you have a special skill that you would like to share? For example, we need someone with skills in PageMaker and Photoshop to provide some of the Tri-Valley CAREs staff with a tutorial.

5. REACH OUT: Come table with us and let the community know what we are doing. Tri-Valley CAREs has a table at the Livermore Children's Faire, the Farmer's Market and Red Flower Day. We also have a peace entry in the annual Livermore Rodeo Parade. Consider volunteering for any of these enjoyable events.

6. SPEAK OUT: Let us know if you want to speak up for peace, justice and the environment. Members can raise issues about the true cost of nuclear weapons production by speaking at forums, schools, public hearings and community events. We can provide you with background information and handouts.

7. CREATE: Put your artistic talents to work creating banners or signs for special events. Do you have original graphics that we could use for our newsletters or flyers? Can you play music, or act? Can you face paint, make origami, or run the Tri-Valley CAREs button-making machine at a special event?

8. PROTEST: Join us, for example, on Good Friday on March 29th at 7 AM. In active nonviolent resistance, we will gather at LLNL - a center for nuclear weapons research and development - to show that peaceful solutions are supported in our community. Help us organize, publicize and participate in this annual event.

9. ADVOCATE: Circulate petitions and postcards for Tri-Valley CAREs. Get active with us in the national Back From the Brink campaign to take nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert. Participate with us in the Abolition 2000 Northern California gatherings to promote nuclear disarmament. Call our office today to find out how you can most effectively respond to the current national crisis.

10. DONATE: Your donation of any amount helps keep the office open, the phones on, your newsletter postage paid and the presses rolling. Contributions of equipment and supplies are also appreciated. Our wish list includes a late model laptop computer (Mac or PC) and a cell phone. All donations are tax-deductible.

Bush to Widen War

by Marylia Kelley
from Tri-Valley CAREs' December 2001 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

As the U.S. bombing continues in Afghanistan, President Bush and his lieutenants are determining which countries to attack next in order to widen the "war on terrorism." The question now seems to be not "if" the U.S. will bomb other nations but "whom" and "when."

Speaking from the White House, Bush laid out a scenario to rationalize a U.S. strike against Iraq. The London Observer also reported that Bush ordered the CIA and military advisors to draw up plans for extensive military operations in Iraq.

At the same time, Bush has dispatched agents to Asia and Africa to lay the groundwork for U.S. military assaults on "at least seven countries," according to the LA Times. Mentioned as possible targets are Somalia, Yemen, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In some cases, such as in the Philippines, Bush is likely to seek allowances for limited strikes from the host governments in return for U.S. financial aid. In other cases, such as Somalia and Iraq, the attacks would likely be widespread and come as overt acts of war.

Blankets, not Bombs

by Tara Dorabji
from Tri-Valley CAREs' December 2001 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

Donate a blanket -- and warm someone in Afghanistan.

Tri-Valley CAREs is collecting blankets to send to Afghanistan. You can drop off your quality used blankets or sleeping bags at our office between 10:30 AM and 2 PM on any of the following days: Tuesday, Dec. 11, Thursday, Dec. 13, Tuesday, Dec. 18 or Thursday, Dec. 20.

If you need to make special arrangements --call us at (925) 443-7148.

Blankets will be taken to American Friends Service Committee in San Francisco. From there, they will be shipped to Afghanistan. For folks living near San Francisco, you may also want to help AFSC package blankets at a "shipping party" on Dec. 13 or Dec. 27. Call (415) 565-0201 x12 for details.

Citizen's Alerts - Calendar Section

from Tri-Valley CAREs' December 2001 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

Wednesday, December 12
"Unveiling" Party for our new "alternative view" art
1 PM, Livermore Lab Visitors Center
Greenville Road entrance
(925) 443-7148 for details

Join Tri-Valley CAREs, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Western States Legal Foundation for the "unveiling" of two new, eye-catching art displays at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab Visitors Center.

Professionally designed by Deborah Reade, one 4 foot by 6 foot multi-color wall panel will feature a skull, the National Ignition Facility target chamber, information about NIF's nuclear weapons design applications and the admonition, "Your Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste."

Its companion display will depict the hazards of nuclear development, including information about the radiation released locally by Livermore Lab, and warns viewers, "Your Health is a Terrible Thing to Waste."

Our displays will speak directly to Lab employees, those considering employment at the Lab, local school children on field trips and other visitors to the Livermore Lab.

These "alternative viewpoint" displays are made possible by a CA Supreme Court decision. We are arranging the installation with Livermore Lab staff, who have been very helpful thus far. However, as details are still being worked out, please call for confirmation of the date and time before the event. Thanks. Hope to see you there!

Thursday, January 3
Livermore Lab Public Meeting
Hazardous Waste Storage & Treatment
Proposed Permit Modifications 2 PM, LLNL Visitors Center Bldg. 651
Greenville Road entrance
(925) 443-7148 for details

We are not sure if a meeting held in the middle of a work day and right after the New Year holiday should be called "public," but this is what LLNL has advertised. The preliminary notice we received lists numerous proposed permit alterations, including one that would change the amount of space needed between stored incompatible solid wastes from the current 8 feet to 2.5 feet.

Tri-Valley CAREs plans to obtain more information and prepare talking points. If you can attend the meeting, prepare written comments, or wish to protest the timing of the meeting - call our office at the number above.

Thursday, January 10
"Intro to Nonviolence"
Part Two: Nonviolent Social Movements
Tri-Valley CAREs study group
7 PM, Tri-Valley CAREs' office
2582 Old First Street, Livermore
(925) 443-7148 for details

Never more needed than now, Tri-Valley CAREs offers this series of interactive workshops on the history and practice of nonviolence. In November, we looked at our personal concepts of violence and nonviolence. On January 10, we will explore the history and progress of nonviolent social movements. Come and learn a bit about our roots - and explore the different stages of social movements over time.

Thursday, January 17
Tri-Valley CAREs meets
7:15 PM, Livermore Library
1000 South Livermore Ave.
(925) 443-7148

Make this your first New Year's resolution - become more active with Tri-Valley CAREs. Join us for our first monthly meeting of 2002. Come for the great information, the enlightening discussion, the moral support and the priceless opportunity to create positive change in the world. And, oh yes, we have great after-dinner snacks, too. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Money Matters

from Tri-Valley CAREs' December 2001 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

We would like to pause a moment and offer our heart-felt "THANK YOU" to all of our members and friends who have contributed to our work for peace, justice and a healthy environment over this past year.

Your donations keep our doors open and our programs strong.

As you know, we never share our mailing list or sell it to others. And, we limit our fundraising appeals to twice a year.

Look for our end of year appeal in your mailbox. And, if you have not yet responded, please consider supporting Tri-Valley CAREs' good work with your tax-deductible donation.

As you are aware, Tri-Valley CAREs is a uniquely effective group, and has become known over the years for:

* watchdogging Livermore Lab and the nuclear weapons complex;
* advocating for cleanup of radioactive and toxic waste;
* promoting peace and standing firm against "stockpile stewardship";
* safeguarding our community from continuing nuclear pollution;
* demystifying science-speak; and
* increasing public participation.

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