[Marxism] ABOLITION 2000 Calls on to Reject the US-India Nuclear Agreement

[Sukla Sen]

That's ignorance, and malice, at its peak.

Even Marx and Engels could have  been trashed on the
same ground - being "based in an imperialist country".


Abolition 2000 steadfastly stands for global nuclear
disarmament. 
It's the coordinator of the US-India Working Group,
who's based in Japan.
Incidentally, I from India, was actively involved in
drafting.

Even this appeal, which deals specifically with the
deal and exclusively focusses on it, that is meant to
grant a special concession to delinquent India, avers
that by "exempting India from international rules
governing trade in nuclear technology, the agreement
threatens to undermine the nuclear non-proliferation
order and thereby the prospects for ***global nuclear
disarmament***." (Emphasis added.)

Evidently, the 'deal' does nothing to enhance the
bomb-making capabilities of the US, but that of India.
Hence it does not talk of that here.

Reproducing below the founding statement of the
Abolition 2000, available at
<http://www.abolition2000.org/site/c.cdJIKKNpFqG/b.1316717/k.8870/The_Abolition_2000_Statement__English.htm>.

Sukla

The Abolition 2000 Founding Statement 


On April 1995, during the first weeks of the
Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension
Conference, activists from around the world recognized
that the issue of nuclear abolition was not on the
agenda. Activists met together to write the following
statement that has become the founding document of the
Abolition 2000 Network.

2,000+ organizations in over 90 countries have now
signed the Abolition 2000 Statement and are actively
participatng in ten working groups to accomplish the
eleven points listed below.



Abolition 2000 Statement

    A secure and livable world for our children and
grandchildren and all future generations requires that
we achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and redress
the environmental degradation and human suffering that
is the legacy of fifty years of nuclear weapons
testing and production.

    Further, the inextricable link between the
"peaceful" and warlike uses of nuclear technologies
and the threat to future generations inherent in
creation and use of long-lived radioactive materials
must be recognized. We must move toward reliance on
clean, safe, renewable forms of energy production that
do not provide the materials for weapons of mass
destruction and do not poison the environment for
thousands of centuries. The true "inalienable" right
is not to nuclear energy, but to life, liberty and
security of person in a world free of nuclear weapons.

    We recognize that a nuclear weapons free world
must be achieved carefully and in a step by step
manner. We are convinced of its technological
feasibility. Lack of political will, especially on the
part of the nuclear weapons states, is the only true
barrier. As chemical and biological weapons are
prohibited, so must nuclear weapons be prohibited.

    We call upon all states particularly the nuclear
weapons states, declared and de facto to take the
following steps to achieve nuclear weapons abolition.
We further urge the states parties to the NPT to
demand binding commitments by the declared nuclear
weapons states to implement these measures: 
Initiate immediately and conclude* negotiations on a
nuclear weapons abolition convention that requires the
phased elimination of all nuclear weapons within a
timebound framework, with provisions for effective
verification and enforcement.** 
Immediately make an unconditional pledge not to use or
threaten to use nuclear weapons. 
Rapidly complete a truly comprehensive test ban treaty
with a zero threshold and with the stated purpose of
precluding nuclear weapons development by all states. 
Cease to produce and deploy new and additional nuclear
weapons systems, and commence to withdraw and disable
deployed nuclear weapons systems. 
Prohibit the military and commercial production and
reprocessing of all weapons-usable radioactive
materials. 
Subject all weapons-usable radioactive materials and
nuclear facilities in all states to international
accounting, monitoring, and safeguards, and establish
a public international registry of all weapons-usable
radioactive materials. 
Prohibit nuclear weapons research, design,
development, and testing through laboratory
experiments including but not limited to non-nuclear
hydrodynamic explosions and computer simulations,
subject all nuclear weapons laboratories to
international monitoring, and close all nuclear test
sites. 
Create additional nuclear weapons free zones such as
those established by the treaties of Tlatelolco and
Raratonga. 
Recognize and declare the illegality of threat or use
of nuclear weapons, publicly and before the World
Court. 
Establish an international energy agency to promote
and support the development of sustainable and
environmentally safe energy sources. 
Create mechanisms to ensure the participation of
citizens and NGOs in planning and monitoring the
process of nuclear weapons abolition. 
    A world free of nuclear weapons is a shared
aspiration of humanity. This goal cannot be achieved
in a non-proliferation regime that authorizes the
possession of nuclear weapons by a small group of
states. Our common security requires the complete
elimination of nuclear weapons. Our objective is
definite and unconditional abolition of nuclear
weapons.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The 1995 Abolition 2000 Statement called for the
conclusion of negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons
Convention "by the year 2000." Recognizing that the
nuclear weapons states would likely fail in their
obligations to conclude such negotiations, this phrase
was removed at the end of the year 2000 after member
organizations voted and agreed upon its removal.

** The convention should mandate irreversible
disarmament measures, including but not limited to the
following: withdraw and disable all deployed nuclear
weapons systems; disable and dismantle warheads; place
warheads and weapon-usable radioactive materials under
international safeguards; destroy ballistic missiles
and other delivery systems. The convention could also
incorporate the measures listed above which should be
implemented independently without delay. When fully
implemented, the convention would replace the NPT.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If your group or organization wishes to sign on to
this statement, please send an e-mail stating contact
name, organization name, address, fax, telephone to
admin at abolition2000.org. 
 
 
> From: dave.walters
> Date: Jul 27, 2007 3:12 AM
> Subject: ABOLITION 2000 Calls on to Reject the
> US-India Nuclear Agreement
> 
> There are reasons to oppose the bilateral agreement
> between India and
> the US. We've had
> some discussions on this already. But, the reason in
> the document
> posted here is not one of them.
> I'm not sure why a group based in an imperialist
> country (Japan) is
> totally opposed to India
> having both energy and military sovereignty but says
> NOTHING about the
> ability of the
> US to go on making as many bombs as it wants and
> having the largest
> military nuclear program
> in the world.
> 
> Seems the ABOLUTION document is entirely one-sided.
> 
> David



      ___________________________________________________________ 
Yahoo! Mail is the world's favourite email. Don't settle for less, sign up for
your free account today http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/mail/winter07.html