Getting Serious about Preventing WMD Terrorism
December 5, 2008
Social Action
(2 comments)
By Jeff Oakley
(First posted on the RACblog)
Jeff Oakley is an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center.
The Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism, led by former Sens. Bob Graham of Florida and Jim Talent of Missouri, announced at a press conference earlier today the findings of their bipartisan panel. In a stark warning to the United States and the world, the commission found that "unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013."
The panel's report makes clear the urgency of nonproliferation efforts, warning that "the more proliferation that occurs, the greater the risk of additional proliferation, as nations that have to this point declined to acquire nuclear weapons will believe it necessary to counter their neighbors who have developed those capabilities." As this "increases the prospect that these weapons will be poorly secured and thus may be stolen by terrorists", the commission made a number of recommendations about addressing this threat.
The Boston Globe reports that President-elect Obama is set to heed the eighth recommendation of the commission by designating a White House principal advisor for WMD proliferation and terrorism.
President-elect Obama's administration can help prevent nuclear terrorism by taking seriously as well the recommendation to "work internationally toward strengthening the nonproliferation regime, reaffirming the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons." Only by doing so can we truly hope to turn back the tide against proliferation, prevent Iran and other dangerous regimes and terrorist groups from obtaining nuclear weapons, and ensure the instability and terrorism emanating from Pakistan do not involve even deadlier weapons.
The Reform Movement has long called for the world to work together to prevent the massive destruction wrought by the use of nuclear weapons by achieving total nuclear disarmament. While the White House must step up its efforts, we must also get involved in the effort to create a safer world free of nuclear dangers.
One way to get involved with the work to create a safer, nuclear weapons free world is to take action through our partner, the Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World.
Indeed, as the report's final recommendation states, "citizens should hold their governments accountable." Let's do so and make sure our government is doing everything possible to keep us safe by eliminating the threat of nuclear weapons from the earth.
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The goal of total nuclear disarmament is not only unattainable in the modern world, it is a threat to freedom and democracy. A bell cannot be unrung. The secrets of nuclear weapons are widely known and can not be unlearned. Technology continues to advance. We will be increasingly dependent on nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, as neither renewable energy nor carbon based systems can satisfy the world's needs, especially considering the problems of global warming and other dangers associated with petroleum products.
In the period after World War I, many pacifists and anti-war activists worked to disarm, often pushing for unilateral disarmament and sometimes for treaties which were violated before the ink was dry. Their well intentioned actions brought about horrors beyond their imagination. The restraints on arms only worked to restrain the good guys and to allow the bad guys to beef up their military establishment to the point where they could go on the offensive, murdering tens of millions and attempting to enslave the world.
Instead of a zero option, we should work to reduce nuclear arms to a more manageable level and to limit nuclear proliferation, goals which we have pursued since the Eisenhower administration and which, despite the fall of the Soviet Union, are increasingly difficult. Former Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia, Chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and Chairman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has been a leader in this area and is still actively working to reduce the threat.
Unfortunately, nuclear weapons are not the only serious threats. Biological and chemical weapons also present great dangers as WMD's and are in some ways more difficult to control.
WMD's are a constant and shifting threat to us and our allies. Our government should heed the report on WMD's and look to shift the odds back in our favor, which will not be easy or cheap.