The "sweet voice of reason" on nuclear weapons, national security, and Congress since our founding in 1962 by Manhattan Project scientist Leo Szilard. About This Blog »

Jan 05, 2009
Canvassing Board to Announce Winner in Franken Race
Posted By Katie

Today the Minnesota canvassing board is set to certify the state's election recount results - which found Al Franken victorious over incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman by 225 votes. A victory for sure for progressive and Council-endorsed Franken, but the race is not yet over.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a seven day waiting period will follow before the election is complete. This process can be further delayed by any lawsuits, and Coleman has not yet ruled them out. Additionally, the Coleman campaign already has a petition before the Minnesota Supreme Court to count 650 rejected ballots.

We'll continue to keep you updated with these race results, but you can also find the latest information on the website for the Star Tribune.

Dec 29, 2008
Eliminating Nuclear Weapons
Posted By Jerry

In August 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, bringing death to 300,000 human beings, creating pain and endless suffering in the lives of countless others. Now nine countries have nuclear bombs; many more have the capacity to make them.

Today, there are, in combat readiness, enough bombs to kill the world population many times over….. And there is no defense. Nuclear war could happen any day - by accident, by design, by miscalculation, by terrorism, by madness. The weapons are still on hair-trigger alert, in this country and abroad.

The current review conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty proved that two groups of nations are in collision. The possessors of nuclear weapons want to stop the proliferators and proliferators demand that the nuclear powers reduce and eventually get rid of their own nuclear arsenals in accordance with their treaty commitments.

The United States needs to re-examine its policies that envision an active role for nuclear weapons in future wars and building a new generation of nuclear weapons. The American case against the nuclear weapons plans of Iran and North Korea would be greatly strengthened if the United States were to cut drastically its own stockpiles of nuclear weapons, abandon plans to build new nuclear weapons and approve the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Dec 17, 2008
What’s on Obama’s plate?
Posted By livableworld

What’s on Obama’s plate?

We’re not talking chicken or fish, we’re talking more like nuclear terrorism and the war in Iraq.

When Obama gets sworn in on Jan. 20, 2009, he’ll have more than a full plate of items to deal with, addressing issues like the war in Iraq,  the U.S. and now global economic crisis, global climate change, energy, terrorism, health care, the list – unfortunately – goes on and on, and on.

The Council for a Livable World’s research center has prepared – along with 60 leading national security experts – a transition report on how the Obama administration can effectively address the gravest threat to U.S. security: the spread of nuclear weapons and materials.

The executive summary and full report is available here.

The Council believes that given the rise of terrorist networks and the amount of unsecure nuclear weapons material worldwide, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear terrorism is one of the gravest threats to U.S. and international security.

“Every presidential candidate since 2000 has said that loose nuclear weapons are the most serious threat to international security. Yet for the past eight years we’ve done very little to address loose nukes seriously,” said John Isaacs, executive director of the Council and our research Center in a press release today. “What we need now is strong leadership as promised by President-elect Obama during the campaign.”

Besides unsecure nuclear weapons materials, we also have actual weapons to deal with. Almost twenty years after the end of the Cold War, Russia and the United States continue to maintain about 16,000 nuclear weapons. The arms control process has been stalled since the late 1990s when the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was rejected by the Senate.

The experts in the report recommend that Obama Announce intent to seek ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and begin working to build the bipartisan support in the Senate needed for approval.

Basically, the Bush administration was not only was sleeping (though we wish it was only that) on arms control issues, it actually reversed arms control gains made in the past 40 years. When Obama and the 111th Congress gets in office, they’ll have an historic opportunity to provide some real leadership on the most serious component of our national security.

Now you know our priorities, what are yours?

Dec 15, 2008
Missile Defense: Keeping Our Ferris Wheels Safe
Posted By livableworld

Last week at work, we watched a great beach scene with crashing waves and a tall man wearing polarized BluBlockers. It wasn’t a steamy Baywatch re-run, however, or even The Dude’s tribute to Donnie.  

It was the video trailer for the Heritage Foundation’s 33 Minutes campaign aimed at convincing “moms, dads and citizens across the country” (their words) that the United States is in dire need of a missile defense system. “33 Minutes” refers to the amount of time it would take an imaginary Iranian or North Korean nuclear-armed missile to reach the United States (‘imaginary’ because such a missile doesn't exist yet and probably won’t exist for a decade or more).

You may remember the Heritage Foundation from such disastrous political epochs as the Reagan administration, the Bush I administration, and the Bush II administration. Well, now that they’ve got a Democratic president they get to spend the next eight years hating on, these Heritage guys are pumped.

Brace yourself and watch the clip here.

Where to begin, really? We have never seen more dramatic, ridiculous, and fear-stirring PR for a “defense” priority in our lives…er, except for that whole Iraq war thing.

I mean, how about that intro? Pure genius if you ask us.

What better way to scare the American public than to put a woman singing the Muslim call to prayer over images of New York City and the word “missile.” Stereotyping is so much fun!

Dec 08, 2008
Obama's Appointments: Liberals Don't Jump the Gun and Whine
Posted By David Cohen

Liberal doubts on Obama's appointments have begun. The whines can be heard everywhere. See December 8 www.politico.com for a story that bears this out. John Isaacs is a notable exception. His quotes appropriately focused on policy as the real test for Obama.

Obama has made clear he expects his appointees to carry out Presidential policies. Those he has chosen are capable of performing well--whether they are Geithner,
Summers, Clinton, or Gates.

The test comes on policies. If Sen. Clinton has abandoned her quest for the presidency, she has political capital to help move us away from a bellicose Iran policy and towards an Israel-Palestine settlement. Let's see whether she will.  Let's hold the Administration to account.

Let's expect Secretary Gates to formulate and implement the plans that get our combat troops out of Iraq in the 16 months after Obama is sworn in.

Having General Jones serve as the President's National Security Adviser places in a pivotal spot a knowledgeable military person who severely criticized General Pace for not
telling Bush what Pace thought about the mistakes being made in Iraq.

It's the policies that matter. These include a whole arms control treaty agenda, abolishing nuclear weapons, ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, addressing nuclear proliferation, missile defense and other key matters.

Economic and energy policy is part of national security policy as well. Let's see if Geithner, Summers and others cam stimulate the economy, reduce unemployment, get  credit flowing and begin to reduce economic inequality.

The Obama Administration must be held to high standards of accountability. That's the test. If it's met let us praise. If the effort falls far short we won't lack for critics.

Meanwhile let's stay organized to hold Obama accountable as we work to ward off the conservative sharpshooters who will likely oppose many of Obama's constructive policies.
David Cohen