Fourth Freedom Foundation


Late Breaking News from America's Progressive Community
			Date: August 6, 1998 8:41 am Contact: Fourth Freedom Foundation Alistair Millar, 202-234-3577, or Adam Eidinger, 202-547-3577
Latest News Releases NewsCenter			Carter, Gorbachev Call for Negotiations to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons; Appeal Coincides with Hiroshima Bombing Anniversary
			GOSHEN, Indiana - August 6 - An impressive group of former world leaders, policy makers, and clergy has signed an Appeal for Negotiations to Eliminate Nuclear Arms. The Appeal urges leaders of nuclear powers to confirm and implement commitments to the elimination of nuclear weapons expressed in Article VI of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The bluntly worded Appeal was organized by David Cortright, president of the Fourth Freedom Forum (FFF), a private foundation specializing in international security issues. The Appeal comes on the 53rd anniversary of the first use of nuclear weapons against Japan on Aug. 6, 1998. Announcement of the Appeal on Hiroshima Day seeks to reinforce the devastating threat nuclear weapons pose to all human life. Citing the recent nuclear tests in South Asia, the Appeal argues that the tests "have demonstrated unmistakably the peril of nuclear proliferation and the weakness of international measures of control." Calling for negotiations by the world's nuclear powers to comprehensively "reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons is a series of well-defined stages," the Appeal is "one of the most coherent attempts to develop a new security apparatus to ensure long-term stability and peace," said Alistair Millar, Washington Director of the Fourth Freedom Forum. Former Officials Urge World Leaders to Stem Deterioration of Non-Proliferation Regime Signers of the Appeal include former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Nobel Peace Prize Winners Oscar Arias and Joseph Rotblat, Admiral Eugene Carroll, former Senators Alan Cranston and Mark Hatfield, Dr. Morton Halperin, Bishop Walter R. Sullivan and many others. Calling for a new approach to stem the proliferation of nuclear arms, the signers envision a two-pronged strategy that combines efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to new countries with negotiations for eliminating the arsenals of the existing nuclear powers. The United States, China, France, Russia and Great Britain combined possess some 35,000 nuclear weapons. "Growing concerns about emerging nuclear states such as India, Pakistan, and Israel, and the spread of nuclear capability to other countries are long overdue," said David Cortright. "It is now possible to end proliferation by assuring threshold states that established nuclear powers reduce their arsenals over time, while they reverse their drive for nuclear weapons." In the coming months the Appeal will be used as a foundation for an emerging worldwide campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, beginning with the gathering of signatures from key figures of the defense establishment and opinion makers. "For years the question has been asked, 'What should be the goal of U.S. nuclear weapons policy?' Now it seems on average 70 percent of Americans believe the answer is the elimination or reduction of nuclear weapons," said Cortright. "The problem today is not with people's attitudes about nuclear policy, but rather our leaders' stagnant position on nuclear weapons." The full text of the Appeal for Negotiation to Eliminate Nuclear Arms is contained below. ------ "Appeal for Negotiations to Eliminate Nuclear Arms" The nuclear tests in South Asia have jarred the world into new awareness of nuclear danger. They have demonstrated unmistakably the peril of nuclear proliferation and the weakness of international measures of control. They have also cast harsh new light on the persistence of the arsenals of the United States, Russia, China, Great Britain, and France, who jointly possess some 35,000 nuclear weapons. These two main components of nuclear dangerproliferation on the one hand, and the remaining cold war arsenals on the other -- can no longer be considered in isolation. They must be addressed together. To this end, we call for negotiations to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons in a series of well-defined stages accompanied by increasing verification and control. We direct our appeal especially to the nuclear powers, to confirm and implement their existing commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons in Article VI of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. India has declared a moratorium on tests and its willingness to give up nuclear weapons in the context of a global plan for their elimination. Today, only a commitment to nuclear abolition can realistically halt nuclear proliferation. The tests of South Asia pose great danger but, against the background of the end of the cold war, they have also created an opportunity that must not be missed to take action that can at last free the world of nuclear danger. The hour is late, and the time for action is now. Oscar Arias Admiral Eugene Carroll Jimmy Carter Alan Cranston Richard Barnet Jonathan Dean Daniel Ellsberg Mikhail Gorbachev Morton Halperin Mark Hatfield Marcus Raskin Douglas Roche Joseph Rotblat Bishop Walter R. Sullivan David Cortright ------ For more information about the Appeal or to speak with Fourth Freedom Forum spokespeople, contact Adam Eidinger at 202-547-3577. -0-

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