War torn buildings blight the skyline as children play in a park on May 26, 2022 in Borodianka Ukraine. (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Don't Just Worry About Nuclear War--Do Something to Help Prevent It
The U.S. government should do everything in its power to lessen the chances of global nuclear annihilation.
This is an emergency.
Right now, we're closer to a cataclysmic nuclear war than at any other time since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. One assessment after another has said the current situation is even more dangerous.
Yet few members of Congress are advocating for any steps that the U.S. government could take to decrease the dangers of a nuclear conflagration. The silences and muted statements on Capitol Hill are evading the reality of what's hanging in the balance--the destruction of almost all human life on Earth. "The end of civilization."
Constituent passivity is helping elected officials to sleepwalk toward unfathomable catastrophe for all of humanity. If senators and representatives are to be roused out of their timid refusal to urgently address--and work to reduce--the present high risks of nuclear war, they need to be confronted. Nonviolently and emphatically.
The silences and muted statements on Capitol Hill are evading the reality of what's hanging in the balance--the destruction of almost all human life on Earth.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has made thinly veiled, extremely reckless statements about possibly using nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war. At the same time, some of the U.S. government's policies make nuclear war more likely. Changing them is imperative.
For the last few months, I've been working with people in many states who aren't just worried about the spiking dangers of nuclear war--they're also determined to take action to help prevent it. That resolve has resulted in organizing more than 35 picket lines that will happen on Friday, October 14, at local offices of Senate and House members around the country. (If you want to organize such picketing in your area, go here.)
What could the U.S. government do to lessen the chances of global nuclear annihilation? The Defuse Nuclear War campaign, which is coordinating those picket lines, has identified key needed actions. Such as:
Rejoin nuclear-weapons treaties the U.S. has pulled out of
President George W. Bush withdrew the United States from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2002. Under Donald Trump, the U.S. withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019. Both pacts significantly reduced the chances of nuclear war.
Take U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert.
Four hundred intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are armed and ready for launch from underground silos in five states. Because they're land-based, those missiles are vulnerable to attack and thus are on hair-trigger alert--allowing only minutes to determine whether indications of an incoming attack are real or a false alarm.
End the policy of "first use."
Like Russia, the United States has refused to pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons.
Support congressional action to avert nuclear war.
In the House, H.Res. 1185 includes a call for the United States to "lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war."
An overarching need is for senators and representatives to insist that U.S. participation in nuclear brinkmanship is unacceptable. As our Defuse Nuclear War team says, "Grassroots activism will be essential to pressure members of Congress to publicly acknowledge the dangers of nuclear war and strongly advocate specific steps for reducing them."
Is that really too much to ask? Or even demand?
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. The paperback edition of his latest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, includes an afterword about the Gaza war.
This is an emergency.
Right now, we're closer to a cataclysmic nuclear war than at any other time since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. One assessment after another has said the current situation is even more dangerous.
Yet few members of Congress are advocating for any steps that the U.S. government could take to decrease the dangers of a nuclear conflagration. The silences and muted statements on Capitol Hill are evading the reality of what's hanging in the balance--the destruction of almost all human life on Earth. "The end of civilization."
Constituent passivity is helping elected officials to sleepwalk toward unfathomable catastrophe for all of humanity. If senators and representatives are to be roused out of their timid refusal to urgently address--and work to reduce--the present high risks of nuclear war, they need to be confronted. Nonviolently and emphatically.
The silences and muted statements on Capitol Hill are evading the reality of what's hanging in the balance--the destruction of almost all human life on Earth.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has made thinly veiled, extremely reckless statements about possibly using nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war. At the same time, some of the U.S. government's policies make nuclear war more likely. Changing them is imperative.
For the last few months, I've been working with people in many states who aren't just worried about the spiking dangers of nuclear war--they're also determined to take action to help prevent it. That resolve has resulted in organizing more than 35 picket lines that will happen on Friday, October 14, at local offices of Senate and House members around the country. (If you want to organize such picketing in your area, go here.)
What could the U.S. government do to lessen the chances of global nuclear annihilation? The Defuse Nuclear War campaign, which is coordinating those picket lines, has identified key needed actions. Such as:
Rejoin nuclear-weapons treaties the U.S. has pulled out of
President George W. Bush withdrew the United States from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2002. Under Donald Trump, the U.S. withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019. Both pacts significantly reduced the chances of nuclear war.
Take U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert.
Four hundred intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are armed and ready for launch from underground silos in five states. Because they're land-based, those missiles are vulnerable to attack and thus are on hair-trigger alert--allowing only minutes to determine whether indications of an incoming attack are real or a false alarm.
End the policy of "first use."
Like Russia, the United States has refused to pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons.
Support congressional action to avert nuclear war.
In the House, H.Res. 1185 includes a call for the United States to "lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war."
An overarching need is for senators and representatives to insist that U.S. participation in nuclear brinkmanship is unacceptable. As our Defuse Nuclear War team says, "Grassroots activism will be essential to pressure members of Congress to publicly acknowledge the dangers of nuclear war and strongly advocate specific steps for reducing them."
Is that really too much to ask? Or even demand?
Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. The paperback edition of his latest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, includes an afterword about the Gaza war.
This is an emergency.
Right now, we're closer to a cataclysmic nuclear war than at any other time since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. One assessment after another has said the current situation is even more dangerous.
Yet few members of Congress are advocating for any steps that the U.S. government could take to decrease the dangers of a nuclear conflagration. The silences and muted statements on Capitol Hill are evading the reality of what's hanging in the balance--the destruction of almost all human life on Earth. "The end of civilization."
Constituent passivity is helping elected officials to sleepwalk toward unfathomable catastrophe for all of humanity. If senators and representatives are to be roused out of their timid refusal to urgently address--and work to reduce--the present high risks of nuclear war, they need to be confronted. Nonviolently and emphatically.
The silences and muted statements on Capitol Hill are evading the reality of what's hanging in the balance--the destruction of almost all human life on Earth.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has made thinly veiled, extremely reckless statements about possibly using nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war. At the same time, some of the U.S. government's policies make nuclear war more likely. Changing them is imperative.
For the last few months, I've been working with people in many states who aren't just worried about the spiking dangers of nuclear war--they're also determined to take action to help prevent it. That resolve has resulted in organizing more than 35 picket lines that will happen on Friday, October 14, at local offices of Senate and House members around the country. (If you want to organize such picketing in your area, go here.)
What could the U.S. government do to lessen the chances of global nuclear annihilation? The Defuse Nuclear War campaign, which is coordinating those picket lines, has identified key needed actions. Such as:
Rejoin nuclear-weapons treaties the U.S. has pulled out of
President George W. Bush withdrew the United States from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2002. Under Donald Trump, the U.S. withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019. Both pacts significantly reduced the chances of nuclear war.
Take U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert.
Four hundred intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are armed and ready for launch from underground silos in five states. Because they're land-based, those missiles are vulnerable to attack and thus are on hair-trigger alert--allowing only minutes to determine whether indications of an incoming attack are real or a false alarm.
End the policy of "first use."
Like Russia, the United States has refused to pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons.
Support congressional action to avert nuclear war.
In the House, H.Res. 1185 includes a call for the United States to "lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war."
An overarching need is for senators and representatives to insist that U.S. participation in nuclear brinkmanship is unacceptable. As our Defuse Nuclear War team says, "Grassroots activism will be essential to pressure members of Congress to publicly acknowledge the dangers of nuclear war and strongly advocate specific steps for reducing them."
Is that really too much to ask? Or even demand?