Impediments To The Abolition Of Nuclear Weapons

N D Jayaprakash

On the occassion of the 60th anniversary of the ruthless atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, over 10,000 delegates from Japan and nearly 300 delegates from 29 other countries assembled in Hiroshima to attend the 2005 World Conference Against Atomic & Hydrogen Bombs. The conference paid homage to the hapless victims of the nuclear holocaust (including the Hibakusha - atomic bomb survivors), vowed to strive steadfastly to strengthen world opinion to prevent the recurrence of the horrific event ever again, and demanded the abolition of nuclear weapons. N D Jayaprakash, who attended the conference, recounts the background of the nuclear arms race and about the present dilemma facing humankind.

THE premeditated atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which was mercilessly perpetrated by the US Administration on August 06 and 09, 1945 respectively, had unleashed in an instant such widespread death and destruction on a scale that was several hundreds of thousand times more devastating than the most potent ‘conventional’ weapon then in existence anywhere. The ushering in of the era of nuclear weapons had heightened the threat of human self-annihilation and extermination of other life-systems from the Earth as never before. Yet, it is rather unfortunate that in the last sixty years there has been very little concerted attempt at eliminating this lurking global threat. Instead, the nuclear-weapon powers have evolved a diabolical strategy to impose their hegemony over the powerless non-nuclear-weapon states by making it appear that the PRESENT nuclear danger actually stems from the non-nuclear-weapon states!

DISCRIMINATORY TREATY

This game of deceit being played by the nuclear-weapon powers has entangled a sizable section of the peace movement in their web as well. It is this section of the peace movement, who have become the most ardent supporters of the much publicised treaties such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Nuclear-Weapon Free Zone (NWFZ) treaties, etc. The said treaties, which neither remotely address the issue of the PRESENT nuclear danger nor adversely affect the interests of the nuclear-weapon powers in any manner whatsoever, are primarily directed at containing any FUTURE nuclear threat that may emanate from the presently non-nuclear-weapon states.

It is amazing that the four permanent (P-4) members of the UN Security Council (other than China that has unilaterally adopted a No-First Use policy against nuclear weapon states and a No Use policy against non-nuclear weapon states) have the temerity to pursue a First Use policy even against non-nuclear weapon states, while clamouring about the threat of nuclear weapon proliferation. It is as though the US, Russia, UK and France have acquired some inherent and “legitimate” right to use nuclear weapons against any nation as they wish, while even a hint of a reciprocal gesture from a nation reeling under the said P-4’s nuclear blackmail is instantly declared an “illegitimate” activity and projected as the gravest global threat. In fact, the 188 signatories to the NPT have implicitly recognised the unbridled “right” of the nuclear weapon powers to use nuclear weapons against the very signatories to that treaty, a home truth, which the supporters of the NPT have always sought to cover up. It is, indeed, incredible that the 183 non-nuclear weapon states, who are signatories to the NPT, have willingly allowed themselves to be subject to a nuclear attack!

It is the misguided peaceniks, who have lent legitimacy to the policy of nuclear blackmail being pursued by the said P-4 nuclear weapon powers by applauding the present NPT, which is not only a blatantly discriminatory treaty but also is the absolute epitome of double standards. If at all there was any doubt about the real character of the NPT, the same has been fully bared at the 2005 NPT Review Conference. There it became amply evident that the legendary Article VI of the NPT (without any time-bound commitment for implementation), on which the entire edifice of the NPT was supposed to have been built, was nothing but a mere carrot at the end of the long stick to lead the peaceniks up the garden path. Yet, the same peaceniks are still clinging on to the discriminatory NPT, hoping against hope that through some kind of miracle the undue faith that they had reposed in the discriminatory NPT would not be belied.

That section of the peace movement, which has allowed itself to be hoodwinked by the false promises dangled by the nuclear-weapon powers, should squarely share the blame for stalling the progress towards reducing and eliminating the CLEAR and PRESENT nuclear danger. What is shocking is that these peaceniks have chosen to remain oblivious of the PRESENT nuclear danger and are intent on concentrating all their energy on containing some FUTURE nuclear threat. If these peaceniks had paid any attention at all to the PRESENT nuclear danger, the very first step they should have initiated would have been to demand from the nuclear weapon powers an undertaking not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states (No-Use pledge) and an undertaking not to use nuclear weapons first (No-First-Use pledge) against nuclear-weapon states.

EARLY HISTORY

It is nothing but unwarranted stubbornness on the part of the US Administration not to give a No-Use pledge, which the USSR had sought in 1948 when the US was still the sole nuclear weapon power. The offer was made as a quid-pro-quo for allowing the US to retain its stockpile of nuclear weapons for the interim period until an international control regime took charge. Not only was USSR’s offer rejected outright but the US and its allies in Europe also decided on April 4, 1949 to form an aggressive military alliance called the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which was clearly directed at the USSR. These developments left the USSR with no option other than to neutralise the nuclear threat, a threat that was primarily directed at them. Documentary evidence has subsequently revealed that the US Administration was all prepared to obliterate the USSR with nuclear weapons through a devious plan called SIOP (Single Integrated Operational Plan) even before the USSR had conducted its first nuclear test on August 29, 1949. It is only the threat of the powerful Red Army invading Europe in the wake of such a nuclear attack, which held back the US leadership from executing the intended plan.

Peeved at the manner in which the USSR had neutralised the nuclear hegemony, the US leadership was intent on regaining the advantage. They wasted no time in ordering the building of Hydrogen bombs, which were thousands of times more powerful than atomic bombs. The US leadership was so appalled by the fact that Dr Robert Oppenheimer, popularly known as the father of the atom bomb and the then chairperson of the US Atomic Energy Commission, had dared to express his opposition to the proposal and he was promptly removed from his post reportedly for harbouring “communist” sympathies! Thus, the onus of launching a full-scale nuclear arms race rests first and foremost with the US leadership. It was left to organisations like the World Committee of Partisans for Peace (consisting of artists, scientists, writers and other intellectuals and later renamed World Peace Council), led by stalwarts such as Prof Juliot Curie, to launch the “Stockholm Appeal” in March 1950 demanding an absolute ban on nuclear weapons. While the “Stockholm Appeal” evoked enthusiastic support from reportedly about 500 million peace loving people across the world, that was seemingly not sufficient enough to curtail the nuclear arms race that had already been set in motion.

An integral part of the nuclear arms race was the periodic testing of nuclear weapons of various intensities in the atmosphere, underwater and underground. It did not take long before the world began to realise the high risks involved in spewing radioactive particles from the ongoing nuclear tests especially into the atmosphere and underwater. The US carried out its first hydrogen bomb test on November 01, 1952. (The USSR followed suit on November 22,1955. Britain conducted its first atomic test on October 03, 1953.) The growing menace of radioactive fallout from nuclear tests was exemplified by the 15-megaton atmospheric test conducted by the US on March 01, 1954 at Bikini Atoll. The widespread revulsion that the Bikini Test had evoked also contributed to revitalising the peace movement.

Utterly disgusted with the mindless nuclear weapon testing programme, prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru became the first head of government to give a clarion call in the Indian parliament on April 02, 1954 for an immediate standstill agreement on nuclear weapon testing. While the USSR immediately responded to Nehru’s call with a similar proposal, the US chose to remain completely indifferent. Instead, the US leadership simultaneously began to focus their attention on developing delivery systems such as Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) systems to supplement their long-range bombers, whose maximum range for delivering nuclear weapons was relatively limited.  Thus, began the third phase of the nuclear arms race.

Development of missile technology had actually commenced soon after World War II.  Moreover, in 1952 the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) had decided to establish 01.07.1957 to 31.12.1958, as the International Geophysical Year (IGY). In October 1954, the ICSU further adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY to map the Earth’s surface. By then it had also become evident that the booster rockets that were necessary for launching satellites could also launch long-range missiles. Meanwhile, the movement against nuclear weapons began to gather momentum. In 1955, the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (GENSUIKYO) was set up. Following the Russell-Einstein Appeal of 1955, the Pugwash movement of scientists was founded in 1957. The National Committee for A Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE) was established in the US the same year. Soon after Britain had carried out its first hydrogen bomb test on November 8, 1957, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) came into existence in Britain.

‘SHOCK OF THE CENTURY’

On October 4, 1957, the world was pleasantly surprised when the USSR launched the first communication satellite named “Sputnik” that orbited the Earth; the regular radio signals that emitted from “Sputnik” was more than proof that it was up in space. On the presumption that the USSR was incapable of any such feat, the West had largely ignored the USSR’s announcement on August 27, 1957 that it had successfully launched an ICBM. The launching of the “Sputnik” had stunned the NATO leadership; some journalists described it as “the shock of the century!”. It became very much evident that the USSR, thereby, had overtaken the US in the area of scientific and technological development. The launching of “Sputnik II” on November 3, 1957 with a dog on board only compounded the agony of the NATO leadership.

The peace dividend from the successful “Sputnik” launches was almost immediate. For the first time the US and Britain agreed to the USSR’s proposal for a moratorium on nuclear weapon testing, a proposal which the USSR had renewed at the end of March 1958. The moratorium actually took effect from October 31, 1958. The powerful worldwide campaign against nuclear weapon testing was an equally important factor that led to the moratorium. The developments that took place in the UN General Assembly during the moratorium were just as significant. Two major plans for General and Complete Disarmament were submitted before the Assembly in 1959: one by Britain and the other by the USSR. It was said that both the plans were not too dissimilar. Both plans sought to abolish the ability of all states to wage war and reduce all military forces and armaments to the requirement of internal security. In the debate that followed in the Assembly’s Political and Security Committee, many proposals and suggestions were discussed virtually without acrimony or mutual recrimination. Finally, on November 20, 1959, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted and without a formal vote the first resolution ever to be sponsored by all member nations. The resolution stated that it was “striving to put an end completely and forever to the armaments race,” and stated that “the question of general and complete disarmament is the most important one facing the world today.” The resolution was transmitted to the Disarmament Commission and to the 10-Nation Disarmament Committee. However, after the Paris summit meeting between leaders of France, the USSR, the UK and the US, that was scheduled to take place in early May 1960, was sabotaged by the infamous U-2 incident, relations between the USSR and the US greatly deteriorated. The work of the 10-Nation Disarmament Committee, thereby, remained disrupted.

Yuri Gagarin’s path-breaking space voyage on Vostok I on Aprl 12, 1961 was yet another milestone for Soviet science. The envious US leadership’s response to Gagarin’s historic voyage was to launch a pathetic CIA-sponsored counter-revolutionary attack on Cuba on April 17, 1961 with a squad of 1500 Cuban exiles, which was crushed by the Cuban forces in no time. The then US president, John F Kennedy, who had just assumed office, was elected to his post largely due to his ability to exploit fears of an alleged Soviet strategic superiority, which was dubbed as the “missile gap.” Since that myth was perpetrated by the Kennedy administration to justify a massive military build-up, the USSR had real cause for concern.

No More Hiroshimas! No More Nagasakis!

No More Hibakushas!

(To be continued)