Tag: nuclear weapons

From Star Wars to weaponized drones

Posted on by kathiemm

In the midst of the Cold War nuclear arms race in 1983, President Ronald Reagan proposed a Strategic Defense Initiative aimed at mounting defensive weapons in space to shield the United States from a Soviet nuclear attack.

Map of the fictional Stars Wars galaxy
Map of the fictional Stars Wars galaxy by W.R. van Hage. Used under CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Perhaps in part because of Reagan’s own publicly-stated conviction that Armageddon, as predicted in the Bible, was at hand, the proposed initiative raised anxiety levels around the world and was promptly labeled “Star Wars.”

Some of these anxieties were relieved by the signing of the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) by the U.S. and U.S.S.R. in 1991 and the subsequent Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty with Russia in 2001, requiring reductions in nuclear weapons in both countries.

Despite the fact that the sanity of the nuclear arms race was challenged around the world, technological junkies and arms manufacturers have been busy on another Star Wars adventure. This time, it’s developing weaponized drones (euphemistically called unmanned aerial vehicles). [In our next post we will consider Autonomous Weapons Systems (AWS).]

Nuclear weapons were terrifying in part because they were likely not only to vanquish any “enemies” almost immediately but also to leave in their wake destruction and contamination that could destroy life on earth. In contrast, weaponized drones and other modern “miracle” weapons are touted for their ability to zero in on individual bad guys.  What could be more precise? More humane?  More just?

Our own President has said that their use will be guided by just and moral principles but national and international anxiety is once again high.  A recent study indicates that drones have killed more civilians than manned aircraft in Afghanistan.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Reaching for reconciliation, Part 1

Posted on by kathiemm

December 7, 1941, August 6, 1945. August 9, 1945.

Burning ships at Pearl Harbor
Burning ships at Pearl Harbor. Image in public domain

How should these days be remembered? Only for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the American atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? As days that must live in infamy? As just another set of dates and names in a violent world history?

Or can we view them as signposts at the end of an old wrecked highway that has given way to a newer path, one that was carefully constructed to avoid siren calls for punitive justice, one that leads instead towards reconciliation?

Today we begin a two-part series on reconciliation by Tomoko Maekawa of Nagasaki University, who provides a personal story from the 67th  anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki.

By guest author Tomoko Maekawa

During the excitement of the Olympics in London in August 2012, other moving scenes were observed quietly in Nagasaki, Japan. Clifton Truman Daniel and Ali Mayer Beazer, grandsons of men who were directly involved in the bombing, participated in the memorial ceremony.

Clifton Truman Daniel, 55, is a grandson of the late U.S. President Harry Truman, who ordered the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Ali Mayer Beazer, 24, is a grandson of the radar man, Jacob Beazer, who boarded both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombers and probably decided when to drop the bombs. I personally talked with him when an NBC TV reporter asked me to act as interpreter.

On August 8th, Ali watched an old documentary made by the broadcasting company 27 years ago to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the bombing. The documentary contains interviews with three men — Thomas Ferby, a bomber on the Hiroshima flight; Calmat Behan, a bomber on the Nagasaki flight; and Ali’s grandfather Jacob Beazer, the radar man for both flights.

In interviews at the ceremony, both of these grandsons expressed a commitment to fighting against nuclear weapons.

Tomoko Maekawa, with edits by Kathie Malley-Morrison

Weapons of war: rape

Posted on by kathiemm

All weapons of war are weapons of destruction and pain. Previous posts have reminded readers of the pervasive lethal effects of, for example, nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, and landmines.

Another violent and devastating tactic recognized by the United Nations Security Council as a weapon of war is rape.

In its resolution calling for an end to sexual violence against women, the Security Council said, “Women and girls are particularly targeted by the use of sexual violence, including as a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instill fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group.”

A recent report from the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights focused on the horrendously high rates of rape by warring groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and the Dafur region of Sudan.

Unfortunately, we must add to the list of wartime horrors the rape of U.S. servicewomen by U.S. servicemen. Watch the video above; you will not easily forget.

And for a horrifying example of moral disengagement in regard to the rape of women in the U.S. military, watch Liz Trotta of Fox News blame the victims.

If you watch these and other videos, you will want to do something. Stop Rape Now, the U.N. Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict agency, provides several suggestions, including the simple action of crossing your arms. Learn what you can do to stop this weapon of war.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

News about nukes

Posted on by kathiemm

There is bad news, scary news, and good news about reducing the threat of nuclear war.

The bad news, belated though it may be, is that the world came very close to Armageddon in 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis. To learn more about what could have been an apocalypse, read Noam Chomsky’s article in the UK Guardian and watch this video.

If nuclear war had not been averted 50 years ago, you might not be here today.

The scary news is that there are over 10,000 nuclear warheads in the world, that nine countries have tested nuclear weapons, and that nuclear weapons proliferation continues despite the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The video above provides a dramatic visual reminder of the dangerous spreading of nuclear weapons around the world and the devastation they can produce.

The good news is that efforts continue to reduce the risk of nuclear war and move towards disarmament.

The United Nations has declared October 24-October 30 to be International Disarmament Week . This is a good week to start taking action.

Join the millions of people who have protested against nuclear armaments in the decades since the U.S. became the first and only nation to drop atomic bombs on a civilian population.

To “arm” yourself with the facts of the nuclear arms race and the counter-force for disarmament, invest 18 minutes of your time in watching an excellent video.

And while you are at it, please invest in EngagingPeace.com. Just click on the Donate button on the right. A one-time donation or monthly or weekly donation of as little as $10 is another way you can work for peace by supporting our educational efforts. Thank you!

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology