The following announcement, article and book reviews appeared in the Sacramento Areae Peace Action page of the July-August, 2009 Because People Matter
Visions of a Nuclear Weapons-Free World
August 6 and 9 are the 64th anniversaries of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States, the only nation to have actually used nuclear weapons in a war. Will President Obama deliver "change" in US nuclear weapons policy?
On April 1, standing next to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, President Obama made the stunning statement that he and Medvedev had "committed our two countries to achieving a nuclear-free world." Was he being pragmatic or pessimistic when he added "this goal will not be reached quickly—perhaps not in my lifetime"?
In Prague on April 5, the President said all nations must work towards the goal of abolishing nuclear weapons, and the US has the moral responsibility to lead because it is the only country that has used nuclear weapons. This is a welcome change from previous US policy, and has support from, among others, prominent Republicans such as former Secretaries of State George P. Shultz and Henry Kissinger, and prominent Democrats such as former Defense Secretary William Perry and former Senator Sam Nunn.
The President spoke about "aggressively" pursuing the ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), replacing the soon-to-expire Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between Russia and the US with a treaty with additional reductions, and pursuing a new Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), a treaty to halt the production of materials used in nuclear weapons.
This is heartening news for long-time advocates of nuclear disarmament, especially Abolition 2000, a movement to abolish the weapons by the year 2000 that gained momentum in the 1990’s (
www.abolition2000.org). The movement ran up against a wall of established interests and has reset its goal to 2020.In addition to opposition from conservatives in Congress, however, other nations may resist a treaty for a weapons-free world if the US doesn’t concurrently reduce its conventional military power. At a conference in mid-April, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev welcomed President Obama’s call for the abolition of nuclear weapons, but referred to the huge US defense budget as an "insurmountable obstacle" (Charles J. Hanley, Associated Press, Apr. 16).
It appears that President Obama’s first step will be to send the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to the Senate for ratification. (When President Clinton tried in 1999, the Senate vote was 51-48, but a treaty requires 67 votes, a 2/3 majority.)
Vice-President Joe Biden is the point man on this measure, with much experience in foreign affairs and a major role in herding the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty to successful passage.
Peace Action is part of an international coalition pressing for a commitment to negotiate an abolition treaty as part of review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty next year.
Taking a Look at Islam
Reading suggestions for understanding
By Brigitte Jaensch
Although one in five persons on earth identifies as Muslim and Islam is second only to Christianity in the number of adherents worldwide, it’s a religion about which most of us don’t know much. If you’d like to know a little more, here are some reading suggestions.
What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam
,John L. Esposito, Oxford University Press, 2002, 204 pages.
Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think
, John L. Esposito and Dalia Magahed, Gallop Poll, 2007, 204 pages. Between 2001 and 2007, Gallup World interviewed tens of thousands of Muslims in 35 predominantly Muslim nations. This book summarizes some of the findings in five easy-to-read chapters that cover who Muslims are, if they favor democracy or theocracy, what makes a radical, what Muslim women want and how Islam can clash and coexist with other religions.
Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism
, Robert A, Pape, Random House, 2005, 352 pages. Among the commonly expounded myths is that Islam does not value life. But after studying every suicide bombing which occurred between 1983 and 2003, University of Chicago’s Professor Robert Pape discovered that suicide bombing campaigns are primarily nationalistic, not primarily religious. The goal is to end foreign military occupation.
Per Professor Pape, "What creates the coercive leverage is not so much actual damage as the expectation of future damage." It’s "an extreme strategy for national liberation" resorted to only by groups with no conventional or guerrilla military option. And as for the individuals who agree to become suicide bombers, they "see themselves as sacrificing their lives for the nation’s good. ... Typically ...[they] have better than average economic prospects..., are deeply integrated into social networks and emotionally attached to their national communities."
Places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine have practiced Islam for more than 1,400 years; suicide bombing was unheard of until they were under foreign military occupation.
A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman’s Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide,
Mark D. Siljander, Harper One, 2008, 222 pages. Former Congressman Siljander recounts his conversion from Muslim-bashing evangelical Christian to Muslim-embracing "follower of Jesus," who for the past couple of decades has been trying to get everybody to get along. He’s trying to do this by "clarify[ing] long-standing Biblical misinterpretations" and thereby revealing the agreement between the Bible and the Quran. One can definitely disagree with Siljander’s premise and his approach, but his efforts are sincere and his journey is interesting; where he goes, the challenges put in his path and the people with whom he meets.
Comments