Tag Archives: nuclear arms

Rising Concerns About Nuclear War as Trump Prepares to Loosen Constraints on Weapons

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“We are flirting with unacceptably high risks that carry catastrophic consequences for the country and the world. No one can afford to not take Trump’s threats seriously.”

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for CommonDreams. Published 1-10-2018

Photo: YouTube

Advocates of nuclear disarmament are raising alarms about reports that the Trump administration is planning to loosen constraints on the U.S. nuclear weapons program, warning that the Pentagon’s forthcoming plan “makes nuclear war more likely.”

Jon Wolfsthal, an official who worked on arms control in the Obama administration and has reviewed what he believes is the final version of the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), told the Guardian the Pentagon’s new review includes plans to develop more nuclear weapons and expand “the circumstances in which the U.S. might use its nuclear arsenal, to include a response to a non-nuclear attack that caused mass casualties, or was aimed at critical infrastructure or nuclear command and control sites.” Continue reading →

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Trump National Security Strategy Could ‘Create More Pathways to Nuclear War,’ Critics Warn

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White House’s newly unveiled National Security Strategy lays bare the president’s “obsession with nuclear weapons,” an anti-nuke group warned

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for CommonDreams. Published 12-19-2017

Given Trump’s expressed affinity for America’s nuclear arsenal, it is not entirely surprising that his administration’s security strategy would place it at the center of attention. (Photo: Devin/Flickr/cc)

Viewed by critics as further evidence that President Donald Trump is “obsessed with nuclear weapons and creating the conditions for nuclear war,” the White House’s newly unveiled National Security Strategy (NSS) lionizes America’s nukes as the “foundation” of its security policy and suggests they could be deployed even in the case of non-nuclear threats.

“Nuclear weapons have served a vital purpose in America’s National Security Strategy for the past 70 years,” states Trump’s NSS document (pdf), made public on Monday. “While nuclear deterrence strategies cannot prevent all conflict, they are essential to prevent nuclear attack, non-nuclear strategic attacks, and large-scale conventional aggression.” Continue reading →

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As Trump Spikes Fear of Nuclear War, Hawaii to Bring Back Cold War Air Raid Sirens

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“As we track the news and see tests, both missile launches and nuclear tests, it’s the elephant in the room.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for CommonDreams. Published 11-27-2017

Hawaiian officials will begin using an alarm system on Friday to prepare residents for a potential nuclear attack. Community meetings have also been held to let Hawaiians know what to do in the event of an attack by North Korea. (Photo: @USAToday/Twitter)

With President Donald Trump showing little interest in sitting down at the negotiating table with North Korea—regarded by many in the U.S. and around the world as the best method for deterring nuclear development by Kim Jong-un’s government—Hawaiian officials are being forced to take precautions to make sure residents know what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.

At the beginning of next month, the state will begin testing the missile warning system it used during World War II and last tested during the Cold War. Continue reading →

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Fears of Radiation Leak Soar After North Korea Nuclear Site Collapse Kills 200

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The disaster is believed to have resulted from Pyongyang’s hydrogen bomb test, which sparked earthquakes and landslides

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for CommonDreams. Published 10-31-2017

Initially, a tunnel collapsed on 100 workers, and an additional 100 went in to rescue them, only to die themselves under the unstable mountain,” Business Insider reports. (Photo: TV Asahi/Screengrab)

Experts are issuing urgent warnings of a possible radiation leak following the collapse of a tunnel at North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site, an accident that reportedly killed at least 200 people.

“Should [the Punggye-ri site] sink, there is a possibility” that hazardous radioactive gas could be released into the atmosphere, warned South Korea weather agency chief Nam Jae-cheol during a parliamentary meeting on Monday, ahead of reports of the incident. Continue reading →

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Atomic Scientists: North Korea’s Nuclear Missile Claims Are a Hoax

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By James Holbrooks Published 8-14-2017 by The Anti-Media

Photo: YouTube

 

President Donald Trump continued his blustery North Korea rhetoric on Friday, tweeting that the U.S. military was “locked and loaded” and later telling reporters that Kim Jong-un had better not make any “overt threats” against the United States.

“This man will not get away with what he is doing,” Trump told reporters from his golf club in New Jersey, adding that if Kim makes a move against the U.S. or its allies “he will truly regret it and he will regret it fast.” Continue reading →

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Warnings of ‘Nuclear Nightmare’ as Trump Escalates Tensions With World Powers

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“We need to step up sustained diplomacy. Firing off a bunch of missiles does nothing to address the crisis. We need negotiation, not posturing.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-31-2017

“In response to North Korea’s second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test late last week, the U.S. on Sunday carried out what the Washington Post called a “show of force” by flying two B-1 bombers over the Korean Peninsula.” Photo: YouTube

As President Donald Trump foments tensions with world powers by behaving recklessly and pursuing aggressive action over diplomacy, developments in several major nations over the weekend sparked urgent concerns among peace groups, activists, and analysts that the world’s largest militaries are inching dangerously close to war.

In response to North Korea’s second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test late last week, the U.S. on Sunday carried out what the Washington Post called a “show of force” by flying two B-1 bombers over the Korean Peninsula. The Post noted that the move is “a sign that tensions are spiraling upward rapidly.”  Continue reading →

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US Admiral Says He’s Ready to Launch Nuclear Strike Against China: What You Need to Know

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By James Holbrooks. Published 7-28-2017 by The Anti-Media

China’s V-Day Military Parade 2015 in Beijing. Photo: YouTube

A day after the director of the CIA called China the greatest threat to the United States — and right as China began live-fire naval drills off the Korean Peninsula — an admiral of the U.S. military said Thursday that he would be willing to launch a nuclear strike against China.

“The answer would be: yes,” Admiral Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, answered at a security conference in Australia when asked whether he would nuke China if ordered to do by President Donald Trump. Continue reading →

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US a No-Show as Historic Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty Adopted

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History was just made, but nuclear-armed states stand on the wrong side of it.

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-7-2017

“The ban treaty is the start of a new worldwide movement that gives the United States an opportunity to break from its self-destructive nuclear weapons policy,” said Jeff Carter, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility. (Photo: Lamerie/flickr/cc)

The United States has joined a small group of global outliers on Friday after a historic United Nations treaty to ban nuclear weapons was adopted by a majority of the world’s nations.

“The adoption of the nuclear weapons ban treaty marks an historic turning point in the centuries-old battle to eliminate all weapons of mass destruction,” said Jeff Carter, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Continue reading →

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Amid Rising Tensions, General Warns US Still Technically at War with North Korea

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By James Holbrooks. Punlished 7-5=2017 by The Anti-Media

Korean Peninsula — As Americans grilled burgers and watched fireworks in celebration of the Fourth of July on Tuesday, North Korea defiantly test-launched its first successful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Analysts say the missile flew higher and farther than any had before and could more than likely have reached Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

Reporting on the launch on Wednesday, North Korea’s state-run media wrote that Kim Jong-un was “feasting his eyes” on the ICBM during the test and that “with a broad smile on his smile,” the leader encouraged his scientists to “frequently send big and small ‘gift packages’ to the Yankees.”

The same report suggested North Korea is already capable of attaching a large nuclear warhead to its ICBM, a claim analysts almost universally consider unfounded. In a separate article published Wednesday, Kim Jong-un also vowed he would never put his country’s nuclear weapons program on the negotiating table. Continue reading →

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8 Things Congress Has Done While Everyone was Distracted by Trump

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By . Published 2-14-2017 by The Anti-Media

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

While we were distracted by the onslaught of executive orders President Trump pushed through during his first two weeks in office, legislators in Congress were busy quietly introducing legislation to bolster his top-down moves.

Here’s what you missed:

1. A House Panel Voted to Terminate the Election Assistance Commission

The House Administration Committee voted 6-3 in favor Republican Congressman Gregg Harper’s bill to terminate the Election Assistance Commission. The EAC, which was created in response to the contentious 2000 Florida election results as part of the Help America Vote Act, is a bipartisan commission that certifies voting machines and is responsible for making sure they cannot be hacked. Continue reading →

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