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WORD COUNT
611
MARCH 28, 2007
HOOKED ON WEAPONS:
UNFORTUNATELY IT’S US – by Bryan Farrell
Vice President Dick
Cheney has said it would be “a serious mistake if a nation such as Iran
were allowed to become a nuclear power.” He did not enumerate the
reasons, but a logical person would assume it has something to do with
keeping a doomsday-rendering weapon from the hands of a vengeful and
irrational government.
Of course, had Cheney
used those words, the hypocrite alarm would have sounded. Not only has
the United States pursued an overhaul of its own nuclear weapons program
in recent years, but since the invasion of Iraq, polls from around the
world have shown our country to be the biggest perceived threat to
peace.
Cheney also failed to
mention that the president of Iran, just days earlier, said his country
was willing to abandon its uranium enrichment program, as long as
Western nations did the same. Such a move would actually have the
public’s support. In 2005, the Associated Press reported that 66 percent
of Americans believe no country should possess nuclear weapons.
Yet, our government’s
defense experts ignore this opinion and cling to the Cold War theory,
claiming the nuclear standoff created a fear of mutual destruction that
actually prevented war.
How that applies in
today’s world is far from clear.
Nuclear weapons are
the great equalizer. They make weaker nations just as strong as the
United States; therefore, having them at all–-be they within our borders
or with an overseas ally—opens a slew of world-ending possibilities.
From accidents and miscommunication to terrorist takeover, nuclear
weapons pose a threat to the United States like no other.
Given our position in
the world, it would be to our advantage---and by extension to the
advantage of every other inhabitant of this planet—that we lead the way
toward disarmament.
However, if our
reaction to recent international bans on even conventional weapons is
any indication, such a movement is far off. Forty-six countries agreed
to abandon the use of cluster bombs at a conference in Norway last
month, but the United States joined Israel, Russia, and China in
snubbing the event. While all four countries are major arms dealers, the
rebuke was particularly resonant given Israel’s disputed use of
U.S.-supplied cluster bombs in last year’s war with Lebanon.
The United Nations’
humanitarian chief described Israel’s deployment of these weapons as
“completely immoral,” considering that the 98 percent of casualties are
to non-combatant civilians. Current estimates also suggest 1 million
unexploded bomblets are scattered throughout southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the U.S.
State Department has taken the position that “these munitions do have a
place and use in military inventories,” which is not surprising
considering we are also the world’s largest supplier of small arms. Last
year we provided nearly half of the weapons sold to militaries in the
developing world, many to unstable regions already engaged in conflict.
These low-tech
weapons are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths over the
last decade, including the genocide in Rwanda. But when the U.N. member
states met in November to curb the trade of guns and other light
weapons, the United States was the only country to vote against the
historic measure.
When compared to the
so-called “axis of evil,” our deeds of violence are no less horrific.
Worse yet is our denial and inability to seize the role of international
peacemaker.
There’s little doubt
President Dwight Eisenhower’s prophesies of the “military industrial
complex” and “the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power”
have become a reality. Let’s hope Ike is right about one other thing he
said: “People want peace so much that one of these days, government had
better get out of their way and let them have it.”
--
Bryan Farrell is a
researcher for “Rolling Stone” and writes on international affairs for
many publications, including “The Nation.” A photo of Bryan Farrell is
available CLICK HERE
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