Halt nuke program

In 2017, the University of Arkansas entered into a contract with Honeywell International, a company involved in manufacturing nuclear weapons. A group of us are opposing this and the following is why.

Despite widespread misunderstanding, nuclear war is the gravest issue facing our species, tied with environmental destruction. These are the two issues that could cause our extinction in the near future. Also, nuclear war is far more possible than most comprehend, with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists recently setting the Doomsday Clock at 100 seconds to midnight. This is the closest it has ever been set since its inception after World War II.

A great book, “The Doomsday Machine,” by famous whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg, details his experiences as a nuclear war planner. He highlights how many falsely believe the president alone can launch nuclear war. In reality, the authority to start nuclear war is delegated to many lower-level commanders, and nuclear war can be started by false alarms, unauthorized attacks and accidents.

Also, far too few understand the dangers of nuclear winter. A full-scale thermonuclear war would cause ferocious firestorms in the bombed cities, sending massive amounts of smoke into the upper atmosphere, blocking out sunlight and lowering temperatures worldwide for a decade or more. Within a year or two, this would destroy nearly all plant life, and the humans and other animals that require plants for food. Too many rationalize these dangers, but as Ellsberg writes, “No policies in human history have more deserved to be recognized as immoral. Or insane.”

This grave danger motivates our campaign to stop the UA program. We hope you will join us in working to protect our grandchildren and planet from nuclear madness. Bought and owned politicians are not going to save us. We must save ourselves.

ABEL TOMLINSON

Fayetteville