No need for the nukes

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has given the people of the world a wake-up call by moving the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight, at two minutes, closer than it has been since World War II. The decision was primarily based on the danger of a global nuclear apocalypse either by intent or miscalculation.

The scientists (including 15 Nobel Prize winners) cite global tensions arisen during the last year including saber-rattling between the U.S. and North Korea threatening nuclear war, the U.S. and Russian standoff, and U.S. threats to withdraw from the Iran deal.

In his State of the Union speech, the president mentioned his plan to spend $1.2 trillion to modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal, which will make the weapons more usable and will trigger a new nuclear arms race with Russia and China.

One hundred and twenty-two non-nuclear countries have different plans.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) argues that humans should not have to live under the threat of annihilation by the nine nuclear nations who claim they need them for deterrence. They have drawn up a treaty to ban these horrific weapons entirely. It outlines specific steps in the process to ensure all countries are living up to their agreements.

Beatrice Fihn, executive director of ICAN, wrote, “It is time to step off the tightrope of nuclear annihilation” and destroy the most destructive weapons ever invented.

Let’s rebuild our country—not nuclear bombs! JEAN T. GORDON Little Rock