[CPEO-MEF] De-alerting-U.S. Campaign/AP story

[marylia@earthlink.net]

Dear peace and enviro advocates:

In case you haven't seen it yet, here is the Associated Press story on the
debut of the "Back From the Brink" Campaign to Take Nuclear Weapons Off
Alert. If you wish to participate by showing the new (free!) video or by
getting and using the (free!) organizer's packet -- or both -- just let the
campaign know via email or by calling us at 1-877-55-BeSafe.  Read on...

ALLIANCE DEMANDS NUCLEAR STAND DOWN
Associated Press National Wire
December 9, 1999
by David Briscoe

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Worried that the world could be blasted into a nuclear
disaster within minutes, a new alliance is trying to persuade the U.S.
government to take 5,000 nuclear weapons off ``hair-trigger alert'' to
prompt a similar step by Moscow.

``Many of our citizens believe we already have done this,'' said Bruce
Blair, a nuclear control expert who joined politicians, former military
control officers and other antinuclear experts to announce a campaign
Thursday to get U.S. nuclear weapons off alert status.

Despite a 1994 pact by President Clinton and Russian President Boris
Yeltsin not to aim nuclear missiles at each other's cities, 5,000 warheads
on each side ``remain loaded for wartime targets that can be activated in
seconds,'' Blair said. A launch order would take only about 2 minutes to
execute, he said.

The alliance is taking no position on a proposed national missile defense
system, focusing instead on trying to prevent accidental or unauthorized
launch from Russia or a U.S. launch facilitated by a dangerously mechanized
system.

The campaign, dubbed ``Back from the Brink,'' includes a Web site --
www.dealert.org -- a video describing a near-launch of Russian missiles in
1995, and grassroots organizing to expose the issue and try to inject it
into the 2000 presidential campaign.

Blair, a former Air Force missile control officer and now a defense analyst
at Brookings Institution, proposed that President Clinton unilaterally
de-alert all U.S. missiles, including those aboard submarines that are on
15-minute notice to fire.

Then, Clinton and Yeltsin could work out a full-scale de-alerting of all
nuclear missiles with a verification regime and guarantees from China,
Britain and France to follow suit, Blair suggested.

Despite the end of the Cold War and progress in disarmament, ``we're still
allowing ourselves 15 to 20 minutes to determine whether or not the planet
Earth will be extinct,'' said former Democratic Sen. Dale Bumpers of
Arkansas, an alliance leader.

``It's like walking along a cliff performing for your girlfriend and
saying, 'Look how close I can get to the edge and not fall off,''' Bumpers
said.

The alliance also includes Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and representatives
of several antinuclear, peace and human rights groups.

end

P.S. Please note that many of the groups involved in the Back From the
Brink Campaign have a position on BMD. --MK

end

Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA USA 94550

<http://www.igc.org/tvc/> - is our web site, please visit us there!

(925) 443-7148 - is our phone
(925) 443-0177 - is our fax

Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley
CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear
Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the
international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of nuclear
weapons.




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