Page 12
October 17, 2018
O PINION
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Don’t Arm This President with These Nukes
Learning from the
lessons of the past
o livia a lperstein
Last month the
global
community
celebrated
Interna-
tional Day for the
Total Elimination of
Nuclear
Weapons,
a day designated by
the United Nations to
draw attention to one of its oldest goals:
achieving global nuclear disarmament.
By unhappy coincidence, Sept. 26 was
also the day President Donald Trump ad-
dressed the UN Security Council, and to-
tal nuclear disarmament wasn’t exactly
high on his agenda. As expected, he wants
North Korea to fully abandon its arsenal
(and Iran, though it doesn’t have one) —
without the United States reducing its own
in return.
Trump’s aggressive, bullying rheto-
ric was on full display throughout his re-
marks when he addressed the UN General
Assembly the previous day. (He did dial
it back a bit from last year’s UN address,
when he said the United States would “to-
tally destroy” North Korea and referred to
Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man,” but maybe
that’s a low bar.)
Trump has made it abundantly clear that
he’s not committed to nuclear disarma-
ment. Like other presidents before him, he
has the power to unilaterally order a first
nuclear strike. Rather unlike others, he’s
previously asked, if we have nuclear weap-
by
ons, why can’t we use them?
But Congress has the power to act to
avert a nuclear catastrophe. In fact, a few
champions in Congress have recently tak-
en critical steps to prevent the outbreak of
nuclear war.
On Sept. 18, Representatives Ted Lieu,
war and increase the risk that they may ac-
tually be used.
“There’s no such thing as a low-yield
nuclear war,” said Lieu in the joint press re-
lease announcing the bill. “Use of any nu-
clear weapon, regardless of its killing pow-
er, could be catastrophically destabilizing.
war.
If Petrov hadn’t made that judgment, we
might not even be here to advocate for a
world free of nuclear weapons.
Let’s take the lessons we’ve learned
from the past and use them to create a
healthier, safer future for young people and
Trump has made it abundantly clear that
he’s not committed to nuclear disarmament.
Like other presidents before him, he has the
power to unilaterally order a first nuclear
strike. Rather unlike others, he’s previously
asked, if we have nuclear weapons, why can’t
we use them?
Adam Smith, John Garamendi, Earl Blu-
menauer, and Sen. Ed Markey introduced a
bill called the “Hold the LYNE Act,” which
stands for Low-Yield Nuclear Explosive. It
would “prohibit the research, development,
production, and deployment of low-yield
nuclear warheads for submarine-launched
ballistic missiles.”
So-called “low-yield” nuclear weapons
actually lower the threshold for nuclear
It opens the door for severe miscalculation
and could drag the U.S. and our allies into
a devastating nuclear conflict.”
We’ve come very close to nuclear war in
the past. On Sept. 26, 1983, Soviet military
officer Stanislav Petrov made a split-sec-
ond decision and deemed a supposed mis-
sile attack from the United States to be
an error, refusing to carry out an order to
counterattack and thus averting a nuclear
future generations, so they won’t have to
worry about the looming threat of nuclear
war.
The president of the United States may
not have marked the International Day for
the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
The rest of us still can.
Olivia Alperstein is the media relations
manager for Physicians for Social Respon-
sibility. Distributed by OtherWords.org.
Setting the Example for Children to Emulate
We cannot
depend on
anyone else
M arian W right e DelMan
As parents and
grandparents
once
again struggle to de-
termine how to ex-
plain to their children
current headlines of
moral indecency at the
highest levels, adults
everywhere are reminded that we
must all continue to strive to be
the examples of what we want our
children to emulate. We cannot
depend on anyone else.
I believe the Old Testament
prophets, the Gospels, the Ko-
ran—indeed all great faiths—his-
tory, moral decency and common
sense beckon us anew to examine
as individuals and as a people what
we are to live by and teach our
children by precept and example. I
urge adults in America of all races,
by
faiths and political persuasions to
make a difference by teaching our
children to love themselves and
others as God loves us. We must
teach our children at every age
how we expect them to treat them-
selves and others respectfully and
fairly and then struggle to
model that behavior daily
no matter what people in
power, public figures or
role models are doing or
how often we fail to meet
our own standards, get up
and try again.
To our children, I hope they will
make a difference as they grow by
being courageous, aiming high,
and holding on to ideals of mutual
respect; by caring and serving; by
being honest and telling the truth;
by persevering and not giving up
no matter how difficult the chal-
lenge; by being determined and
resourceful; by being grateful for
the gift and wonders of life; by
working together with others; by
being compassionate and kind; by
being nonviolent and working for
Lord, You told us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
The world says, “Blessed are those high on spirits.”
You said, “Blessed are those who mourn.”
The world says, “Blessed are those who maim and torture.”
You said, “Blessed are the meek.”
The world says, “Blessed are the arrogant and the strong.”
You said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
The world says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for fleeting power and fame.”
You said, “Blessed are the merciful.”
The world says, “Blessed are the mercenary and punitive.”
You said, “Blessed are the pure in heart.”
The world says, “Blessed are the hard of heart.”
You said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
The world says, “Blessed are the weaponmakers.”
You said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”
The world says, “Blessed are those who persecute for the sake of riches and race.”
You said, “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil about
you falsely on my account.”
The world says, “Blessed are you when people applaud and praise you for your own sake.”
Help us, Lord, to find our way to you.
justice and peace in their commu-
nities, nation, and world; and by
being faithful and struggling for
what they believe.
It is so important for adults not
to let ourselves off the hook or to
become apathetic or cynical by
telling ourselves that nothing we
do can make a difference. Every
day, light your small candle. It just
might be the one that sparks the
movement to save our children’s
and our nation’s future.
And help our Congress, citi-
zens and all our leaders across
every political ideology heed
your call for a more decent and
just America for our precious
girls and women as well as our
boys and men who are all sacred
in your sight.
Marian Wright Edelman is
president of the Children’s De-
fense Fund.