Robert Jensen
School of Journalism
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78712
work: (512) 471-1990
fax: (512) 471-7979
rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu
copyright Robert Jensen 2005
Austin American-Statesman,
August 6, 2005.
by Robert Jensen,
Last month, the University of Texas and Lockheed Martin submitted
a bid to
manage the nation's Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab.
Today — the anniversary of the moment in 1945 when the United
States first
created a nuclear hell on earth in the city of Hiroshima — is an
appropriate
day to ponder the implications of that proposal.
Much of the public discussion of the bid obfuscates the project's
reality. UT
Chancellor Mark Yudolf talks of the "world-class scientific and
technological
expertise" behind the bid. Lockheed official C. Paul Robinson
extols the
virtues of "a superb leadership team" that can manage "the world's
premier
science laboratory."
Science is good, as is technological expertise. Leadership is
essential. All of
this contributes to the nation's defense, right? What could be the
problem?
Simple: All those goods are being applied to perpetuating evil.
Contemporary politicians and pundits these days talk easily in
terms of good
<>and evil. So, let's be honest: Nuclear weapons are evil. They are
weapons even more
indiscriminate than other horrific killing devices created by
modern humans.
They are terrorist weapons that threaten civilians for political
purposes.
Whether used by "civilized" nations that have their own stockpiles
or by
<>"rogue" groups that might acquire a bomb, the use or threatened use
of nuclear weapons
is terrorism.
International law acknowledges the fundamental illegitimacy of
nuclear weapons
in the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which was signed by the United
States. But
since the treaty went into effect in 1970, the United States (and
the other
nuclear powers) has been in open violation of Article VI: "Each of
the parties
to the treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on
effective
measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an
early date and to
nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete
disarmament under
strict and effective international control."
Has the United States — the nuclear giant of the world, and hence
the nation in
the strongest position to take a leadership role — acted in "good
faith" to
eliminate its own nuclear weapons and encourage others to do the
same? Do our
nation's actions indicate any intention to honor its provisions?
Sadly, the answer is no. Instead, the United States seems bent on
creating, and
threatening the use of, nuclear weapons. Continuing work on a
"Robust Nuclear
Earth Penetrator" — the so-called "bunker buster" — indicates U.S.
intentions
to pursue new nuclear weapons.
The Bush administration's January 2002 Nuclear Posture Review laid
out a
<>nuclear policy that calls for the development of low-yield weapons,
or so-called
"mini-nukes," and integrates nuclear weapons with conventional
strike options.
The review discusses possible first-use of nuclear weapons, even
against
non-nuclear countries, if the United States believes a country may
use chemical
or biological weapons against the United States or its allies. The
language —
"U.S. nuclear forces will continue to provide assurance to
security partners,
particularly in the presence of known or suspected threats of
nuclear,
biological, or chemical attacks or in the event of surprising
military
developments" — should terrify us.
If UT becomes part of the U.S. nuclear weapons research and
production
infrastructure, it will be a key participant in this rejection of
international
law. The university will become a direct actor in the perpetuation
of this
nuclear insanity.
The United States should honor basic legal and moral obligations.
And UT should
not seek to participate in promoting nuclear nightmares.
What does that nightmare look like? We can still ask some who
survived it. On
this 60th anniversary of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, UT
leaders can join a remembrance ceremony that will feature Satoru
Konishi, a
survivor of that attack, at 6:30 p.m. today at the Zilker Park
Peace Grove
(near the soccer field, off Barton Springs Road).
Konishi also will speak at a forum hosted by Austin Area
Interreligious
Ministries at 1 p.m. Sunday at Austin Presbyterian Seminary's
McCord Center
-----------------------------
Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the
University of Texas at Austin, board member of the Third Coast Activist
Resource Center (http://thirdcoastactivist.org),
and the author of The Heart of
Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege
and Citizens of the Empire: The
Struggle to Claim Our
Humanity. He can be reached at rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu.
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