Some years back I composed a war abolition statement for Pope Francis to use as a draft for an encyclical. He and the previously two Popes have been environmentalists and increasingly looking for non-violent solutions.
I rewrote the statement for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
I offer the major additions and invite you to read the entire 30 page paper.
Nuclear Weapons Strategy
Adapt a no first strike strategy. This means that the US military and politicians would develop procedures to confirm the situation that warrants their attention before any further consideration.
Currently the US president can start war at any time with few barriers. Program the computers that the missiles could only be launched with the president´s approval with 5 senators and 10 congressmen. Tampering with any override effort would result in a total shutdown of the missiles affected. This is a good idea for any president, not just for the current nutcase.
Decommission half our nuclear weapons. Invite military officers, scientists, reporters from other countries to observe that this is truly occurring. When other countries follow our lead, we can keep eliminating nuclear weapons down to zero.
Declare a moratorium on all weapons research. When other countries follow suit, this moratorium can become permanent.
Start taking missiles off ‘’ hair trigger’’ alert. Again when other countries start taking their missiles off ‘’hair trigger’’ alert, the situation will become permanent.
Our war with Japan started with a surprise attack. We did not know where their fleet was. Start disclosing where our weapons are. At every military and on every ship that has these weapons, invite Russian military officers to observe exactly what is going on. Start with 100 weapons and when there is a response, the world can work to knowing exactly where the missiles are on a 24 hour basis.
Sincerely,
Ed
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