You can’t have it both ways when it comes to nukes

 

 

“A nuclear war can never be won, and must never be fought.”

President Biden once said those words on the UN stage. Today, however, details of a dangerous new strategy are emerging, and The New York Times reports that “the president ordered U.S. forces to prepare for possible coordinated nuclear confrontations with Russia, China and North Korea.”[1]

It’ll mean a marked acceleration of a nuclear arms race that only ends in disaster. Even a “small” nuclear war — where less than three percent of the world’s nuclear arsenal is deployed — would have apocalyptic effects. Millions would be killed on impact, followed by environmental destruction, famine, and more death in the fallout.

Avoiding this nightmare scenario has been a huge part of Win Without War’s work for years, and that’s why we’re racing to stop — and turn back — the Doomsday Clock. It looks like pushing the Biden administration back toward disarmament and away from this misguided strategy. It means influencing negotiations over a must-pass bill notorious for increasing the U.S. nuclear arsenal. It’ll require uplifting voices impacted by decades of nuclear testing to expand and reauthorize the critical lifelines they depend on.

Our success in this moment would be nothing short of avoiding what UN Secretary-General Guterres calls a “recipe for annihilation” — and we’re facing an uphill fight.

All this work requires immense resources, and as Congress puts the final touches on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), our work is reaching a fever pitch. As we head into the last days of August, we’re $15,621 short of our fundraising goals. Can you make an urgent donation to help us close this gap and keep up the fight to stop a dangerous nuclear arms race to the bottom?

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The world’s nuclear-armed countries currently hold the destructive power of 135,000 Hiroshima bombs. And with global tensions on a hair trigger, you wouldn’t be surprised that ALL nine nuclear-armed countries — the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel — are increasing their weapons spending. Experts expect the global nuclear stockpiles to grow as a result.

Last year, governments across the globe spent a combined $91.4 BILLION on nukes, but tell us: Do you feel safer?

We don’t, and Secretary-General Guterres agrees: “These weapons offer false promises of security and deterrence — while guaranteeing only destruction, death, and endless brinkmanship.”

We don't have to tell you that with conflicts and crises deepening across the globe, this work is only getting more challenging, but the last thing that will build security is more bombs. It’s time to change course from an arms race to the bottom.

In the coming weeks, we need to bring people impacted by nuclear testing to DC to speak truth to power, drown out the weapons lobby’s calls for more unnecessary weapons, and remind decision-makers that we all deserve and want a world free from the threat of nuclear war.

With President Biden’s new strategy as a launch point, Congress is even more likely to push the world closer to doomsday by pouring BILLIONS of dollars into apocalyptic nuclear weapons — unless our crucial campaign to pull back changes the game.

Our team is sprinting to stop one of the biggest expansions of nuclear weapons in YEARS. As we take action, we need to ask if you can too. Please make an urgent donation to fuel our work to stop a huge and unnecessary expansion of the U.S. nuclear arsenal now.

Despite every signal imaginable reminding us that this is one more moment where reducing nuclear stockpiles would served us better, and with massive public support for disarmament, the Biden administration and Congress could further entrench a failed status quo that push us closer to a moment of global catastrophe: Midnight on the Doomsday Clock.

But with your help, we will not only pause the dial, we'll start to pull it back.

Thank you for working for peace,

The Win Without War team

1. The New York Times, “Biden Approved Secret Nuclear Strategy Refocusing on Chinese Threat”

 

 

 

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