Watchdog activists who follow the Livermore nuclear weapons lab in California offer a disturbing report (Tri-Valley Cares Citizen’s Watch, Spring 2015) on the Pentagon’s overall Life Extinction Program, and on the B61-12 -- a new variation of the original B61 gravity nuclear bomb.




Welcome to the US Department of Defense’s (DoD) “Nuclear Enterprise” program, carefully crafted with euphemisms like “Life Extension Program (LEP),” “Stockpile Stewardship,” and “Triad revitalization.”




The “Life Extension Program” (LEP) is the clever euphemism given the overall program for new and old nuclear warheads and their delivery systems from land, air, or sea. Indeed, the Nuclear Weapons Council (NWC) tells us they have a “25 year plan” for the nuclear weapons stockpile.




Livermore Lab’s take alone for nuclear bomb related research for budget year 2016 is estimated to be almost $1 billion. But of course money is being spread to many other “nuclear enterprise” participants, all part of this shameful LEP story.




Citizen’s Watch warns us that future plans for nuclear weapons projects, if not stopped, could cost a staggering “$ 1 Trillion over the next 30 years.”




BUSINESS AS USUAL




The “modernization” of the B61 family of bombs (B61-4, B61-7, B61-12) is only part of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) program to stay in business now, and in the distant future.




New “refinements” to other nukes and their delivery systems, all part of the deal, are good financial news for the scientists and engineers toiling diligently to find new and improved ways to destroy the world and for defense contractors and their stockholders.




The B61-12 adds a guided tail fin assembly which increases accuracy, but unfortunately increases the temptation of NATO field commanders to actually use tactical nukes in the case of war.




Citizen’s Watch reports a plan to locate about 180 of the B61-12’s in five NATO countries in Europe. David Krieger (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation) notes that these nukes “will be turned over to the host countries in time of war.” Aggressive expansion by US/NATO has Russia (and China) on guard resulting in these countries increasing their own nuclear readiness.





That the LEP invites serious danger to the world is seen when two former commanders of nuclear weaponry, US General James Cartwright and Russian General Vladimir Dvorkin write a NY Times editorial (4-19-15) warning of nuclear catastrophe by accident or now, by cyberattack.




Retired Marine General Cartwright, former head of the US Strategic Command, is quoted as saying that our nuclear policy “made no sense,” and that we must get our missile off “hair trigger alert” (San Francisco Chronicle, 6-18-15).




MASS KILLING OK WITH CONGRESS




Unfortunately, the US Congress, eager as usual to fund death and destruction, is told by NNSA that the nukes are aging and must be “reinvigorated”.



The NWC testified to the Senate Committee on Armed Services in a report released July 1, 2015 that: “The reinvigoration of the DoD nuclear enterprise remains the Defense Department’s highest priority, and we are committed to treating it as such.”




There is no mention in the testimony of a first strike policy, yet according to Citizen's Watch the Air Force seeks a new LRSO (Long Range-Stand Off) weapon capable of carrying a thermonuclear warhead (the W80-4) that can evade radar, hence capable of a “sneak nuclear attack from 3,000 or more miles.”




PENTAGON WEDDED TO NUKES LONG INTO THE FUTURE




It appears that the Pentagon cannot envision a world free of nukes. From NWC testimony: “We cannot say exactly what mix of capabilities the U.S. will require in the next 20, 30, or 40 years, but continued modernization of the Triad (for land, air, and sea) will provide policy makers with a flexible and resilient range of capabilities.”




To prove its determination to, sooner or later, blow the world up, the DoD also has plans for more plutonium, -- used to trigger the fission/fusion explosive process for a thermonuclear bomb. “In January 2014, the Secretary of Defense revalidated the DoD requirement for NNSA to produce 50-80 plutonium pits per year by 2030.”




Defense Department budget projections for nuclear warfare stretch over the next 30 years. Nongovernmental organizations like Global Zero, Nuclear Zero, Union of Concerned Scientists, and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War are being ignored.




John Mecklin, editor of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, in Foreign Policy (March/April, 2015) notes that “16,000 nuclear weapons are still on the planet” and that “massive, long-term plans that nuclear nations have in place strongly suggest that they have no intention of giving up their nukes anytime soon.”




UN LACKS TOOLS TO ENFORCE NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT




There has been perpetual UN futility when it comes to “ending the scourge of war” or eliminating weapons of mass destruction.




The recent Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference was a disappointing failure. The nuclear nations are not giving up their nukes. The UN remains sidelined, its hands tied by its fatally flawed Charter.




The UN, under the thumb of major financing from the United States and handicapped by its own Charter, lacks the tools to legally stop the Pentagon or other military powers from the thrill of risking nuclear mass homicide.



A WAY OUT OF NUCLEAR TERROR


World federalists have known for almost seventy years that the UN’s design is wrong, and that a democratic world federal union government is the missing link that can free the world from nuclear terror.




Largely unknown to the public is the fact that an international group of citizens has drafted a brilliant replacement for the UN Charter – the Earth Constitution. It’s ready to go with a federal union governing structure that would lead to full nuclear disarmament by all nations.





Delay in public awareness of the Earth Constitution is due to the lack of coverage so far by corporate-owned establishment media.




Activist strategies are underway that could open up media coverage: Eliminating the undemocratic UN Security Council; forming a UN Parliamentary Assembly; lobbying for UN Charter Review; an emerging Earth Federation Movement/Provisional World Parliament under the Earth Constitution.




These steps by activists are significant because it is painfully obvious that the military establishment along with the US Congress, left to their own devices, have no plans for disarmament or world peace. They will continue to endanger our families and our world by dangerous nuclear posturing and war mongering.


The world needs a "new UN" that is a true democratic world federation. There is no other viable alternative or shortcut.


A new UN under the Earth Constitution creates a democratic world federal union with the governing structures that can end war and permanently free the world from nuclear weapons like the B61-12 and the W80-4. Such a World Union could put an end to nations plotting to get the upper hand by sneak attacks and first strikes.





A world at peace and nuclear free may yet be possible.




by R. Kotila, Ph.D.

Editor, Earth Federation News & Views