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Choosing Wisdom or Folly
Great Minds or Small - The Choice is Ours
By: Douglas Mattern - 01/05/02
On the centennial anniversary of the Nobel Prize in December of 2001, a total of 104
Nobel Laureates issued an appeal to humanity that reveals a profound gap in the vision
of our brightest minds and that of President George Bush and his team of reconstituted
cold warriors.
Most outspoken was Adolfo Perez Esquivel, the Argentinean campaigner for human rights
who won the 1980 peace prize. Regarding the United States, he said it failed to grasp
the nuances of the present conflict. "That kind of black-and-white thinking, where
good is set against evil, reminds me of cowboy films," he said.
The Appeal of the 100 Nobel Laureates begins by stating, "The most profound danger to
world peace in the coming years will stem not from the irrational
acts of states or individuals but from the legitimate demands of the worldıs
dispossessed." And later, "It is time to turn our backs on the unilateral search for
security, in which we seek to shelter behind walls. Instead, we must persist in the
quest for united action to counter both global warming and a weaponized world."
As vital to our future the Nobel Laureates include the 1972 ABM Treaty, the Convention
on Climate Change, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (SALT), and the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). In the appeal they "urge all governments to commit to these
goals that constitute steps on the way to replacement of war by law."
In the opposing mentality we have President Bush and his team rejecting the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol designed to reduce climate warming. Bush has no intention of pursuing
congressional approval of the CTBT, or the SALT treaties, or just about anything else
that actually benefits humanity rather than corporations and the rich that put him
into office.
In addition, George W. and his team refuse to accept the new International Criminal
Court (ICC). Moreover, Bush, with the help of the U.S. Senate, passed the "American
Servicemembers" Protection Act that authorizes the President to use "all means" to
free any American who might be arraigned before the ICC. This is a slap in the face to
the world community.
In addition, the president rejected proposals to improve adherence to the 1972
Biological Warfare Convention. The purported reason is a refusal to open up our
industrial facilities and pharmaceutical companies for the same inspection that other
countries agree to.
Most recent of Bush's long list of rejections in opposition to world opinion is to
scrap the 1972 ABM Treaty and proceed with the son of Star Wars antimissile system,
officially known as National Missile Defense (NMD). As even U.S. allies warn, this
reckless decision could ignite a new nuclear arms race.
The Nobel Laureates concluded their appeal by stating: "To survive in the world we
have transformed, we must learn to think in a new way. As never before, the future of
each depends on the good of all."
How profoundly different from the shallow and jingoist thinking of the Bush
Administration, and with lots of help from small thinking politicians in congress,
including both republicans and democrats.
Congress, for example, passed a record military authorization bill for Fiscal 2002 for
an astounding $343 billion. This figure is more than the entire gross domestic product
of Russia and more than the combined spending of the next 15 nations after the United
States.
There can be no rationale for this level of spending other than a clear intent for the
United States to dominate the world economically and militarily, including the
militarization of space, of which NMD is the first step. This is clear in the document
"Vision 2020" of the Pentagon's U.S. Space Command. This document states how the
global economy will widen the gulf between rich and poor and the role of the Space
Command is "dominating the space dimension of military operations to protect U.S.
interests and investments. Integrating Space Forces into war fighting capabilities
across the full spectrum of conflict."
As the crucial year of 2002 begins, let us reject the militarism and jingoistic policy
of the Bush team. Our future and that of the world community depends on pursuing the
thinking of the wise as expressed in the Appeal of the Nobel Laureates. This is the
thinking that offers a future; not small-minded folly coming out of our nationıs
capital.
Douglas Mattern, a contributing writer for Liberal Slant, is president of the
Association of World Citizens, a San Francisco based international peace organization
with branches in 50 countries and with UN NGO status. The website for AWC is
www.worldcitizens.org
2002-2001-2000-1999-1998
LIBERAL SLANT Web Publications.
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