New Report Calls for More Global Attention to Nuclear Non-Proliferation
By Stephanie Ho VOA NEWS Washington 06 May 2005 As delegates discuss nuclear non-proliferation at the United Nations, a new report calls on government leaders to place more attention on preventing weapons-grade nuclear material from getting into the hands of terrorists. Former New Jersery Governor Thomas Kean who led an investigation into the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, says he believes securing nuclear material is an urgent matter. "My fellow commissioners and I have stated time and time again, that a nuclear weapon, in the hands of a terrorist, is the single greatest threat that faces our country today. We know, from our own research, that bin Laden has been seeking weapons of mass destruction for over 10 years. A nuclear 9-11 would be a world-changing disaster," he said. These comments came at a news conference in Washington Thursday, during the presentation of a new report that gives a worldwide analysis of the current nuclear threat. The report was written by scholars at Harvard University and commissioned by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a non-governmental group founded five years ago to strengthen global non-proliferation security and raise public awareness of the issue. The organization's co-chairman, former Senator Sam Nunn, says besides the possibility of an actual nuclear attack, countries around the world need to consider other effects of a nuclear catastrophe. "They're vulnerable to the economic drop in confidence that we've never seen in the history of the world, if you had a nuclear explosion. I've told people in places like Switzerland, that if you think the economy of the world suffered after 9-11, and it did, think about what world confidence is going to be if a terrorist bomb goes off in a city, wherever it is in the world, and we don't know whether there's a second one, or a third one, or a fourth one, coming in the days to follow," he said. Senator Nunn said he believes the issue needs attention at the presidential level, and he urged the United States and Russia to take the lead. "If the president of the United States and the president of Russia asked, every day, about progress on this, or at least once a week, and asked for a report, it would make an enormous difference," he said. Senator Nunn said he hopes President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin will highlight nuclear non-proliferation when they meet next next week in Moscow. 000. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
