Entry tags:

environmental issues, protest, wmd american style

Blogging Against Divine Strake Day: Do we really want to trust the government about Divine Strake ?
It's true --  the government that brought you the war to dispose of the mirage-like WMDs of Saddam Hussein wants you to swallow some more "assurances".

What has our government done to earn our trust? This goes beyond Bad Boy Bush. The US government has a long history of lying to the citizens of this country about war and its war toys. They've also shown a willingness to gamble with the lives of US citizens in order to experiment with those toys.

While the "Divine Strake " test is touted as a conventional weapons test, there's growing concern that this is a nuclear rehearsal.
From Znet:

J. Preston Truman, director of the group Downwinders, which represents individuals sickened by radioactive fallout from Cold War-era nuclear tests, scoffs at the Pentagon's suggestion that it is not a nuclear simulation, arguing no military plane could drop a 700-ton conventional bomb. (emphasis mine)

"It's for one thing and one thing only," he said. "It just says they're still pursuing these stupid, insane weapons."

The nuclear tie-in to Divine Strake test was rooted out by Kristensen and Andrew Lichterman, a nuclear weapons opponent and blogger.

"It's not a step toward nuclear testing. It is nuclear testing. It's just nuclear testing the way it's done today," since actual nuclear tests are banned by treaties, Kristensen said.

They also want us to believe that no radioactive dust  from the over 900 (above and below ground) nuke tests over several years of nuclear testing on the Nevada Test Site will be kicked up by the expected 10,000 foot mushroom cloud, and that the dust that is picked up will quickly disperse. I'm not a scientist, or even sure if the dust from this cloud will follow the same patterns, but it's interesting and frightening to see the patterns of nuclear fallout from previous tests:



While we seem to have a lot of experts creating weapons, we have few contemplating the psychological effects of this development on other countries, and so I found this bit in The Free Press interesting:

The Divine Strake controversy comes at a crucial juncture, with the Bush administration threatening not only war but nuclear war with Iran, and in doing so inevitably inflicting the arms race on the Third World, as developing nations come to see, in the words of Dr. Kurt Gottfried, chairman of the Union of Concerned Scientists, that "the only way for a country to deter nuclear attack is to acquire its own nuclear arsenal."

Humanity's future remains hostage to the nuclear demon. But as the downwinders know, the place to stop it is not in Iran. It's here in the U.S., where the demon was unleashed.

Once again, the US seems to be determined to create more potential enemies. I wonder if we'll ever learn.

In addition to all of the above, the presence of the Nevada Test Site on Western Shoshone Lands is environmental racism. The UN's CERD recently found the US in violation of Western Shoshone land rights.
___________________________________________________________________
Action Ideas:

Attend the protest and encampment at the Nevada Test Site May 27-29. More info here.

In Salt Lake City, join us for a solidarity vigil with those in NV protesting against Divine Strake  on May 28 from 5 to 7 pm at the Federal Building. More info here.

Join in today's BLOGSWARM and post about Divine Strake.

 

___________________________________________________________________

Other bloggers BLOGSWARMING against Divine Strake today (to be updated throughout the day):