Nuclear Testing: Bush Wants to Do It

With all the rhetoric flying around about nuclear weapons, one would logically assume that the U.S. would perhaps be a leader in non-proliferation. However, though the Bush administration continues to spread fear about other countries possessing or developing nuclear weapons, he supports American efforts to resume actual underground warhead detonation and resurrect research on a potential "bunker buster" variation of an existing warhead to destroy buried enemy targets.

Though there have been some members of Congress and the Armed Services panel who have questioned the direction our country should take on nuclear weapons, our Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said on February 15th that the Nevada Test Site's ability to resume underground testing should be enhanced. The Bush administration's commitment to step up potential resumption of nuclear bomb testing in southern Nevada comes less than a week after the Utah Senate unanimously approved a House-passed resolution that urged the federal government not to "return to the mistakes and miscalculations of the past which have marred many Utahans." Thousands of Utah residents became ill between the 50s and 1992 when testing ceased. It is thought that their illnesses and deaths were caused by radioactive fallout.

Nonetheless, Bush continues to push for more nuclear weapons testing. Bodman stressed that we need to leave the door open to a resumption of testing in the event that future enemy threats require actual detonation. Millions of dollars will be budgeted for these activities.

I heard Bush's voice the other day saying, "I want to a have a few nuclear weapons at my disposal." We insist that no one but us can have nuclear weapons. We say nuclear weapons are dangerous and pose a threat to the U. S. Will not other countries attempt to acquire these weapons simply because they fear America? Are we not the cause of the buildup of weapons on the planet?

I don't think that America, especially George Bush, is to be trusted with nuclear weapons any more so than other countries. We should be actively seeking to ban all nuclear weapons from the face of the earth, not producing more.

We are going to regret our poor leadership. We are so wrong sometimes.

[Click on the blog title to read an article from The Salt Lake Tribune.]