[Nuclear experts and disarmament advocates are warning that the
world is witnessing a new arms race after the Pentagon tested a new
missile] [[link removed]]
'NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARMS RACE IS HERE': RUSSIANS, ANTI-NUKE EXPERTS
DENOUNCE US MISSILE TEST
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Jessica Corbett
August 20, 2019
Common Dreams
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_ Nuclear experts and disarmament advocates are warning that the
world is witnessing a new arms race after the Pentagon tested a new
missile _
The U.S. Defense Department conducted a flight test of a
conventionally configured ground-launched cruise missile at San
Nicolas Island, California on Aug. 18, 2019., Scott Howe/DVIDS
Nuclear experts and disarmament advocates are warning that the world
is witnessing a new arms race after the Pentagon tested a new missile
Sunday that would have violated a Cold War-era treaty the Trump
administration ditched
[[link removed]]earlier
this month.
After years of the U.S. government—under both the Obama and Trump
administrations—and NATO accusing Russia of violating the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed in 1987 by
former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev, Washington formally withdrew from the deal, which banned
ground-launched nuclear and conventional ballistic and cruise missiles
with ranges of 500 to 5,000 kilometers, or about 310 to 3,400 miles.
On Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Department of Defense "conducted a
flight test of a conventionally-configured ground-launched cruise
missile at San Nicolas Island, California," the Pentagon revealed
[[link removed]] in
a statement Monday. "The test missile exited its ground mobile
launcher and accurately impacted its target after more than 500
kilometers of flight. Data collected and lessons learned from this
test will inform the Department of Defense's development of future
intermediate-range capabilities."
According to [[link removed]]Russia's state-owned
news agency _TASS,_ Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
told reporters Tuesday: "As for the United States's test of a
conventional cruise missile, the news came while [Russian President
Vladimir] Putin and [French President Emmanuel] Macron were holding
talks yesterday. Putin commented on it, saying that such tests only
proved that from the very start, the Americans were determined to
derail the INF Treaty and were making preparations for it."
New nuclear arms race is here & it’s putting the 🌎 at risk of
relapse into Cold War-II - just three weeks after US & Russia let
#INFTreaty
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collapse,the US tested a missile that was previously banned under this
treaty. Here are 9 things you need to know ➡️
[link removed] [[link removed]]
— ICAN (@nuclearban) August 20, 2019
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In response to the Pentagon's announcement, Beatrice Fihn, executive
director of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning
[[link removed]] International
Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), tweeted Monday that "the
nuclear weapons arms race is here and we all have a choice; remain
passive and wait for these weapons of mass destruction to be used OR
fight for the stigmatization, prohibition, and elimination of nuclear
weapons."
The nuclear weapons arms race is here and we all have a choice; remain
passive and wait for these weapons of mass destruction to be used OR
fight for the stigmatization, prohibition and elimination of nuclear
weapons.
I know what I’m doing, what about you? #nuclearban
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— Beatrice Fihn (@BeaFihn) August 19, 2019
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Responding to Finn's warning, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation deputy
director Rick Wayman tweeted
[[link removed]]: "I'm with
Beatrice Fihn. This test of the formerly banned missile took place a
short distance from my home in California, giving me an extra reason
to stand up and fight this dangerous, unnecessary arms race."
According to
[[link removed]] _DefenseNews_:
American officials have stressed they do not plan on building a
nuclear ground-based cruise missile capability, but Secretary of
Defense Mark Esper has said his department will
[[link removed]] "fully
pursue the development of these ground-launched conventional missiles
as a prudent response to Russia's actions and as part of the joint
force's broader portfolio of conventional strike options."
Imagery of the test shows the weapon was launched from a Mark 41
Vertical Launch System, the same launcher used in the Aegis Ashore
missile defense system. That is notable, as Russia has often claimed
the MK 41 presence in Europe as a violation of the INF Treaty, with
the belief that the Aegis Ashore systems in Poland and Romania could
be converted to offensive systems.
"The launcher used in Sunday's test is a MK 41; however, the system
tested is not the same as the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System
currently operating in Romania and under construction in Poland," Lt.
Col Robert Carver, a Pentagon spokesman, said. "Aegis Ashore is purely
defensive. It is not capable of firing a Tomahawk missile. Aegis
Ashore is not configured to fire offensive weapons of any type."
"This test doesn't prove or disprove" the U.S. government's claim that
the system in Europe couldn't launch Tomahawks, Matt Korda, a research
associate at the Federation of American Scientists's Nuclear
Information Project, wrote in a series of tweets Monday. "But it sure
adds fuel to the fire."
Key clarification:
US doesn’t deny that Mk-41s can launch Tomahawks. But they DO deny
that the Mk-41s *deployed in Europe* can launch Tomahawks.
This test doesn’t prove or disprove that claim. But it sure adds
fuel to the fire.
Was it worth it just to 🖕 INF’s corpse? [link removed]
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— Matt Korda (@mattkorda) August 20, 2019
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In the aftermath of the INF Treaty collapse in early August,
Putin said
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"if Russia obtains reliable information that the United States has
finished developing [new intermediate-range nuclear missiles] systems
and started to produce them, Russia will have no option other than to
engage in a full-scale effort to develop similar missiles."
Moderator: xxxxxx readers may also be interested in Matt Korda's
latest article (September 11, 2019) in BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC
SCIENTISTS _WE NEED A GREEN NEW DEAL FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS_
[[link removed]]. Korda
argues "a progressive nuclear policy should challenge the nuclear
complex in its entirety. By applying four core principles of the Green
New Deal—international cooperation, reductions, transparency, and
justice—to nuclear weapons, progressives can begin to craft a plan
that seeks to ambitiously and coherently restructure US nuclear
policy."
Jessica Corbett is a staff writer for Common Dreams. Follow her on
Twitter: @corbett_jessica [[link removed]].
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