The e-mail that made me awake!
By brightestvega. Wednesday, 1. February 2006, 08:41:21
....I'm a pacifist, that is, I will never take up arms against anyone for
any reason. I have learnt that hatred is always wrong, no matter how
small and insignificant the subject of it might be. In this day, it is
not much a single man can do, with the immense power and forces of
Bush, but one has to try. I subscribe to the idea forwarded by Isaac
Asimov that "violence is the last resort of the incompetent", and that
what we can do to prevent war is to bring people closer together.
No-one will go to war on someone who knows.
The issues are extremely complex. To understand why all countries in
Europe are so upset about Iran's nuclear programme, it is important to
understand our Cold War history. During the Cold War, the superpowers,
US and the Soviet Union, both held the a strategy called MAD (Mutual
Assured Destruction), if anyone launched nuclear weapons against the
other, everyone would be destroyed. Thus, was the idea, nobody would
do it. This was truly madness, of course, and it shows the nature of
nuclear weapons: The leaders could possibly escape, but it would kill
a few million of the population, but while it is common to claim that
nuclear weapons helped to keep the peace, that is just because no real
madman rose to power in that relatively short historical timespan.
Hitler, for example, would probably not have minded at all, if he had
had nuclear weapons.
This is the threat that we have lived with for the past 50 years.
Paradoxically, Bush and his likeminded have always argued that nuclear
weapons are good things, and he even wants to develop more of them for
easier use. He just wants to keep them to himself. It is people like
me who have argued that the world must get rid of nuclear weapons
entirely, and in fact abandon war.
Unfortunately, we have not always been as objective and rational with
the threat from nuclear weapons, and so, we have contributed to the
great fear people have for them. Bush has a brilliant propaganda
machinery, for he has managed to turn that against us: By just hinting
that Iran may be able to produce nuclear weapons, he can find support
for his strategy among those who would otherwise be totally opposed to
his policies in Europe. So, this is not met by any rationality
anywhere in Europe, and thus we are now on a track that there is
reason to expect would lead to war.
Let me be clear: I also believe it would be disastrous for both Iran
and the world if Iran gets nuclear weapons. Such terrible weapons,
capable of killing millions in the most horrific ways, cannot be good
for mankind, nor does it provide security for people. If not used,
they will still be polarising society and create panics and
suspecions, and be a constant threat like we had in the Cold War, and
if used, it will certainly be crimes against humanity, and it will
strike back. Iran must not develop nuclear weapons!
That said, I understand perfectly well why Iran would want to use
nuclear power and have a peaceful nuclear programme. The world simply
cannot rely on burning fossil fuels, and nuclear power is a realistic
alternative. Also, it is clear that Iran is within international
agreements with its programme.
However, I do not trust any big official, whether he's American or
Iranian, or ... for that matter, to tell the truth in matters
like this. Also, it is simply a really bad idea to do it right now, in
this geopolitical climate. It would be a good idea to just delay it or
do different research, into things like accellerator based nuclear
power or stable reactors, both of which are much more efficient and
cannot be used for weapons technology, than todays 30-year-old
technology. For more about those designing the US policy in these
matters, there is http://www.newamericancentury.org/ They are really
high up in the Bush administration.
So, you could say that I support the goal of stopping a nuclear
weapons programme, and I distrust those who say that it isn't
happening, but it must not be a war over it, as the Bush agenda is to
fight multiple wars at the same time, he is about to cast the world
into a perpetual state of war. I guess there is not much that can be
done, but I thought I would have to bring this to your attention.
After all, it is your life and country at stake here, not mine.
Allthough I distrust goverments, I trust physicists, .....
. I know that there are only a very small number of physicists that
could bring about a nuclear weapons programme, so what would need to
do is to convince them that it would be wrong. I think that by
bringing them into European research, we could bridge our gaps, and
achieve that closeness between people that can forever prevent war. It
has been many years allready since Iran sent its first scientists to
the big European lab CERN, and I think that's the kind of thing we
should do a lot more.
Besides, it is a lot more exciting research for intelligent
researchers to be working with CERN than some boring 50-year-old
weapons technology. I know that no physicist would touch that kind of
thing voluntarily, if there were options.
I hope my worries are not bringing you down. Well, it is a very
serious matter, but it needs to be addressed, and only by being
conscious can anybody do anything about it.
any reason. I have learnt that hatred is always wrong, no matter how
small and insignificant the subject of it might be. In this day, it is
not much a single man can do, with the immense power and forces of
Bush, but one has to try. I subscribe to the idea forwarded by Isaac
Asimov that "violence is the last resort of the incompetent", and that
what we can do to prevent war is to bring people closer together.
No-one will go to war on someone who knows.
The issues are extremely complex. To understand why all countries in
Europe are so upset about Iran's nuclear programme, it is important to
understand our Cold War history. During the Cold War, the superpowers,
US and the Soviet Union, both held the a strategy called MAD (Mutual
Assured Destruction), if anyone launched nuclear weapons against the
other, everyone would be destroyed. Thus, was the idea, nobody would
do it. This was truly madness, of course, and it shows the nature of
nuclear weapons: The leaders could possibly escape, but it would kill
a few million of the population, but while it is common to claim that
nuclear weapons helped to keep the peace, that is just because no real
madman rose to power in that relatively short historical timespan.
Hitler, for example, would probably not have minded at all, if he had
had nuclear weapons.
This is the threat that we have lived with for the past 50 years.
Paradoxically, Bush and his likeminded have always argued that nuclear
weapons are good things, and he even wants to develop more of them for
easier use. He just wants to keep them to himself. It is people like
me who have argued that the world must get rid of nuclear weapons
entirely, and in fact abandon war.
Unfortunately, we have not always been as objective and rational with
the threat from nuclear weapons, and so, we have contributed to the
great fear people have for them. Bush has a brilliant propaganda
machinery, for he has managed to turn that against us: By just hinting
that Iran may be able to produce nuclear weapons, he can find support
for his strategy among those who would otherwise be totally opposed to
his policies in Europe. So, this is not met by any rationality
anywhere in Europe, and thus we are now on a track that there is
reason to expect would lead to war.
Let me be clear: I also believe it would be disastrous for both Iran
and the world if Iran gets nuclear weapons. Such terrible weapons,
capable of killing millions in the most horrific ways, cannot be good
for mankind, nor does it provide security for people. If not used,
they will still be polarising society and create panics and
suspecions, and be a constant threat like we had in the Cold War, and
if used, it will certainly be crimes against humanity, and it will
strike back. Iran must not develop nuclear weapons!
That said, I understand perfectly well why Iran would want to use
nuclear power and have a peaceful nuclear programme. The world simply
cannot rely on burning fossil fuels, and nuclear power is a realistic
alternative. Also, it is clear that Iran is within international
agreements with its programme.
However, I do not trust any big official, whether he's American or
Iranian, or ... for that matter, to tell the truth in matters
like this. Also, it is simply a really bad idea to do it right now, in
this geopolitical climate. It would be a good idea to just delay it or
do different research, into things like accellerator based nuclear
power or stable reactors, both of which are much more efficient and
cannot be used for weapons technology, than todays 30-year-old
technology. For more about those designing the US policy in these
matters, there is http://www.newamericancentury.org/ They are really
high up in the Bush administration.
So, you could say that I support the goal of stopping a nuclear
weapons programme, and I distrust those who say that it isn't
happening, but it must not be a war over it, as the Bush agenda is to
fight multiple wars at the same time, he is about to cast the world
into a perpetual state of war. I guess there is not much that can be
done, but I thought I would have to bring this to your attention.
After all, it is your life and country at stake here, not mine.
Allthough I distrust goverments, I trust physicists, .....
. I know that there are only a very small number of physicists that
could bring about a nuclear weapons programme, so what would need to
do is to convince them that it would be wrong. I think that by
bringing them into European research, we could bridge our gaps, and
achieve that closeness between people that can forever prevent war. It
has been many years allready since Iran sent its first scientists to
the big European lab CERN, and I think that's the kind of thing we
should do a lot more.
Besides, it is a lot more exciting research for intelligent
researchers to be working with CERN than some boring 50-year-old
weapons technology. I know that no physicist would touch that kind of
thing voluntarily, if there were options.
I hope my worries are not bringing you down. Well, it is a very
serious matter, but it needs to be addressed, and only by being
conscious can anybody do anything about it.
