FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2001Scott Lynch, Communications Director 202.862.9740x3030
ABM Treaty:"Radical Unilateralists" in Administration lambasted on withdrawal
Washington, DC: Peace Action, the nation's largest peace and disarmament organization, today lambasted the Bush Administration's plan to unilaterally withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in order to pursue its dream of a Star Wars anti-missile weapon system. The announcement to withdraw from the ABM treaty, according to media reports, could come in a matter of days. As provided by the treaty, the US withdrawal from the treaty would become effective six months after the announcement.
"What missile defense?" asked Peace Action executive director Kevin Martin "It's pathetic that after having spent $100 billion on antimissile weapons since Reagan, all we have is a missile system that can sometimes hit a target that has a beacon that guides the interceptor to it. The Bush administration is ready to destroy an arms reduction framework that has been successfully reducing nuclear weapons for thirty years and replace it with, essentially, nothing."
"The Bush Administration exhibits a theological belief in the utterly irrelevant (as we saw Sept. 11) 'missile defense' system. US and world security is much better served by getting serious about nuclear nonproliferation and the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons" continued Martin."The radical unilateralists in the Bush Administration have triumphed. The Wolfowitz, Bolton and Pearle sphere think US military, political and economic power is so great that we don't need to be a good global citizen-that we can and should strut about the world like a schoolyard bully. Obviously, they think the rule of law should only apply to the weak."
"However, in seeking unilateral solutions at the expense of international cooperation, they ensure that instability, insecurity and, ultimately, terrorism will be with us for a long time to come. They are laying the groundwork today for the next massive, asymmetrical attack on the United States. The big winners in this announcement are Boeing, Lockheed Martin, TRW and Raytheon, who will continue to reap immense profits from Star Wars contracts whether the system ever works or not. The big losers are the American people and American security," said Martin.
"It is now time for congressional leadership to right the course of our foreign policy that has been high-jacked by the radical unilateralists in the Administration. We've got six months to mobilize public support to preserve the ABM treaty and avert a nuclear arms race," said Scott Lynch, Peace Action's Communications Director. "The Administration has now ensured that Star Wars and the ABM treaty will be big issues in next year's election campaigns. The choice for candidates is simple: do you want nuclear arms control or nuclear anarchy?"
Peace Action, founded in 1957 as SANE (Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy), has 85,000 members nationwide.
