The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bush's Military-Industrial Complex

+++++ The heart of this well-referenced, easy-to-read book (with very informative appendices), by Dr. Helen Caldicott, is about two substances or two chemical elements: (1) Plutonium (Pu) (2) Uranium (U) There are two types or isotopes of plutonium of primary importance: (1) Pu-239 (2) Pu-238 Pu-239 is used in nuclear weapons and reactors. Pu-238 is used as a nuclear power source especially in space probe exploration. Both types of Pu cause severe health consequences when there is exposure to them via various means such as by radiation. Note that Pu-238 has been called "the most dangerous material on Earth." One pound of Pu-239 "is almost the most carcinogenic [cancer-causing] substance known to the human race." There are two types of uranium of importance in nuclear reactions: (1) U-235 (2) U-238 (more common) U-235 is also used in nuclear weapons and ammunition. U has to be processed and there are medical risks associated with processing it. Both types of U cause severe health consequences when there is exposure to them via various means such as by radiation. A large part of this book deals with nuclear weapons covering such topics as the following: their components, how they work, their testing, the newer and more efficient ones being made, the aging of nuclear weapons, and the deadly consequences of what happens if nuclear weapons are used. (Caldicott devotes an entire chapter to "The Reality of Nuclear War.") It "has [been] documented how more than 1.3 billion people have been killed, sickened, or maimed by nuclearism over the past 55 years, and how pollution from nuclear weapons operations has drastically changed the global environment and endangered all life forms." Caldicott presents many examples of innocent people (including children) that now have serious or hopeless medical conditions as a result of being exposed to nuclear radiation through such means as working with and handling nuclear substances, conflict where uranium ammunition is used, and nuclear waste that contaminates food and water sources. This book, I feel, has its greatest impact when it discusses nuclear accidents. I think most enlightened people are aware that there could be an accidental nuclear war set off by something as simple as the "launch of a weather balloon" and possibly resulting in the "annihilation of the planet." But other types of accidents are possible. For example, in 1964 "a [U.S.] satellite with a...plutonium power system crashed. Some 2.1 pounds of plutoniun-238 were dispersed around the world. A report prepared in 1989...stated that, "a worldwide sampling program carried out in 1970 showed [this contamination] to be present at all continents and all latitudes." Another example closer to where I live: "The most serious Russian nuclear space accident occurred in 1978 when a [Russian] satellite carrying a nuclear reactor smashed into the Northwest Territories of Canada. Sizable amounts of radioactive debris were distributed

When Dwight D. Eisenhower left the presidency in 1961, he issued a famous warning: "In the councils of government we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence . . . by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic process."Just how prophetic Eisenhower's words were is documented in passionate clarity by Dr. Helen Caldicott in The New Nuclear Danger. She demonstrates in chilling detail how the American military-industrial complex, with the willing help of the Congress and a series of administrations, shrugged off the end of the Cold War and seized on the fallout from 9-11 to cement its hold on our government, our lives, and our futures. The U.S. is now spending far more on the military than we were during the height of the Cold War, and much of that on new or "improved" nuclear weapons.Nobody doubts that Caldicott is a fierce and passionate advocate of arms reduction, de-militarization, and of making "conflict resolution and peacekeeping our new priorities." What gives this book enormous weight and impact is the immense amount of factual research she presents to support her views. The book is full of hard information about the giant companies that comprise the military-industrial complex, their leaders, and their financial, political and personal links with the government. It's also replete with details about the grossly expensive and enormously threatening weapons systems currently being developed, many in contravention to the arms control treaties that once seemed to give us hope of limiting or controlling the proliferation and spread of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.This book, more than anything I have read, makes sense of our foreign policy. If in fact Washington is as profoundly influenced by, in the pockets of, and, increasingly, advised and staffed at the highest levels by representatives of the arms industry, our aggressive stance toward the rest of the world, our apparent contempt for arms control treaties, and our go-it-alone attitude all make perfect sense. One of the most worrisome points Caldicott makes is that the billions currently being spent on the "Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program" are not simply keeping our thousands of nuclear weapons in working order, but are being used for the research and development of entirely new kinds of nuclear weapons. Another is reminding us that the Bush administration's full-court-press towards its version of Star Wars is intensely destabilizing. She makes it frighteningly clear how easily our steps toward a (probably unworkable) missile defense system will be interpreted by our adversaries and even our allies as giving us a first strike capability. This, in turn, will almost certainly provoke a renewed arms race, with increased risk of mutual annihilation.If you believe that the existence of

Unlike any other author writing on this touchy subject, author Dr. Helen Caldicott highlights the mob-like connections between business and government, without paying head to the feathers she would be ruffling. And her staid, objective assessment of what nuclear winter actually means for the human body is extremely disturbing and important. Some reviewers have labeled her unpatriotic and conspiratorial, without a leg of fact to stand on. This is no mere diatribe, but a thoroughly researched and well-documented analysis of the modern Nuclear Era - an era in which, even here in the US, nuclear spending is on the rise, while India and Pakistan stand poised at hair-trigger alert. It is an era in which Bush and his cabinet have backed out of and boycotted the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty as well as the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty, and are currently debating the use of small-scale nuclear weapons in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is an era in which investors can depend on a considerable appreciation of defense stocks, to say the least. Thus, when people accuse her of "anti-Americanism" and "emotional outbursts" we should stop and wonder who these people are and where their money is, for there is nothing in this book but an unbridled commitment to truth and an untiring commitment to public health and safety. After all, she is a physician. If you are interested in the current war on terrorism, nuclear power, nuclear weapons, the relationship between arms contractors and government, or the survival of the human species, this book is a must. If you are employed by or have invested in Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas, Boeing, Grumman, Raytheon, or any of the other big military suppliers, and are unable to critically reflect on how ethical your livelihood and investments are, this book is probably not for you. In any event, no matter where you stand on these issues, this book is critically important, and has unleashed a discursive explosion of near nuclear proportions itself. TIMELY AND IMPORTANT

In her exhaustively cross-referenced book, Dr. Caldicott has comprehensively shown how the business side of the current military-industrial complex works. Basically, massive arms makers in the United States buy politicians and also get their own executives into positions of power within the government. With their minions in power, the companies get the Pentagon and Congress to spend nearly incomprehensible amounts of money on weapons and hardware that are often unnecessary for our country and for the world. The Bush administration (and she does name many names) does what it does in order for the right winged aristocratic elite to make absurd amounts of money. I used to think that the world was a complicated place where we armed ourselves to the teeth in order to stay safe. Now I know that the world is a complicated place where a handful of weapon-makers buy and dictate policies not to make the world safe, but to make themselves preposterously rich (and no I am not a bleeding-heart anticapitalist). Dr. Caldicott documents many examples of where business prevails over peace. What goes on would be laughable if it weren't so insidiously dangerous. This book documents a process that should be understood by anyone who votes, and by anyone who still gives a hoot about where our dying planet is heading. Although most of the book is concerned with details of the who, how, and why of nukes, it also shows how truly crooked politicians have become as they sleep in the beds of big-business every night. Do you know who is really running your country? As she quotes in the book "the only way evil flourishes is for good men to do nothing." And as an environmentalist and concerned citizen, I now see that while recycling and planting a tree are as important as ever, there are bigger, scarier elephants in our collective living room. Dr. Caldicott, I salute your ambition, intellect, and most of all your courage.