Iowa Peace & Justice Groups Directory
10 Myths About Nuclear Weapons
10 Reasons to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Lists of anti-nuclear weapons websites
Iowa Peace & Justice Groups Directory
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As a service to participants at A Peace Conference, we have assembled a list of organizations working for peace and justice in Iowa. This is not an exhaustive list. It is the beginning of what we hope will be a complete list that will serve all such organizations, promoting collaboration and networking. This list will be available on our website: www.clintonfranciscans.com ; Find “Iowa Peace and Justice Groups” in the Site Index. We welcome additions / corrections to the list. We will do our best to keep the online list current and correct. If you can help with that, please contact us at: center@clintonfranciscans.com Peace and all good! Clinton Franciscan “Center” for Active Nonviolence |
| American Friends
Service Committee Contact: Kathleen McQuillen 4211 Grand Avenue Des Moines, IA 50312 Phone: 515.274.4851 E-mail: afscdes@afsc.org Website: www.afsc.org/central/dsm.hmtl Citizens For Peace (IA) Catholic Peace Ministry Clarke College Campus
Ministry Clinton Peace Coalition Dubuque Peace and Justice Fellowship of
Reconciliation-Iowa Fellowship of
Reconciliation-Quad Cities Green Party GPUS PAX
Committee Iowa Peace Network Loras College
Methodist Federation For Social Action – Iowa Chapter Phone: 563.259.1522 E-mail: smiller@jdv.net Iowa Website: www.mfsaiowa.org |
National Catholic
Rural Life Conference 4625 Beaver Avenue Des Moines, IA 50310 Phone: 515.270.2634 E-mail: NCRLC@aol.com Website: www.ncrlc.com PAX Christi CC Students For Peace Clinton Franciscan
“Center” for Active Nonviolence Siouxland Coalition for
Peace Star*Pac (Stop The Arms Race
* Political Action Committee) Stanley Foundation United Nations
Association-Iowa Division Women For Peace Iowa Women’s International
League for Peace and Freedom
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Dismantling Racism, Joseph R.
Barndt Broken Bread & Broken Bodies,
Joseph Grassi |
Opting for the Poor, Peter J. Henriot SJ Center of Concern, 1990 No Room at the Table, Donald H. Dunson Orbis Books, 2003 Grace at the Table, David Beckman and Arthur Simon Inter Varsity Press, 1999 The Way of Peace: Exploring Nonviolence for the 21st Century, Shannon McManimon Pax Christi, 2003 Personal Nonviolence: A Practical Spirituality for Peacemakers, Gerard Vanderhaar Pax Christi, 2006 The Search for a Nonviolent Future: A Promise of Peace for Ourselves, Our Families and Our World, Michael Nagler Inner Ocean Publishing, 2004 Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus, Ched Myers Orbis Books, 1988 Who Will Roll Away the Stone: Discipleship Queries for First World Christians, Ched Myers Orbis Books, 1994 Say to This Mountain: Mark’s Story of Discipleship, Ched Myers (co-authored) Orbis Books, 1996 The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics, Ched Myers Church of the Savior (“Tell the Word” series), 2000 |
Collected by the Clinton Franciscan “Center” for Active Nonviolence
Creative Nonviolence is…
Creative nonviolence is a force for truth, justice, and the well
being of all that is neither violent nor passive. It challenges the
power and belief system of violence, which is a destructive force
designed to defeat and dominate others. It is a witness for justice
and a method for helping to create it. It pursues this goal, not
with passivity or retaliation, but with the third way of creative
engagement and loving and determined resistance.
Written by Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service
1420 W. Bartlett Ave., Las Vegas NV 89106; www.paceebene.org
Used with permission
Principles of Creative Nonviolence
Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service
Gandhi’s Nonviolence Principles
[ From:: Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service ]
All life is one.
We each have a piece of the truth and the un-truth.
Human beings are more than the evil they sometimes commit.
The means must be consistent with the ends.
We are called to celebrate both our differences and our fundamental unity
with others.
We reaffirm our unity with others when we transform “us” versus “them”
thinking and doing.
Our oneness calls us to want, and to work for, the well-being of all.
The nonviolent journey is a process of becoming increasingly free from fear.
Martin Luther King, JR.’ Six principles of nonviolence
| From: Stride Toward Freedom , pp. 83-88., Martin Luther King, Jr. 1958 Harper and Row. Used with permission [ ] indicates paraphrases from “From Violence to Wholeness,” p. 134, Ken Butigan, Pace e Bene Franciscan |
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| Nonviolence Center, 1999. |
Used with permission |
Printed by
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SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS, 588 NORTH BLUFF BOULEVARD, CLINTON, IOWA 52732 563-242-7611 ~ www.clintonfranciscans.com |
10 Myths About Nuclear Weapons
By David Krieger & Angela McCraken
David Krieger is president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Angela McCracken is an intern in Human Rights and International Law at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
| 1 | Nuclear weapons were needed to defeat Japan in World War II. It is widely believed, particularly in the United States, that the use of nuclear weapons against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary to defeat Japan in World War II. This is not, however, the opinion of the leading US military figures in the war, including General Dwight Eisenhower, General Omar Bradley, General Hap Arnold and Admiral William Leahy. General Eisenhower, for example, who was the Supreme Allied Commander Europe during World War II and later US president, wrote, “I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced [to Secretary of War Stimson] my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of ‘face’….” Not only was the use of nuclear force unnecessary, its destructive force was excessive, resulting in 220,000 deaths by the end of 1945. | |
| 2 | Nuclear weapons prevented a war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Many people believe that the nuclear standoff during the Cold War prevented the two superpowers from going to war with each other, for fear of mutually assured destruction While it is true that the superpowers did not engage in nuclear warfare during the Cold War, there were many confrontations between them that came uncomfortably close to nuclear war, the most prominent being the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. There were also many deadly conflicts and “proxy” wars carried out by the superpowers in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Vietnam War, which took several million Vietnamese lives and the lives of more than 58,000 Americans, is a prominent example. These wars made the supposed nuclear peace very bloody and deadly. Lurking in the background was the constant danger of a nuclear exchange. The Cold War was an exceedingly dangerous time with a massive nuclear arms race, and the human race was extremely fortunate to have survived it without suffering a nuclear war. | |
| 3 | Prevent Nuclear Terrorism.
In light of the Cold War’s end, many people believed that nuclear threats had gone away. While the nature of nuclear threats has changed since the end of the Cold War, these threats are far from having disappeared or even significantly diminished. During the Cold War, the greatest threat was that of a massive nuclear exchange between the United States and Soviet Union. In the aftermath of the Cold War, a variety of new nuclear threats have emerged. Among these are the following dangers:
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| 4 | The United States needs nuclear weapons for its national security. There is a widespread belief in the United States that nuclear weapons are necessary for the US to defend against aggressor states. US national security, however, would be far improved if the US took a leadership role in seeking to eliminate nuclear weapons throughout the world. Nuclear weapons are the only weapons that could actually destroy the United States, and their existence and proliferation threaten US security. Continued high-alert deployment of nuclear weapons and research on smaller and more usable nuclear weapons by the US, combined with a more aggressive foreign policy, makes many weaker nations feel threatened. Weaker states may think of nuclear weapons as an equalizer, giving them the ability to effectively neutralize the forces of a threatening nuclear weapons state. Thus, as in the case of North Korea, the US threat may be instigating nuclear weapons proliferation. Continued reliance on nuclear weapons by the United States is setting the wrong example for the world, and is further endangering the country rather than protecting it. The United States has strong conventional military forces and would be far more secure in a world in which no country had nuclear arms. | |
| 5 | Nuclear weapons make a country safer. It is a common belief that nuclear weapons protect a country by deterring potential aggressors from attacking. By threatening massive retaliation, the argument goes, nuclear weapons prevent an attacker from starting a war. To the contrary, nuclear weapons are actually undermining the safety of the countries that possess them by providing a false sense of security. While deterrence can provide some psychological sense of security, there are no guarantees that the threat of retaliation will succeed in preventing an attack. There are many ways in which deterrence could fail, including misunderstandings, faulty communications, irrational leaders, miscalculations and accidents. In addition, the possession of nuclear weapons enhances the risks of terrorism, proliferation and ultimately nuclear annihilation. | |
| 6 | No leader would be crazy enough to actually use nuclear weapons. Many people believe that the threat of using nuclear weapons can go on indefinitely as a means of deterring attacks because no leader would be crazy enough to actually use them. Unfortunately, nuclear weapons have been used, and it is likely that most, if not all, leaders possessing these weapons would, under certain conditions, actually use them. US leaders, considered by many to be highly rational, are the only ones who have ever actually used nuclear weapons in war, against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Outside of these two bombings, the leaders of nuclear weapons states have repeatedly come close to using nuclear weapons. Nuclear deterrence is based upon a believable threat of nuclear retaliation, and the threat of nuclear weapons use has been constant during the post World War II period. US policy currently calls for the use of nuclear weapons in response to an attack with chemical or biological weapons against the US, its troops or allies. One of the premises of the US argument for preventive war is that other leaders would be willing to attack the United States with nuclear weapons. Threats of nuclear attack by India and Pakistan provide still another example of nuclear brinksmanship that could turn into a nuclear war. Globally and historically, leaders have done their best to prove that they would use nuclear weapons. Assuming that they would not do so is unwise. | |
| 7 | Nuclear weapons are a cost-effective method of national defense. Some have argued that nuclear weapons, with their high yield of explosive power, offer the benefit of an effective defense for minimum investment. This is one reason behind ongoing research into lower-yield tactical nuclear weapons, which would be perceived as more usable. The cost of nuclear weapons research, development, testing, deployment and maintenance, however, exceeded $5.5 trillion by 1996, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. With advances in nuclear technology and power, the costs and consequences of a nuclear war would be immeasurable. | |
| 8 | Nuclear weapons are well protected and there is little chance that terrorists could get their hands on one. Many people believe that nuclear weapons are well protected and that the likelihood of terrorists obtaining these weapons is low. In the aftermath of the Cold War, however, the ability of the Russians to protect their nuclear forces has declined precipitously. In addition, a coup in a country with nuclear weapons, such as Pakistan, could lead to a government coming to power that was willing to provide nuclear weapons to terrorists. In general, the more nuclear weapons there are in the world and the more nuclear weapons proliferate to additional countries, the greater the possibility that nuclear weapons will end up in the hands of terrorists. The best remedy for keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists is to drastically reduce their numbers and institute strict international inspections and controls on all nuclear weapons and weapons-grade nuclear materials in all countries, until these weapons and the materials for making them can be eliminated. | |
| 9 | The United States is working to fulfill its nuclear disarmament obligations. Most US citizens believe that the United States is working to fulfill its nuclear disarmament obligations. In fact, the United States has failed to fulfill its obligations under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, requiring good faith efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament, for more than 30 years. The United States has failed to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and has withdrawn from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The 2003 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) with Russia takes strategic nuclear weapons off active deployment, but has no provisions for verification or systematic reductions and it fails to adhere to the principle of irreversibility agreed to at the 2000 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. The treaty seeks maximum flexibility for rearmament rather than irreversible reductions in nuclear arms. Nuclear weapons taken off active deployment will be put in storage where they will actually become more vulnerable in both the US and Russia to theft by terrorists. In the year 2012, the treaty will end, unless extended. | |
| 10 | Nuclear weapons are needed to combat threats from terrorists and “rogue states.” It has been argued that nuclear weapons are needed to protect against terrorists and “rogue states.” Yet nuclear weapons, whether used for deterrence or as offensive weaponry, are not effective for this purpose. The threat of nuclear force cannot act as a deterrent against terrorists because they do not have a territory to retaliate against. Thus, terrorists would not be prevented from attacking a country for fear of nuclear retaliation. Nuclear weapons also cannot be relied on as a deterrent against “rogue states” because their responses to a nuclear threat may be irrational and deterrence relies on rationality. If the leaders of a rogue state do not use the same calculus regarding their losses from retaliation, deterrence can easily fail. As offensive weaponry, nuclear force only promises tremendous destruction to troops, civilians and the environment. It might work to annihilate a rogue state, but the amount of force entailed in using nuclear weaponry is indiscriminate, disproportionate and highly immoral. It would not be useful against terrorists because strategists could not be certain of locating an appropriate target for retaliation. |
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation www.wagingpeace.org
10 Reasons to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
by David Krieger
David Krieger is president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation initiates and supports worldwide efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, to strengthen international law and institutions, and to inspire and empower a new generation of peace leaders. Founded in 1982, the Foundation is comprised of individuals and organizations worldwide who realize the imperative for peace in the Nuclear Age. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan international education and advocacy organization. It has consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is recognized by the UN as a Peace Messenger Organization. www.wagingpeace.org
Lists of anti-nuclear weapons websites
zero – nukes – A Project of the Interfaith Committee for Nuclear Disarmament
www.zero-nukes.org
Waging Peace - - Nuclear Age Peace Foundation www.wagingpeace.org
Stop The Bombs - Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance www.stopthebombs.org
Faithful Security: National Religious Partnership on the Nuclear Weapons Danger
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