Contact Alyn Ware, Wellington Aotearoa-New Zealand, 64-4-385-8192,alyn@pnnd.org
Excerpts from an article by Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Norwegian parliament.
Published in Aftenposten 6 October 2004. Translated by Stine Rødmyr.
Another area where the Government can be prominent is nuclear disarmament. There is a great danger that the next step in the history of terrorism will be an increasing form of nuclear terror. Vast amounts of material that can be used to make nuclear bombs have gone astray, both highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium (Pu). In addition, low-level waste from nuclear power plants that can be used to make so-called dirty bombs is a great threat.
The non-proliferation regime under the United Nations is on the verge of breaking down, which will make it easier for terrorist groups to get hold of nuclear weapons. North Korea probably already has nuclear weapons. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia and Egypt will probably do so too.
We probably fight against the clock. But the situation can be brought under control if the old nuclear powers want to, and if USA and Europe shape a joint strategy, especially concerning Iran. But it is not only Iran that has to be handled to prevent a new nuclear arms race. We must return to a broad disarmament strategy as it was adopted in 1995 and strengthened in 2000 under the NPT, namely that the NWS must get rid of all forms of nuclear weapons. That is the only way of making others refrain from acquiring such weapons. However, this process has come to a stop. The NWS do no longer destroy nuclear weapons. They store them and thereby signal that they need them for their own security. Then other countries can make the same argument. And they do.
That is why dismantling of the strategic nuclear stockpile has to be resumed, and there must also be made an agreement about the tactical nuclear weapons. All countries must return to respecting the CTBT that ban testing of new nuclear weapons. And negotiations about a global agreement that bans development and proliferation of material, knowledge and technological components that can be used to produce nuclear weapons must start immediately. This is very important to prevent that such weapons fall into the hands of terrorist groups.
AWAY FROM A NEW NUCLEAR ARMS RACE. In this area, the Government should, in my opinion, support the initiative proposed by the New Agenda Coalition (NAC) countries including Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden. The United Nations General Assembly will this autumn consider a resolution proposed by NAC. The Norwegian Government then has an opportunity to look forward to a path that leads away from a new nuclear arms race. This will probably be disliked in Washington, but I think there is an almost unanimous dissatisfaction in Norway about the fact that USA no longer recognizes the CTBT and has plans for new types of nuclear weapons and policies for their use. The US also plans to spend billions of dollars on a shield that is supposed to stop strategic nuclear weapons in Space, while the challenge probably is that terrorist groups can transport nuclear bombs in a suitcase or send them into a harbour on a boat.
Most of us want to be loyal to our closest allies. But many are anxious about the current policy. It leads us towards more chaos. That creates anti-Americanism without any constructive substance. The task of the politicians must be to point out the path. Dagbladet [Norwegian newspaper], in their editorial column, called for more hearings in the Parliament on this issue. I think it would be even more important if we heard a response from the Government. |
