Chomsky on the nuclear threat

On August 6th, 1945 when the atomic bomb exploded on Hiroshima we have learned that human intelligence had devised means to bring the human experiment of 200 000 years to an end. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is recognized as a turning point in human history, possibly the final chapter which we are writing right now, in our lifetime. 'Nuclear threat was escalating ever since. There is a growing list of near misses, accidents, errors and even recklessness by which we have escaped nuclear conflict and annihilation. It is a miracle we have managed to avoid a nuclear conflict so far. Chomsky cautions us, we should not trust our luck any further.

Present threats

Chomsky demonstrates the precarious character of the checks and balances that are guarding us against nuclear war and argues that we need to remake the international order.

For example operation 'Able Archer' launched during the Reagan administration was designed to probe Russian defences and included simulated nuclear attacks. These military exercises took place in times of already heightened tension with Russia due to the placement of Pershing 2 missiles in Europe. According to declassified documents The Russians perceived this exercise as a real threat and begun mobilizing their forces. US forces according to the military protocol should have responded similarly, escalating the threat from an exercise to a real confrontation. This did not happen because a high-ranking US air force officer Leonard Peroots decided not to follow the protocol and by doing so averted a possible terminal war. On the Russian side, similar disobedience of protocols had possibly saved a nuclear war. Stanislav Petrov chose to ignore a warning of a massive nuclear attack by the US, mistakenly generated by a Russian automated alarm system. Another similar case involved Vasily Arkhikop , a Russian commander of submarine that refused a command to fire nuclear-tipped torpedoes during the Cuban crisis in 1962.

The primary nuclear threat today is at the Russian border. Chomsky notes that both US and Russia are increasing their military arsenal, for example, Obama proposed a trillion-dollar update of nuclear weapon systems and developing new nuclear weapons, cruise missiles with nuclear tips. These last ones are according to Chomsky, are in particular dangerous because they can be scaled down to be used by soldiers on the ground.

The US has made several moves that were seen as threats to Russia: one is the installation of an 800 Billion missile defence system in Romania; despite its name, this system is apparently a first-strike weapon system. The expansion of NATO was a breach of a verbal agreement between Reagan, Baker and Gorbachev. This expansion and the inclusion of several former Soviet Union block countries was perceived on the Russian side as a threat. As George Kenman, a senior statesman stated, NATO expansion was a tragic mistake. Chomsky posits that the Bush administration developed a national security strategy to maintain and justify the existence of a huge military system, to support US global control and influence in Europe and the Middle East and justifying this by a made-up Russian threats.

Steps that were taken to limit the nuclear threat:

There were some tentative steps taken to contain the nuclear threat. Five nuclear states (US, Britain, France, Soviet Union and China) signed in 1968 a Non-Proliferation treaty and committed to a 'good faith ' elimination of nuclear weapons. India, Pakistan and Israel refused to sign. All three countries benefited in their nuclear development program from US support. As of August 2016, 191 states have become parties to the treaty.

The establishment of nuclear-free zones was and still is, another international effort to limit the threat of nuclear holocaust. There is one in the western hemisphere excluding the US and Canada. There are also nuclear-free zones in the Pacific and Africa, partly blocked by the US refusal to relinquish nuclear weapons in Diego Garcia and the Pacific islands.

In the middle east Arab states are trying to establish a nuclear-free zone and Iran is leading this initiative. (There is also a 1991 UN resolution that bans nuclear weapons in the Middle East.) Progress on this resolution is regularly blocked by the US administration, most recently by Obama in 2015. Chomsky claims that the indefinite extension of the 1961 non-proliferation treaty is conditioned on establishing nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.

Chomsky adds a cynical note: 'protecting Israeli nuclear arsenal is evidently high enough priority to justify a threat to major arms treaty.’

Abolishing nuclear weapons

Chomsky says that abolishing nuclear weapons altogether is not a Utopian idea. He points to George Shultz (Reagan's secretary of state) senator Sam Nunn a leading specialist on nuclear weapons, Henry Kissinger and William Perry a Secretary of Defence who together op-ed an article in the Wall Street Journal calling for total elimination of nuclear weapons. The International Court of Justice in his advisory opinion on the legality of possessing the threat or use of nuclear weapons was also supportive of the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Chomsky concludes this section with the following statement: 'We surely can not expect systems of organized power, state or private to take appropriate actions to address this crisis, not unless they are compelled to do so by constant, dedicated popular mobilization and activism.'

So what can be done?

A major task is education, an effort to develop public awareness of the threats, their nature and their roots. We need to confront these issues! We should contribute to critical educational initiatives in our country (USA, Chomsky is addressing his American audience, attending his lecture) because it is our country, because it is a world leader and because here we can exert an influence as we, the public, did in the massive anti-nuclear demonstration of 1980 in Manhattan.

Chomsky compels us to be actively involved in pressuring elected politicians to ban nuclear weapons. He says regarding the disarmament of nuclear weapons that without large scale public support – 'and that where your responsibility comes in' there will not be disarmament. We should IMMEDIATELY take steps to reduce international tensions, that are escalating the threat of a nuclear war. He cites William Perry who said “We are facing nuclear dangers today that are in fact more likely to erupt into nuclear conflict than during the cold war. The atomic scientists that update the Doom Clock also warn about the impending terminal disaster. In 2014 the clock was 3 minutes from midnight, 3 minutes from doomsday.

We all need to become activists and Activism means to educate, organize, mobilize and to Act.

We (Chomsky refers to the US public) share common goals of peace and justice. But here in US, we are facing significant sociopolitical challenges. 40% of US citizens believe in Christ returning shortly and therefore we do not need to worry about our species survival. Two-thirds of Americans agree that climate change is happening but far fewer agree that it is caused by human activities. Short-term challenges of how to get by, displace the fundamental questions about future generations.