|
 |
English Radio correspondent Mehdi Geramifard has interviewed Sarah Flounders, Co-director of the “International Action Center” and organizer of the “Troops out Now” Coalition based in New York. The interview deals with the current NPT Conference in New York.
Question: Representatives of 189 countries are gathering in New York to review nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Five years ago we had the same conference in New York. How do you explain the importance of this and its impact on the world’s peace and Security?
Answer: Well, the Conference itself should be treated with importance. Unfortunately those countries that have nuclear weapons make every effort to completely ignore this conference. They send low level, insignificance delegations. The only head of state that has come in the entire world is Iranian President Ahmadinejad and that is very significant because it shows that Iran is treating this conference with a great deal of attention. However the US, the British, the French, the Nuclear powers, they only have small diplomatic representatives and those diplomats walked out of the Iranian President’s talk which is outrageous, shameful conduct.
Question: The Pentagon is releasing, along classified statistics about the total size of America’s nuclear arsenal, part of an effort to make the case but the country is honoring its treaty commitment to shrink its inventory of weapons significantly but some critics believe that the United States would abolish its outdated first generation nuclear weapons and would keep the more modern and powerful ones. What is your take of this, Mrs. Flounders?
Answer: This was absolutely true for decades that nuclear weapons which now maybe twenty and thirty years old desperately need to be retired because are dangerous even to be stored here in the US or around the world. At the same time battlefield nuclear weapons, new much higher tech small nuclear weapons, a whole generation of weapons the US has proceeded with developing and Putting around the world. This is the real danger.
Question: Should there be any reference to the nuclear arsenals of India, Pakistan and Israel in this Conference in your opinion and what tool are needed? What concrete measures should be adopted by the world community and also NPT member states to convince these three countries to join the NPT?
Answer: This is a big problem that the NPT or Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty faces and that is that even countries clearly have nuclear weapons, have refused to sign to the treaty or abide by any of its agreements. Israel has hundreds of nuclear weapons. Pakistan and India are also known to have nuclear weapons, have carried out nuclear weapons tests and so on. However all of these countries ignore the nuclear non-proliferation because the US in essence ignores the NPT and goes a head with its development and it is not really in any way and has never been a participant in this whole process and not allows other countries to also ignore the NPT and to instead use it as a political weapon against Iran or any other country that they want to target with threats or sanctions.
Question: Some critics believe that US President Barack Obama is not attempting to materialize its slogan of change. Isn’t there a chance and hope to witness a new horizon in Washington’s foreign policy in your opinion towards nuclear issues?
Answer: In my opinion President Barack Obama is one man. His election in the time since then we have seen that the same institutions, the same banks, the same military corporations, the same Pentagon and even the same Secretary of Defense all remain in place. So in essence there has been no change in the policy because there is no change in the real decision makers.
Question: Aren’t there any differences of opinion between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of nuclear weapons or not and which side has a more moderate position in your opinion?
Answer: I think in essence on nuclear weapons and also on the questions of defense of the US empire around the world there are no fundamental differences. There are differences on internal and social issues in the US, sometimes between the Republicans and Democrats, there is certainly a difference in their base of support within the US between the two parties but on the fundamental issues of the US empire there is no real differences.
Question: To find proper solution to major world issues including nuclear proliferation, what is needed is collective commitment and cooperation especially in view of the fact that setting countries try to impose their will on others under the guise of what they called the international community. Is it really possible at this modern world to impose your will on others and what is the moral and legal responsibility and duty of the international community to convince owners of nuclear warheads towards disarmament process?
Answer: It has been shown that it is not possible any longer for any country even a largest military power in the world which is the US Pentagon, the US war machine of today and yet they are spectacularly unable to impose their will on a country as poor as Afghanistan or as now destroyed as Iraq. So it isn’t possible for any country to impose their will, as long as there is a determination on the part of the people themselves to refuse colonization. However on the question of nuclear energy which is very important today. It is also still important to rally and to explain to the world’s people. I do think that was very important the way that Iran posed this question. I think nuclear energy for all, nuclear weapons for none because that shows there is every right of every country in the world to develop nuclear energy for peaceful scientific purposes and yet no country should have nuclear weapons because they endanger all humanity, put all life on this planet at risk and they are criminal in every sense for any country to hold nuclear weapons
|
