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The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bush's Military-Industrial Complex
This revised edition includes a new introduction that outlines the costs of operation Iraqi Freedom, details the companies profiting from the war and subsequent reconstruction, and chronicles the rampant conflicts of interest among members of the Bush administration who also have a financial stake in weapons manufacturing. After eight printings in the original edition, The New Nuclear Danger remains a singularly persuasive antidote to war and its horrific costs.
263 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 28, 2019
I read this in a day I went out for coffee with a friend, ran a bunch of tasks and prepared for a dinner party at our house. Needless to say it is an easy read with the final third being the official appendix and the first two thirds being an unofficial appendix. Where Dr. Caldicott misses in storytelling and narrative she makes up in easily digestible facts and explanations. I hope someone takes this book and applies the info section by section to the multitude of Wikipedia pages that would benefit from her research and knowledge about the military industrial complex and nuclear weapons specifically.
March 14, 2011
This book is scary but evidence-based by an expert on nuclear effects on human beings. I checked out a number of its claims with a scientist active in the global efforts to deal with nuclear proliferation. He confirmed some of it when the info was no longer classified but some parts he couldn't since it was still classified.
Taken verbatim from Goodreads review: "Author Biography: The world's leading spokesperson for the antinuclear movement, Dr. Helen Caldicott is the founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, and the 2003 winner of The Lannan Prize for Cultural Freedom. Both the Smithsonian Institute and Ladies' Home Journal have named her one of the Most Influential Women of the Twentieth Century. She recently established the Nuclear Policy Institute in Washington, DC."
Taken verbatim from Goodreads review: "Author Biography: The world's leading spokesperson for the antinuclear movement, Dr. Helen Caldicott is the founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, and the 2003 winner of The Lannan Prize for Cultural Freedom. Both the Smithsonian Institute and Ladies' Home Journal have named her one of the Most Influential Women of the Twentieth Century. She recently established the Nuclear Policy Institute in Washington, DC."
August 17, 2023
Dr. Caldicott wrote this impassioned plea against nuclear weapons and militarism at the height of post 9/11 American jingoism. She spends a few pages cataloguing the nightmare effects of nuclear weapons, but most of this book is focused against the militarism of the second Bush administration. She shows that the US was clearly hellbent on expanding its nuclear arsenal and building an infeasible and dangerous missile defense system, in spite of existing treaties and the end of Cold War hostilities. The main motivation for this madness seems to be simple pork barrel spending, as congress continues to shovel record amounts of money at military contractors. Antagonizing China, scaring Russia, and resisting Korean peace talks help the US advance it’s goal of nuclear supremacy.
October 2, 2018
Understanding the military-industrial complex and the mess we have in the aftermath of the further pursuit of war in Iraq, is probably a key to understanding how we have gone from an industrialized nation to one that relies on war profiteers and industries to keep the economy going. Shameful and reprehensible. And that is before considering the complete corruption of our electoral system.
August 30, 2014
My review:
Dr. Caldicott, H. (2002). The New Nuclear Danger, George W. Bush’s Military
Industrial Complex. The New Press, New York. ISBN: 1-56584-740-7 (pbk).
“If you look at the world history, ever since men began waging war, you will see that there’s a permanent race between sword and shield. The sword always wins. The more improvements that are made to the shield, the more improvements are made to the sword”. *
Jacques Chirac
______________________________________
*(From, the Nuclear Danger, pp-111)
The opening quote to this paper perfectly explains the patterns of an insidious trend that poses the utmost danger to humanity today; the Nuclear Warfare. I became interested in nuclear issues when I started working at the United Nations where I witnessed the negotiations over the Iraqi war in the Security Council. Before that, I was not aware of the international issues, particularly Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and nuclear weapons. Therefore, I started to read numerous books relevant to these topics, to better understand what people mean when they converse on these subjects. The New Nuclear Danger is one of those books that enthralled me; and that is why I decided to review this book.
Dr. Helen Caldicott reviews in her book the horrible consequences of nuclear warfare with rare ability to combine science with passion. She opens the readers’ eyes in the very beginning, introduction to the book, by saying that, people may feel reassured that President Bush, meeting in Texas in November 2001 with President Putin, offered to reduce America’s stockpile of strategic weapons from some 7000 down to 2220-1700 over the next ten years. But she points out that this offer was made without the guarantee of any formal written treaty and can therefore be abandoned or reversed at any time. Without verification, it will be impossible to confirm that cuts are actually carried out, while the ten-year duration gives much latitude for reversal and change. She says that although the cuts look good on paper, they mean nothing. The U.S. will still have plenty of weapons to maintain its first-strike winnable nuclear war policy, and none of the weapons will be dismantled, but will be stored, waiting for possible future use. She further states:
“In truth, if Russia comes to the party, such bilateral reductions will make it easier for the U.S. to win a nuclear war against Russia, because there will be fewer targets and the missile-defense system now under construction will mop up any Russian missiles that escape the initial surprise attack. U.S. anti-satellite weapons under construction will also be necessary to destroy the “eyes and ears” of the Russian early-warning system. This is a terrifying but realistic scenario, a logical extension of the Pentagon’s current policy to “fight and win” a nuclear war. So, Bush’s unilateral reductions proposal is a ploy to divert the world’s attention away from his Star Wars project, which Simon Tisdall of the London Guardian called “a reckless act of weapons proliferation,” which will provoke an international arms race, entangle third parties such as Britain and Australia, and, as this book makes clear, lead directly to the militarization of space if it does not cause nuclear winter first. The highly contentious military and geo-strategic foundations of the 21st century are being laid—and hardly anybody is watching. That is why I wrote this book.”
By only reading the introduction of the book, I was instantly captivated and I believe the reader will feel the same, and the curiosity will make anybody to go on reading and finish it breathlessly, at once.
Dr. Helen Caldicott is the founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. Both the Smithsonian Institute and Ladies’ Home Journal named her one of the Most Influential Women of the 20th century, and she has honorary degrees from nineteen universities. She divides her time between Australia and United States, where she has devoted the last thirty years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age.
Caldicott reviews the new nuclear age in nine chapters by giving us quite detailed information including nuclear weapons, nuclear tests, medical implications of nuclear weapons, the use of space for nuclear purposes, the U.S.’s nuclear policy-Bush’s in particular, - and so many other issues that enlighten us and also make us feel privileged enough to have an uncommon perspective on such complex issues. Thus I believe that this book is a panacea for the students, instructors and professionals in this field.
In the first chapter she talks about the American military expenditures and arouses our attention to an interesting point. She states that The Pentagon and State Department justify the extraordinary U.S. military expenditure--- now 310 billion dollars annually--- with potential threats from North Korea, Iraq, Iran, China, Russia, and possibly Libya. But she asserts that of these, only 5000 strategic nuclear weapons in Russia---half of which could hit U.S. cities thirty minutes after launching---pose a major threat to American security. She further says, “ more relevantly, as recent events have made all too clear, the largest nuclear stockpile in the world can accomplish little in the face of terrorists armed with box cutters, except, possibly, offering potential for terrifying escalation of any ensuing conflict between nations. America currently spends 22 times as much on its military forces as all the other so-called rogue states or “states of concern”---Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and Libya---put together, when nullification of any threat they might pose could be achieved for a fraction of that amount.”
Caldicott also provides the reader with other possible explanations to the overspending of America on military that I believe are astonishing:
• It fattens the coffers of weapons makers.
• It is a direct result of the rivalry between the air force, the army, the navy, and the marines, each of whom want their own weapons systems.
• It leaves the prestige of top lawmakers within Congress and the White House who are the recipients of huge donations from weapons manufacturers as they legislate for more weapons.
• A huge conventional and nuclear arsenal allows America to do what it wills around the world with impunity---it is the iron hand in the velvet glove of U.S. corporate globalization.
Other issues related to the American military expenditure will also be examined in the following chapters.
In the second chapter The Reality of Nuclear War she lays out a possible scenario between America and Russia. She argues that if launched from Russia, nuclear weapons would explode U.S. cities with a population of over 100.000 thirty minutes after takeoff. During these thirty minutes, the U.S. early warning Infrared satellite detectors signal the attack to the strategic command center in Colorado. They in turn notify the President who has approximately three minutes to decide to launch a counter attack. If he decides so, missiles pass mid-space and the whole operation is over within an hour.
The aftermath of such scenario is terrifying. She asserts that landing 20 times the speed of the sound nuclear weapons will explode the cities, with heat equal to that inside the center of the sun. There will be practically no warning, except the emergency broadcast system on radio or TV, which will give the public minutes to reach the nearest shelter, assuming there is one. There will be no time to collect children or immediate family members. She further explains the horrible results, as follows:
“The bomb or bombs will gouge out craters 200 feet deep and 1000 feet in diameter if they explode at ground level. Half a mile from the epicenter all buildings will be destroyed, and at 1, 7 miles only reinforced buildings will remain. Fifty percent of the residents will be dead and forty percent will be severely injured. Bricks and mortar are converted to missiles traveling at hundreds of miles of an hour. The pressure pop corned the windows producing millions of shards of glass, causing decapacitations and shocking lacerations. Overpressures have also entered the nose, mouth and ears, inducing the rupture of lungs and rupture of the tympanic membranes and ear drums. Most people will suffer severe burns. The heat will be so intense that dry objects- furniture, clothes, and dry-wood will spontaneously ignite. Humans will become walking, flying torches.”
In this chapter the author also discusses nuclear power plants, diseases, and nuclear winter. However, her example with which to demonstrate the possibility of an accidental nuclear war had the most impact on me. In January 1995 a U.S. missile is launched from a nuclear station in northern tip of Norway and Yeltsin authorized counterattack. Fortunately the U.S. missile veered off course and he realized that Russia is not under attack and retracted his order.
Dr. Caldicott also mentions how the world’s population is vulnerable by arguing that the Russian satellite systems are deteriorating, and America itself is not invulnerable to error. She further states that such a scenario would be a catastrophe if America cannot observe what Russia is doing—or vice versa, especially during international crisis; they are likely to err on the side of “caution”, which could mean that something as benign as the launch of a weather satellite could actually trigger the annihilation of the planet. She argues that this situation became more significant after the September 11 attacks.
In the third chapter she writes the different strategies of former President Clinton and President Bush. She discusses that Clinton was reluctant to engage in directly nuclear issues and he used to debate objectives with his subordinates. Nevertheless, Bush debates the tactics, but never objectives. According to her, Bush and his administration is engaged in Nuclear and Military issues, because they are benefiting from the weapons construction and sale; and they are deceiving the people working in nuclear projects by convincing that they are doing a good thing rather than preparing the end of life on earth. That is why they are not calling them weapons, but gadgets.
The chapter which had the most influence on me as a whole was the forth one where she talks about The Corporate Madness and the Death Merchants. She asks: “Who runs the Congress?” In an effort to answer this question, she argues that the transnational corporations, whose executives wine and dine, woo, bribe, and corrupt the officeholders of the White House and the Congress—from the President and the vice president to almost all elected congressional officials. She asserts that these all-powerful corporations manipulate and control most of the federal legislations, foreign and domestic, that passes through the Congress. They do it through variety of mechanisms: think tanks, corporate mergers, lobbying, and political donations.
At this point she lists several names of think tank groups including Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Inc., CATO Institute, and Center for Security Policy (CSP), and gives examples of their works to show their significance regarding with the aforementioned issue, influencing the Congress. She mentions that CSP is quintessential because of its funders who are military contractors: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, TRW, General Dynamics, Rockwell International, and Northrop Grumman.
In this chapter she also talks about North Korea, saying that it has no danger to America but “the ongoing demoniacal representation of North Korea is important to Pentagon, because it has been used to justify U.S. presence in South Korea where there are 17000 American troops present. To support this view, she quotes the former Secretary of Defense William Cohen: “how can we change the assumption that U.S. troops will be withdrawn after peace comes to Korean peninsula?”
I like to mention that she leaves me with a dilemma at this point. Because North Korea announced recently (obviously after this book was written) that she is producing nuclear weapons. The author’s comments on this issue, on the other hand, sounds credible since I believe that anything is possible in the realm of international relations for national interests such as, Russians selling weapons to Chechens and Israel to Palestinians...However her assessment still remains to be a conundrum for me and needs clearance by other sources.
Caldicott affirms that Lockheed Martin is the most powerful military corporation on earth. It is a 35 billion dollar behemoth and number one contractor for the Pentagon, NASA, and the Department of Energy. She also informs us that less than two months after 9/11 Pentagon has awarded Lockheed Martin with 200 billion dollar contract over the next several decades to build 3000 F-35 joint strike fighter planes. She adds that they make donations to both political parties, but by margin of 2:1 to the republicans since they became more powerful in the congress in 1994.
In explaining the relationship between the government and these corporations and think tank groups, I think the author is quite successful. A case study in this chapter shows how deeply she researched these groups to reach her conclusions. The case study is about how Lockheed Martin and McDonald Douglass who worked vigorously to convince Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to buy American weapons if they want to gain U.S support to join the NATO, despite the fact that father Bush promised after the fall of Berlin wall to Russia that America would not expand NATO eastwardly. These groups succeeded in convincing Clinton to violate this promise and help those countries to join into NATO. Moreover, she argues that it is important that even though the weapons sale seems lucrative for weapons contractors, all research, development, and initial production problems were covered by U.S. taxpayers.
In chapter five Manhattan II Project she attempts to explain the real purpose of the project. She argues that the project ostensibly instituted was basically about to ensure proper functions of U.S. stockpile of nuclear weapons post cold-war. But she asserts that this benign description disguises the truth, because the nuclear scientists were actually designing, developing, testing and constructing new nuclear weapons at an annual cost of 5 billion dollars over the next ten to fifteen years. She discusses that with this project U.S. violated and still violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), because it engaged in “vertical proliferation.”
In chapter six she discusses about what will be the consequences of the destruction of Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABMT). She reminds us the Putin’s declaration with which he affirms that Russia would withdraw from the treaty if America does so…
She also discusses numerous issues in this chapter including National Missile Defense System (NMDS), the components of it, limited missile defense system, extensive missile defense system, space-based defense system and so on. She further argues about how the potential misunderstandings of nuclear testing may cause a nuclear war.
It is very striking that Caldicott asserts that U.S. attachment to NMD is so bizarre that the state department is actively encouraging Russia to maintain “large, diversified, viable arsenals of strategic offensive weapons capable of delivering and annihilating counterattack,” as long as Russia allows America to violate the ABM treaty and proceed NMD policy. She argues that the purpose of NMD is not to protect America from North Korean missiles, but from Russia and China. That is why U.S.’s tracking and imaging radar stations are at the northern tip of Norway instead of Northern Japan. I think she makes an interesting point by further saying that North Korea is a “camouflage” to disguise America’s true intentions.
In Chapter seven, Space: Next American Empire the author is taking us to a totally different ambience. She conveys the plan which is summarized by NASA and U.S. Space Command that “one of the much acknowledged and commonly understood advantage of space-based platforms is no restrictions or country clearances to over fly a nation from space. The use of space during conflicts will be critical to the U.S. success on the battlefield.”
More importantly, I totally agree when she draws attention to the civilian use of cyber space through cell phones, internet, weather predictions, accurate locating mechanisms for ships and terrestrial events via GPS satellite system, and more. She quotes the commander in chief of U.S. Space Command, General Ralph Eberhart saying that, “space is prerequisite. It is not a luxury any more. Space has proven itself vital to our national interests.” Thus she affirms that the civilian life is more dependent upon space today than before and no country—especially America-- has right to destroy space by militarizing it.
In this chapter the author also examines different topics related to this issue including Anti-satellite warfare, threat to U.S. satellite systems, cyberspace military planes, international space stations, etc. Additionally she argues that NASA insists on nuclear power instead of solar power; because the military is enthusiastic about it. She also talks about the possible depletion of the ozone layer and its consequences to human life, such as causing skin cancer. Finally in this chapter she states that U.S. is always blocking any positive action taken by United Nations Security Council. For example U.S. abstained on Outer Space Treaty which urges the countries to use space for only “peaceful purposes.”
Chapter eight lays out heartbreaking facts. She discusses about the Uranium use in Iraq in the Gulf War by the U.S... She asserts that America has dropped more than 88 thousand and 500 tons of bombs (equivalent of more than 7 Hiroshima) in Iraq and most of them were not smart bombs, which mean they did not hit the military targets and killed thousands of civilians. According to her, the U.S. attacked columns of retreating Iraqi soldiers and civilians with carrier based planes, using cluster bombs and napalm that adhere to the skin while burning, on the contrary to the accepted wartime behaviors (Geneva Convention).
Caldicott adds that the Operation Desert Storm was the first war in history, which was a radioactive battlefield. American deployment of radioactive uranium weapons in Gulf countries has permanently contaminated the area and will continue to affect citizens of the region for thousands of years after the war ended.
In the last chapter the author goes into the details about the Lockheed Martin and its relationship with Bush and his administration. I will not reiterate this issue; instead I will continue with her suggestions, with which I strongly agree, in the last chapter.
In Chapter nine, she argues that America is spending every six cents out of every dollar on educating its children, and four cents on health, but fifty cents on military. Overall 310 billion dollars per year dwarfs the 45 billion dollars for education and 21 billion dollars for health. Globally military expenditure stands at 780 billion dollar more than the amount of the other countries around the world. She demonstrates that it is very impacting that the total amount required to provide global health care, eliminate starvation and malnutrition, provide clean water shelter for all, remove landmines, eliminate nuclear weapons, stop deforestation, prevent global warming, ozone depletion and acid rain, stop over population, is only one third that amount—237,5 billion dollars.
Dr. Caldicott, H. (2002). The New Nuclear Danger, George W. Bush’s Military
Industrial Complex. The New Press, New York. ISBN: 1-56584-740-7 (pbk).
“If you look at the world history, ever since men began waging war, you will see that there’s a permanent race between sword and shield. The sword always wins. The more improvements that are made to the shield, the more improvements are made to the sword”. *
Jacques Chirac
______________________________________
*(From, the Nuclear Danger, pp-111)
The opening quote to this paper perfectly explains the patterns of an insidious trend that poses the utmost danger to humanity today; the Nuclear Warfare. I became interested in nuclear issues when I started working at the United Nations where I witnessed the negotiations over the Iraqi war in the Security Council. Before that, I was not aware of the international issues, particularly Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and nuclear weapons. Therefore, I started to read numerous books relevant to these topics, to better understand what people mean when they converse on these subjects. The New Nuclear Danger is one of those books that enthralled me; and that is why I decided to review this book.
Dr. Helen Caldicott reviews in her book the horrible consequences of nuclear warfare with rare ability to combine science with passion. She opens the readers’ eyes in the very beginning, introduction to the book, by saying that, people may feel reassured that President Bush, meeting in Texas in November 2001 with President Putin, offered to reduce America’s stockpile of strategic weapons from some 7000 down to 2220-1700 over the next ten years. But she points out that this offer was made without the guarantee of any formal written treaty and can therefore be abandoned or reversed at any time. Without verification, it will be impossible to confirm that cuts are actually carried out, while the ten-year duration gives much latitude for reversal and change. She says that although the cuts look good on paper, they mean nothing. The U.S. will still have plenty of weapons to maintain its first-strike winnable nuclear war policy, and none of the weapons will be dismantled, but will be stored, waiting for possible future use. She further states:
“In truth, if Russia comes to the party, such bilateral reductions will make it easier for the U.S. to win a nuclear war against Russia, because there will be fewer targets and the missile-defense system now under construction will mop up any Russian missiles that escape the initial surprise attack. U.S. anti-satellite weapons under construction will also be necessary to destroy the “eyes and ears” of the Russian early-warning system. This is a terrifying but realistic scenario, a logical extension of the Pentagon’s current policy to “fight and win” a nuclear war. So, Bush’s unilateral reductions proposal is a ploy to divert the world’s attention away from his Star Wars project, which Simon Tisdall of the London Guardian called “a reckless act of weapons proliferation,” which will provoke an international arms race, entangle third parties such as Britain and Australia, and, as this book makes clear, lead directly to the militarization of space if it does not cause nuclear winter first. The highly contentious military and geo-strategic foundations of the 21st century are being laid—and hardly anybody is watching. That is why I wrote this book.”
By only reading the introduction of the book, I was instantly captivated and I believe the reader will feel the same, and the curiosity will make anybody to go on reading and finish it breathlessly, at once.
Dr. Helen Caldicott is the founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. Both the Smithsonian Institute and Ladies’ Home Journal named her one of the Most Influential Women of the 20th century, and she has honorary degrees from nineteen universities. She divides her time between Australia and United States, where she has devoted the last thirty years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age.
Caldicott reviews the new nuclear age in nine chapters by giving us quite detailed information including nuclear weapons, nuclear tests, medical implications of nuclear weapons, the use of space for nuclear purposes, the U.S.’s nuclear policy-Bush’s in particular, - and so many other issues that enlighten us and also make us feel privileged enough to have an uncommon perspective on such complex issues. Thus I believe that this book is a panacea for the students, instructors and professionals in this field.
In the first chapter she talks about the American military expenditures and arouses our attention to an interesting point. She states that The Pentagon and State Department justify the extraordinary U.S. military expenditure--- now 310 billion dollars annually--- with potential threats from North Korea, Iraq, Iran, China, Russia, and possibly Libya. But she asserts that of these, only 5000 strategic nuclear weapons in Russia---half of which could hit U.S. cities thirty minutes after launching---pose a major threat to American security. She further says, “ more relevantly, as recent events have made all too clear, the largest nuclear stockpile in the world can accomplish little in the face of terrorists armed with box cutters, except, possibly, offering potential for terrifying escalation of any ensuing conflict between nations. America currently spends 22 times as much on its military forces as all the other so-called rogue states or “states of concern”---Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and Libya---put together, when nullification of any threat they might pose could be achieved for a fraction of that amount.”
Caldicott also provides the reader with other possible explanations to the overspending of America on military that I believe are astonishing:
• It fattens the coffers of weapons makers.
• It is a direct result of the rivalry between the air force, the army, the navy, and the marines, each of whom want their own weapons systems.
• It leaves the prestige of top lawmakers within Congress and the White House who are the recipients of huge donations from weapons manufacturers as they legislate for more weapons.
• A huge conventional and nuclear arsenal allows America to do what it wills around the world with impunity---it is the iron hand in the velvet glove of U.S. corporate globalization.
Other issues related to the American military expenditure will also be examined in the following chapters.
In the second chapter The Reality of Nuclear War she lays out a possible scenario between America and Russia. She argues that if launched from Russia, nuclear weapons would explode U.S. cities with a population of over 100.000 thirty minutes after takeoff. During these thirty minutes, the U.S. early warning Infrared satellite detectors signal the attack to the strategic command center in Colorado. They in turn notify the President who has approximately three minutes to decide to launch a counter attack. If he decides so, missiles pass mid-space and the whole operation is over within an hour.
The aftermath of such scenario is terrifying. She asserts that landing 20 times the speed of the sound nuclear weapons will explode the cities, with heat equal to that inside the center of the sun. There will be practically no warning, except the emergency broadcast system on radio or TV, which will give the public minutes to reach the nearest shelter, assuming there is one. There will be no time to collect children or immediate family members. She further explains the horrible results, as follows:
“The bomb or bombs will gouge out craters 200 feet deep and 1000 feet in diameter if they explode at ground level. Half a mile from the epicenter all buildings will be destroyed, and at 1, 7 miles only reinforced buildings will remain. Fifty percent of the residents will be dead and forty percent will be severely injured. Bricks and mortar are converted to missiles traveling at hundreds of miles of an hour. The pressure pop corned the windows producing millions of shards of glass, causing decapacitations and shocking lacerations. Overpressures have also entered the nose, mouth and ears, inducing the rupture of lungs and rupture of the tympanic membranes and ear drums. Most people will suffer severe burns. The heat will be so intense that dry objects- furniture, clothes, and dry-wood will spontaneously ignite. Humans will become walking, flying torches.”
In this chapter the author also discusses nuclear power plants, diseases, and nuclear winter. However, her example with which to demonstrate the possibility of an accidental nuclear war had the most impact on me. In January 1995 a U.S. missile is launched from a nuclear station in northern tip of Norway and Yeltsin authorized counterattack. Fortunately the U.S. missile veered off course and he realized that Russia is not under attack and retracted his order.
Dr. Caldicott also mentions how the world’s population is vulnerable by arguing that the Russian satellite systems are deteriorating, and America itself is not invulnerable to error. She further states that such a scenario would be a catastrophe if America cannot observe what Russia is doing—or vice versa, especially during international crisis; they are likely to err on the side of “caution”, which could mean that something as benign as the launch of a weather satellite could actually trigger the annihilation of the planet. She argues that this situation became more significant after the September 11 attacks.
In the third chapter she writes the different strategies of former President Clinton and President Bush. She discusses that Clinton was reluctant to engage in directly nuclear issues and he used to debate objectives with his subordinates. Nevertheless, Bush debates the tactics, but never objectives. According to her, Bush and his administration is engaged in Nuclear and Military issues, because they are benefiting from the weapons construction and sale; and they are deceiving the people working in nuclear projects by convincing that they are doing a good thing rather than preparing the end of life on earth. That is why they are not calling them weapons, but gadgets.
The chapter which had the most influence on me as a whole was the forth one where she talks about The Corporate Madness and the Death Merchants. She asks: “Who runs the Congress?” In an effort to answer this question, she argues that the transnational corporations, whose executives wine and dine, woo, bribe, and corrupt the officeholders of the White House and the Congress—from the President and the vice president to almost all elected congressional officials. She asserts that these all-powerful corporations manipulate and control most of the federal legislations, foreign and domestic, that passes through the Congress. They do it through variety of mechanisms: think tanks, corporate mergers, lobbying, and political donations.
At this point she lists several names of think tank groups including Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Inc., CATO Institute, and Center for Security Policy (CSP), and gives examples of their works to show their significance regarding with the aforementioned issue, influencing the Congress. She mentions that CSP is quintessential because of its funders who are military contractors: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, TRW, General Dynamics, Rockwell International, and Northrop Grumman.
In this chapter she also talks about North Korea, saying that it has no danger to America but “the ongoing demoniacal representation of North Korea is important to Pentagon, because it has been used to justify U.S. presence in South Korea where there are 17000 American troops present. To support this view, she quotes the former Secretary of Defense William Cohen: “how can we change the assumption that U.S. troops will be withdrawn after peace comes to Korean peninsula?”
I like to mention that she leaves me with a dilemma at this point. Because North Korea announced recently (obviously after this book was written) that she is producing nuclear weapons. The author’s comments on this issue, on the other hand, sounds credible since I believe that anything is possible in the realm of international relations for national interests such as, Russians selling weapons to Chechens and Israel to Palestinians...However her assessment still remains to be a conundrum for me and needs clearance by other sources.
Caldicott affirms that Lockheed Martin is the most powerful military corporation on earth. It is a 35 billion dollar behemoth and number one contractor for the Pentagon, NASA, and the Department of Energy. She also informs us that less than two months after 9/11 Pentagon has awarded Lockheed Martin with 200 billion dollar contract over the next several decades to build 3000 F-35 joint strike fighter planes. She adds that they make donations to both political parties, but by margin of 2:1 to the republicans since they became more powerful in the congress in 1994.
In explaining the relationship between the government and these corporations and think tank groups, I think the author is quite successful. A case study in this chapter shows how deeply she researched these groups to reach her conclusions. The case study is about how Lockheed Martin and McDonald Douglass who worked vigorously to convince Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to buy American weapons if they want to gain U.S support to join the NATO, despite the fact that father Bush promised after the fall of Berlin wall to Russia that America would not expand NATO eastwardly. These groups succeeded in convincing Clinton to violate this promise and help those countries to join into NATO. Moreover, she argues that it is important that even though the weapons sale seems lucrative for weapons contractors, all research, development, and initial production problems were covered by U.S. taxpayers.
In chapter five Manhattan II Project she attempts to explain the real purpose of the project. She argues that the project ostensibly instituted was basically about to ensure proper functions of U.S. stockpile of nuclear weapons post cold-war. But she asserts that this benign description disguises the truth, because the nuclear scientists were actually designing, developing, testing and constructing new nuclear weapons at an annual cost of 5 billion dollars over the next ten to fifteen years. She discusses that with this project U.S. violated and still violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), because it engaged in “vertical proliferation.”
In chapter six she discusses about what will be the consequences of the destruction of Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABMT). She reminds us the Putin’s declaration with which he affirms that Russia would withdraw from the treaty if America does so…
She also discusses numerous issues in this chapter including National Missile Defense System (NMDS), the components of it, limited missile defense system, extensive missile defense system, space-based defense system and so on. She further argues about how the potential misunderstandings of nuclear testing may cause a nuclear war.
It is very striking that Caldicott asserts that U.S. attachment to NMD is so bizarre that the state department is actively encouraging Russia to maintain “large, diversified, viable arsenals of strategic offensive weapons capable of delivering and annihilating counterattack,” as long as Russia allows America to violate the ABM treaty and proceed NMD policy. She argues that the purpose of NMD is not to protect America from North Korean missiles, but from Russia and China. That is why U.S.’s tracking and imaging radar stations are at the northern tip of Norway instead of Northern Japan. I think she makes an interesting point by further saying that North Korea is a “camouflage” to disguise America’s true intentions.
In Chapter seven, Space: Next American Empire the author is taking us to a totally different ambience. She conveys the plan which is summarized by NASA and U.S. Space Command that “one of the much acknowledged and commonly understood advantage of space-based platforms is no restrictions or country clearances to over fly a nation from space. The use of space during conflicts will be critical to the U.S. success on the battlefield.”
More importantly, I totally agree when she draws attention to the civilian use of cyber space through cell phones, internet, weather predictions, accurate locating mechanisms for ships and terrestrial events via GPS satellite system, and more. She quotes the commander in chief of U.S. Space Command, General Ralph Eberhart saying that, “space is prerequisite. It is not a luxury any more. Space has proven itself vital to our national interests.” Thus she affirms that the civilian life is more dependent upon space today than before and no country—especially America-- has right to destroy space by militarizing it.
In this chapter the author also examines different topics related to this issue including Anti-satellite warfare, threat to U.S. satellite systems, cyberspace military planes, international space stations, etc. Additionally she argues that NASA insists on nuclear power instead of solar power; because the military is enthusiastic about it. She also talks about the possible depletion of the ozone layer and its consequences to human life, such as causing skin cancer. Finally in this chapter she states that U.S. is always blocking any positive action taken by United Nations Security Council. For example U.S. abstained on Outer Space Treaty which urges the countries to use space for only “peaceful purposes.”
Chapter eight lays out heartbreaking facts. She discusses about the Uranium use in Iraq in the Gulf War by the U.S... She asserts that America has dropped more than 88 thousand and 500 tons of bombs (equivalent of more than 7 Hiroshima) in Iraq and most of them were not smart bombs, which mean they did not hit the military targets and killed thousands of civilians. According to her, the U.S. attacked columns of retreating Iraqi soldiers and civilians with carrier based planes, using cluster bombs and napalm that adhere to the skin while burning, on the contrary to the accepted wartime behaviors (Geneva Convention).
Caldicott adds that the Operation Desert Storm was the first war in history, which was a radioactive battlefield. American deployment of radioactive uranium weapons in Gulf countries has permanently contaminated the area and will continue to affect citizens of the region for thousands of years after the war ended.
In the last chapter the author goes into the details about the Lockheed Martin and its relationship with Bush and his administration. I will not reiterate this issue; instead I will continue with her suggestions, with which I strongly agree, in the last chapter.
In Chapter nine, she argues that America is spending every six cents out of every dollar on educating its children, and four cents on health, but fifty cents on military. Overall 310 billion dollars per year dwarfs the 45 billion dollars for education and 21 billion dollars for health. Globally military expenditure stands at 780 billion dollar more than the amount of the other countries around the world. She demonstrates that it is very impacting that the total amount required to provide global health care, eliminate starvation and malnutrition, provide clean water shelter for all, remove landmines, eliminate nuclear weapons, stop deforestation, prevent global warming, ozone depletion and acid rain, stop over population, is only one third that amount—237,5 billion dollars.
November 19, 2014
not necessarily wrong in its basic thrust--but there's no need to act like the bush regime is anything qualitatively different than the previous incarnations of the US empire. sometimes I get the impression that democrats would exempt their party's presidents from the general critique of US conduct, as though the dems have not been warriors since the time of klansman Wilson or back to those who opposed abe lincoln.
February 9, 2016
An interesting exploration of the role that nuclear weapons play in the post-9/11 era. Opening chapter provides explanation - from a city level - of what would happen in a situation where thermo-nuclear ICBM's are used. Also analyses the military-industrial complex, and the manner in which weapons production is politicized in the American Senate and Congress.
October 30, 2008
It is hard to read a book about Nuclear Proliferation and the constant threat of extinction. The only thing making this book worthwhile is that, for once, all of the naysaying and 'end is nigh' talk really does apply to this topic.
Want to read
January 28, 2008Read all of Helen Caldicott Books
works for the Nuclear Policy Research Institute
works for the Nuclear Policy Research Institute
September 14, 2008
Scary scary times we live in...
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