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Last week, international sanctions against Iran’s civilian nuclear program were finally dropped. Despite no evidence of nuclear weapons development, the embattled country’s agreement to stringent International Atomic Energy Agency conditions allows it join – in a still limited way – the World economy.
It all goes a long way in ensuring the IAEA’s mission of “Atoms for Peace.” But, what about those other atoms in other countries that are clearly not devoted to peace? The United States of America, chief amongst Iran’s prosecutors, is the planet’s single-largest repository of veritable nuclear weaponry, yet it suffers no sanction, or onerous inspection requirements.
And why, a quarter century after the fall of its Cold War nemesis, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, is America still pursuing a policy of nuclear weapons development anyway?
John LaForge is a long-time staffer at Nukewatch, the Wisconsin-based nuclear watchdog and environmental justice group, whose countless articles on the topic have appeared in Nukewatch’s quarterly and at online sites like: New Internationalist, Z Magazine, The Progressive, Earth Island Journal and at CounterPunch.org.
He’s also co-editor, with Arianne S. Peterson, of the revised edition of the book, ‘Nuclear Heartland: A Guide to the 450 Land-Based Missiles of the the United States.’ A lot has changed since the first edition, issued in 1987 when Ronald Reagan’s steely resolve rallied America, and Mikhail Gorbachov’s Soviets promised imminent and total destruction, and yet America’s nuclear arms program remains.
John LaForge in the first half.
And; President Obama delivered his final State of the Union Speech last week. It’s the first step in America’s transfer of power pageant, scheduled to culminate this time next year with the inauguration of Hillary Clinton, (or coronation of Donald Trump). From Honest Abe Lincoln, to Tricky Dick Nixon, the President IS for a time We the People; but how much real power does a president have in the modern context, and can that person’s character exercise a moral authority potent enough to move America one way or the other?
Matt Peppe’s analyses of U.S. foreign policy and Latin America appear on his blog, Just the Facts, and across the internet at prominent news sites like: MintPress News, Counterpunch, Latino Rebels, Countercurrents, Global Research, Dissident Voice, and others. His recent update to the article, ‘Jimmy Carter’s Blood-Soaked Legacy’ takes on the elder statesman’s real role in a brutal period of American history, questioning both the notion of Carter as, and the practical possibility of, a “good” American president.
Matte Peppe and Jimmy Carter, good president, or just another bad peanut? in the second half.
And; Victoria Street Newz publisher emeritus and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us news of good goings on going on in and around our streets, and beyond, in the coming week. But first, John LaForge and the Nuclear Heartland, an answer to “Where have all the missiles gone…?”
