December 4, 2023

Bulletin 334: Thank you for your support, please help support our work in 2024; please join our NM activist mailing list if local or interested; quick note on events & developments

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Previously: Bulletin 333: In-person & webcast discussion this Thursday 11/16/23 of the new plan being briefed on Capitol Hill to increase U.S. nuclear forces

1. Zoom seminar on plutonium warhead core ("pit") production, December 7, 11 am Mountain Time
2. Nuclear weapons discussions and trainings for anti-war and disarmament activists, in person and via Zoom, coming soon
3. Consider joining us during the "Year of Resistance to Nuclear Production"
4. Help us financially if you can

We hope you are all well and enjoying this beautiful month as circumstances allow. 

December is so far a terrible month in Gaza, as was November and most of October before that. Here in New Mexico we are demonstrating and working with other organizations for a permanent ceasefire when we are not working for nuclear disarmament and peace in other ways. As Craig Mokhiber, former Director of the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights put it in his resignation letter (h/t Steve Starr), what is happening to Gaza is "a text-book case of genocide." (You can read that excellent letter here. Use it in your meetings with editorial boards, religious leaders, and others.)

In Ukraine, the Zelensky regime is splintering and appears close to falling. Zelensky may not live much longer, considering what he's done to so many families and to his country. It's now generally understood that Ukraine's counteroffensive has failed, and the country is close to running out of manpower and equipment to throw into the killing fields and ruined buildings of its former eastern lands. All this could have been avoided if the U.S. had been willing to negotiate with Russia before the war started over what were quite legitimate grievances and interests, or had let Ukraine complete its negotiations last April. 

The exact number of Ukrainian soldiers killed or seriously wounded is subject to considerable speculation, but one Ukrainian TV program gave a figure of 1.1 million, which jibes with others. Of these million or so, from 300,000 to half a million killed is not an unreasonable guess, as some Ukrainian and Western sources corroborate. Which is to say, the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in action is approaching, or has reached or even exceeded, the total number of U.S. deaths on all fronts in World War II. Many in the NGO community egged on this war in one way or another. Others looked away. Some blamed Russia disproportionately, ignorantly or intentionally ignoring the 14,000 or so casualties in the Donbass before February 2022. Some belittled those who called for peace. I was a conscientious objector in 1972. I still am. I have to say -- it is important to say -- the arms control community has blood on its hands.

There are a lot of recent developments and you can read all about them, with some comments of our own (when we have time to make them), on our Ukraine page.

These two conflicts could hardly be more different. One thing they have in common is that both are, and have been, actively supported by the U.S., not just at this moment but prior to when the big shooting started, and for a long time.  Another thing they have in common is that both could be brought to an end quickly if the U.S. wanted the killing to stop. This Administration does not. The implications of that are stark, not just for the parties being killed -- in Gaza, nearly all of those who are being intentionally targeted are noncombatants, mostly women and children -- but also for the U.S. which enables all this.

1. Zoom seminar on plutonium warhead core ("pit") production, December 7, 11 am Mountain Time

You are invited to a Zoom seminar on "Plutonium Pit Production: Misconceptions, and where do "we" go from here?" at the above time. You must register in advance for this meeting at
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEsd--sqjsqHtXZfxK7YGhYanhGNPw41-Zx. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

In this briefing I want to discuss some of the misconceptions floating around in the news media and elsewhere about pit production, what a better and more practical policy than the present one might be, what pit production at this time is really all about (one of the biggest misconceptions), and why the arms race which LANL pit production aims to enable is doomed to fail. 

Topics will include:

• The actual purposes of stockpile pit production, so far ahead of any actual stockpile need related to pit aging or any similar malarkey, at LANL (hint: those purposes centrally include increasing, as rapidly as possible, the number of deployable, highly-accurate, MIRVable warheads, greater accuracy being a potent "force multiplier" in nuclear war-fighting);

• Pit aging: why it is not the main driver of pit production; why we cannot say that we know that pits last "100 years or more" as some people are doing;

• Why did the NNSA decide, six years ago, never to build two pit factories, and never to depend on LANL's old plutonium facility -- and why did NNSA change its mind?
  

• What are some of the geographic, engineering, and managerial realities which ensure that the nuclear weapons establishment in the Executive, Congress, and the military will never abandon the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF) until the U.S. needs no more pits?
  

• Why not produce just "10-20" pits per year at LANL for the time being, once production gets going there, pausing or abandoning the SRPPF project? We'll tell you! 
  

And a lot more.

2. Nuclear weapons discussions and trainings for anti-war and disarmament activists, in person and via Zoom

As we said before, our intent is to begin having more of these next month, in the new year -- but there may be strong reasons to pick up the pace sooner. (That's all I can say about that now, except that if you are interested in helping us educate and mobilize, please contact Bex, Trish, or me.)

Here in New Mexico geography can be daunting, so if your group wants to get involved and needs background but lives far away (as we heard today from one group) we may be able to schedule a Zoom discussion tailored for your needs.

We will be mobilizing for some specific actions together and we are seeking to develop greater breadth of understanding and leadership as our movement grows.

If you want get more local emails, send a blank email here..

3. Consider joining us during the "Year of Resistance to Nuclear Production" -- help stop the new nuclear arms race where the old one started!

We hope you will consider visiting and working with us for a few days, a week, or a month next year. Our organization is growing and so is our determination to stop the new nuclear arms race before it drags us all down any further. We believe we can arrange lodging and other support as needed, and we can pretty much guarantee camaraderie if you want to work with us. New Mexico is far and away the U.S. capital of the new nuclear arms race, with the $20 billion transformation of LANL into the next "little" (sic) "Rocky Flats" as the main enchilada. If you oppose nuclear weapons, this is an excellent place to hone that aspiration and learn by doing, no matter what you go on to do later. 

We are a small organization but despite that, we have been the only organization able to stop any nuclear weapons project during the Obama years, or for that matter -- unless I am missing something here -- since. That is not because we are so very great, but we do know what we are doing (some of the time, anyway!), and our circumstances are conducive to success.

4. Which brings us to this: please help us financially if you can (and thank you if you have)!

Best wishes to all,

Greg Mello