Written by Dr. Mary Theresa (Terry) Webb, West Lampeter. This article was first published on November 1, 2020 on the Lancaster SPEAKS Up Blog.
Have we forgotten about the black box that is carried by a special envoy accompanying President Trump wherever he goes so he can push a button to trigger the launch of a nuclear weapon? How scary is that? On a recent visit to a PPE factory Trump did push a button on another black box by mistake. Glad it was the wrong black box.
The Trump administration has proposed a budget of 494 billion dollars to revamp our nuclear arsenal, including building a W76-2 new warhead. Also under consideration is starting up nuclear weapons testing, prohibited by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. What ever happened to the Start Treaty Obama signed with Russia ten years ago to reduce the stockpile of nuclear weapons? Macron of France has reduced their nuclear weapons stockpile to 300. Ours is 6500!
In addition to violating nonproliferation agreements, the Trump administration requests a 19% increase in our military budget, planning to pay for it by scaling back budgets for the CDC, NIH, and the World Health Organization.
Who is our new enemy? Can’t be Russia, must be China. Whatever happened to the global war to defeat the Novel Coronavirus? So far, we’re losing that battle and the battle to arrest devastating climate change.
I was frightened enough in the 80s to help Teresa Heinz Kerry start Peace Links in Pennsylvania, raising awareness. We women did it then. We can do it again in November, making sure Trump no longer has access to that black box.
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