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An Iowa Nuclear Disarmament
Primer, Part 3

by Paul Deaton

In rural Iowa, outside the view of mainstream media, there are groups of
citizens who assemble, have coffee and talk about world affairs. As I grow
older, more of my news and information comes from participation in citizen
gatherings like these. While news and information distribution may be a bit uneven,
people at these gatherings are often as well informed as the Washington
lobbyist who makes a living staying current on a specialty area. In rural Iowa,
people are generalists and conversant on topics as diverse as the soybean crop
in Brazil and nuclear disarmament. I was recently fortunate to run into such a
group.

Nine of us gathered recently at the Iowa Valley Community
College in Marshalltown, Iowa. While the group had taken formal courses at the
college, they had been meeting for more than five years discussing world affairs,
both in and out of school. I was there to give a presentation about the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty or CTBT is a
product of world outrage at the rapid fire pace at which the former Soviet
Union, the United States and other states approached nuclear weapons testing
after World War II. The pursuit of treaties to ban nuclear weapons testing
began in the late 1950s and resulted in the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963. After
the end of the Cold War, the Russians, in 1991, and the United States, in 1992,
unilaterally stopped nuclear testing and have not tested nuclear weapons since
then. If you would like to learn more about the CTBT, its history and the
current political climate for potential ratification by the United States
Senate, read Daryl G. Kimball’s recent article, “Learning From the 1999 Vote on
the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.” 

The discussion of the CTBT in Marshalltown is
informative about where Iowans are with regard to nuclear disarmament. The
group included both Republicans and Democrats, who all agreed that it was
appropriate to be discussing nuclear disarmament and the pursuit of reduction
or elimination of the world’s nuclear arsenal should be encouraged. The group
was knowledgeable about nuclear disarmament issues, and many had prepared for
the meeting by researching various aspects of the nuclear arms race, including the
detonations at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons testing and the current
political climate for nuclear disarmament. Issues that are likely to be part of
the Senate debate came up, including verification of compliance, how to handle
treaty violations and maintenance of our current nuclear arsenal. Iowans can be
and are connected to the national debate on nuclear disarmament. A couple of
items are particularly noteworthy.

By signing and ratifying a treaty, the United States is
taking a step towards a solution, rather than solving the problem of nuclear
proliferation permanently. Members of the group stated that as we know from
history, treaties are not perfect. Many times, the United States entered into
treaties with Native Americans only to fail to live up to the terms of the
treaty. After World War I, Japan failed to sign treaties limiting the size of
military vessels, only to build ships, in secret, that would have been in
violation of the treaty had they chose to participate.  The results of the entry
into force of the CTBT and the implementation of the CTBT Organization is a
necessary and required step in nuclear arms reduction. As these Iowans noted,
it is a beginning of the end, rather than the end itself of nuclear weapons
testing. There will be necessary work after a US ratification of the treaty to
get China to ratify and the other nuclear states to sign and ratify the treaty.

The group thought I could better make the point of all
of us being downwinders of the fallout from atmospheric explosion of nuclear
weapons. We discussed a potential nuclear retaliation against North Korea and
how the nuclear fallout would quickly reach Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon
and California and then spread further eastward. It makes no sense for the US
or other states to bomb North Korea with nuclear weapons, because the fallout
would literally land on the United States. The CTBT represents a step to exert world
pressure on North Korea, Iran and other belligerent states to cease their
nuclear weapons programs. In an environment where atmospheric explosion of nuclear devices is the equivalent of self-mortification, treaties, and other diplomatic tools may well be the only viable path to nuclear disarmament.

Most importantly, the group demonstrated how Iowans
want to base important national policy on facts and science. One participant
found a factual error in my presentation and called me on it. This led to a
lively discussion and further vetting of my presentation. As I run into more
Iowans and discuss nuclear disarmament, I am finding that ratifying the CTBT
is something that most Iowans can support once they understand the facts. Understanding the facts is not an area in which the mainstream media has been particularly helpful and in the end, nuclear disarmament may come down to what groups like the one in Marshalltown believe and tell their elected officials.

For more information about nuclear arms reduction please follow the Friday posts on Blog for Iowa on World Affairs, talk about this issue with your friends and neighbors, and when your elected officials or their representatives come to your community, attend the event and encourage them to support nuclear disarmament.

~Paul Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County.  Check out his blog, Big Grove Garden.    E-mail Paul Deaton