World must move toward total elimination of nuclear weapons - UN chief

[bananas]

Source: United Nations

The time has come for the total elimination of nuclear weapons stockpiles, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today declared as he urged the revival of nuclear disarmament as a “top international priority.”

In his message, delivered in observance of the first annual International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, the Secretary-General voiced concern about the delayed status of ongoing negotiations to eliminate the atomic threat still present around the world.

“The lack of such negotiations is disrupting the delicate balance between international commitments to disarmament and non-proliferation,” affirmed Mr. Ban. “The time has come for those negotiations to begin.”

The International Day was established by the UN General Assembly in 2013 in a resolution calling for the “urgent commencement of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament of a comprehensive convention on nuclear weapons to prohibit their possession, development, production, acquisition, testing, stockpiling, transfer and use or threat of use, and to provide for their destruction.”

Following the creation of the International Day against Nuclear Tests in 2010, the measure was the latest effort by the UN body to raise public awareness and work for deeper engagement on nuclear disarmament issues.

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Read more: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48879

[bananas]

1. Secretary-General's message on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=8058

New York, 26 September 2014 - Secretary-General's message on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

The world has long recognized that nuclear disarmament offers the only absolute guarantee against the use of nuclear weapons, and that any such use would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences.

Nuclear disarmament is therefore not an idealistic dream, but an urgent necessity to meet the genuine security interests of all humanity.

It has been sixty-eight years since the General Assembly first identified the goal of achieving the elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

It has been forty-four years since the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons entered into force, committing its States parties to undertake negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament.

The time has come for those negotiations to begin. The lack of such negotiations is disrupting the delicate balance between international commitments to disarmament and non-proliferation.

Six years ago, I offered a five-point proposal on nuclear disarmament that featured two possible paths to achieve this goal: agreement on a framework of separate, mutually reinforcing instruments, or through a nuclear-weapons convention, backed by a strong system of verification.

What matters most is not which path is taken, but that the chosen path is heading in the right direction – toward the internationally agreed goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

This International Day is not merely one on which we call for limiting nuclear weapons, reducing their range, constraining their deployments or reducing their role in security policies. It is also a day when the world community reflects on the many benefits that nuclear disarmament would offer, from enhanced security to the conservation of financial and scientific resources. It is a day on which to imagine the consequences should the dangerous and fragile doctrine of nuclear deterrence fail.

Let us revive nuclear disarmament as a top international priority, in the interest of the peace and security of all and of future generations.

[AngryAmish]

2. This must happen, especially since 1940s technology is impossible to replicate.

[davidn3600]

3. Yeah...good luck with that...

[Cayenne]

4. He also wants a unicorn.

[Unknown Beatle]

5. U.S. Ramping Up Major Renewal in Nuclear Arms

Obama loves him some nukes.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025570413

[cheapdate]

7. The number of nuclear weapons and delivery systems that may be possessed

by the United States is fixed by a treaty that the president negotiated with Russia. The treaty that the president negotiated significantly reduced the number of weapons that both nations may possess.

The claim in that link that the U.S. is "massively expanding" our nuclear weapons is completely false, under any common understanding of the meaning of the word "expanding".

That said, I agree 100% with Ban Ki Moon that nuclear weapons should be eliminated and I'll support anyone who shares that goal.

[ctsnowman]

6. I know I'm in the minority

but I think nukes are the only thing keeping us from having another world war.