Monday, November 27, 2006

Blix vs Blair (But this time it is over our weapons of mass destruction)

Dr Hans Blix, the former UN weapons inspector, is to launch an attack on Tony Blair today, arguing that by renewing Britain's Trident nuclear weapons, Blair is making the west's task in challenging Iran's nuclear proliferation much harder.

It is an argument that I have made on here many times. Nuclear non proliferation works both ways. And we can't expect other nations to treat us seriously as we demand that they adhere to agreements that we are blatantly in breach of.

Even from a practical point of view, a British nuclear weapon is simply a vanity; a yearning for the old days when Britain had an empire and was a serious world power. That is no longer the case and any British nuclear weapon would not be allowed to be used without American permission, which sort of renders it useless.

However, Blair has determined that this will be part of his legacy and Blix's observations will be unwelcome in Downing Street as Blix is speaking the language that many old Labour supporters like myself fully agree with.

The respected chairman of the Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction will use a speech in London to renew hostilities with Mr Blair. He will say that modernising Britain's arsenal puts the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) under "strain" and increases the feeling among non-nuclear states, such as Iran, that they are being "cheated" by the nuclear states.

Dr Blix will take Britain and the other permanent members of the UN Security Council - America, China, Russia and France - to task for failing to comply with their obligations under the NPT by failing to do more to eliminate their nuclear arsenals. He will point out "the strong feelings of frustration" at the way nuclear nations "are in the process" of developing new types of weapons rather than examining how they could manage defence needs with non-nuclear weaponry.

Blix's intervention may be enough to sway Labour MP's to mount a challenge against Blair's policy.

Other Labour MPs rallied behind Dr Blix. Neil Gerrard, a Labour MP who tabled a Commons motion signed by more than 20 Labour colleagues warning the Trident replacement would breach the terms of the NPT, said Dr Blix would strengthen opposition.

"Dr Blix was proved right on WMD and a lot of people will agree with what he is saying now," he said. "It is possible that Mr Blair will lose a majority of Labour MPs on this issue."

The ending of the Cold War has changed the argument in the Labour Party. It is no longer a simple divide between those favouring multilateral disarmament and those supporting unilateral disarmament. Dr Blix's speech will increase the doubts among those who question the value of a more powerful nuclear weapon with multiple warheads designed to penetrate "hardened" targets, when the foreseeable threat is from rogue states or terrorists.

That is what I most object to. Even leaving aside the moral argument against keeping a nuclear deterrent, it simply makes no economic sense, nor is it sensible from a security perspective.

The Cold War is over. The new enemy is not one that can be fought with such weapons. And, indeed, even if we retain this weaponry, we do not have the power to unilaterally decide to use it.

It's a ridiculous vanity.

A far better course would be to strike for the high moral ground and declare that we were disarming. This would give us considerable weight when we approached other nations demanding that they, too, disarm.

The days when the west could proclaim who was civilised enough to possess such weaponry and who was not are, thankfully, over.

It is time for Blair to adjust to that new political reality. And that means honouring the same agreements that we demand others should honour.

Click title for full article.

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4 comments:

theBhc said...

Kel,

Even leaving aside the moral argument against keeping a nuclear deterrent, it simply makes no economic sense

Actually, this is only true when one takes a socially responsible "long view" of economics. Given the massive amounts of time, energy and treasure that has gone into the development of nuclear arsenals around the world, this is clearly not the overriding paradigm.

Of course, if you are a defense contractor, or a uranium mine or whatever, upgrades to nuclear arsenals are marvelously sensible. And our governments have a penchant for heeding the special interests of the defense industry because it never needs to be presented as such, but rather, as being serious about "national security," despite the fact that the legacy of the nuclear age has been one which of increasing insecurity across the globe.

Kel said...

Thanks for that Bhc. It did make me smile. Of course, I would be someone who is "not serious" about national security because I dared to question our need - or even the rationale - behind a nuclear weapon.

Me bad!

Anonymous said...

Press Release: Congresswoman Sherri Davis, R-CA, Calls for Forced Integration of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," Announces Reversal of Previous Opposition to Minimum Wage Hike

2006-11-28 10:00:33 - Congressional watchdogs cheer the not-unexpected news; Minimum Wage Hike Will Come with New Minimum Wage Robe


New York, NY (PRINSIDE) November 28, 2006 -- Congresswoman Sherri Davis, R-CA, known as the "Ann Coulter of Anaheim" for her fierce opposition to flag-burning and illegal immigrants and her unyielding support of the American family, issued a statement today calling for the “forced integration” of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," and announcing her support for a Congressional increase in the minimum wage -- the first such increase in almost 10 years.

Congressional watchdogs cheered the announcements, which were not unexpected given Davis’ recent move to the center in a possible bid for higher elected office.

“As Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘A revolution can never go backwards,’ and it is in this spirit that I move today to bring equality to the largest remaining 'men’s-only club' in the nation,” said Davis in her statement.

Davis is a former star of stage and screen who was appointed to her husband’s Congressional seat after his untimely Astor Place Cube death late last year; she has since been re-elected. She comes to Congress with a substantial civil rights background, having played the part of Penny Pingleton in no less than four regional productions of the hit musical "Hairspray."

"’Hairspray’ was a similar experience in that it involved the integration of a local whites-only televised teen dance show, 'The Corny Collins Show,' by plus-size heroineTracy Turnblad -- and so I had a lot of background on this kind of forced integration and the reasons it needs to be done in the entertainment industry,” Davis said. “And The Daily Show reaches even more viewers than ‘The Corny Collins Show’ ever did!”

According to Davis, all that’s left on this issue is to figure out the best way to go forward. “Nancy (Pelosi) is recommending integration through some type of forced busing, while I’m suggesting a voucher system that lets the market work for itself. Nancy can be a real ballbuster at times, but I think Ill eventually win her over on this.”

Under Davis' voucher plans, minority and women comedy writers and actors from marginally comedic shows such as “Big Day” or “’Til Death” would be able to use their vouchers to transfer to more upscale shows or better plotlines in shows where their minority is underrepresented, while many of the highly educated white male staff of “The Daily Show” would be sent instead to shows such as "The King of Queens.” According to Davis, the twenty-two 44-year-old white men who write and produce "The Daily Show" have won nine Emmy awards and two Peabodys.

“Nevertheless, this whole area of 'fake news' is one that deserves much closer Congressional scrutiny,” says Davis. “Fake news was first invented in Germany in the 1930s by he-who-shall-not-be-named, quickly spread to Mussolini’s Italy and Stalinist Russia, and from there in modern times to Tom Cruise in our own country. Couple this seamy past with its modern-day practice of discriminatory hiring and you have to ask: ‘Do we really need fake news in our country?”

In addition to gaining women and blacks equal representation in the ranks of “The Daily Show,” Davis' bill would mainstream two new groups that presently have had no representation whatsoever in the staffing of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart:” illegal aliens, and individuals with diplomas from online universities.

In other anticipated news, Congresswoman Davis announced that she would cross party lines in defiance of party leaders and cast her vote to increase the minimum wage, which currently stands at $5.15 an hour.

"Dick (Cheney) had told me that the increased wages would probably just go to frivolous spending on items such as food or clothing," Davis says. "But I know myself the pain that I feel in my heart as a single-mother when my monthly statement from Finkleton’s arrives, and on this issue I am voting with my heart instead of with my head.”

Notably, Davis says she plans to attach a rider to the legislation -- "I like to add a little something that makes every legislative piece at least a little bit my own" – that will adapt a famous Broadway tradition called “the gypsy robe” to the new national minimum wage legislation.

"Each week, Nancy (Pelosi) and I will choose a lucky individual who most exemplifies the nation's minimum wage workers, and parallel to a tradition first started on Broadway by Bill Bradley, award the equivalent of Broadway’s ‘gypsy robe’ to one very special minimum wage worker,” says Davis.

The “Minimum Wage Robe” will be adorned with mementoes from that individual’s minimum wage jobs past and present, with additional decorations for minimum wage jobs that came with no health plan and no vacation time. The tradition started 50 years ago on Broadway with the hit show, “Call Me Madam.”

“Like the Gypsy Robe on Broadway, the Minimum Wage Robe of Congress (MWRC) will commemorate all of the daily work of the little people, the often tedious grunt work that lets talented individuals such as like Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Idina Menzel and myself become the stars that we were meant to be. The robe is, in some ways, the minimum wage worker’s ‘amazing technicolor dreamcoat.’"

Meanwhile, Davis says she will continue to work on the rest of her "signature" legislative package, which includes the Mandatory Portion Control Act (MPCA), aimed at curbing America's growing obesity problem; "Project SATYR," a program designed to capitalize on the current "scrap booking craze" to increase youth reading levels through major tax-breaks to the American scrapbooking industry; and the Yoga Mat Cleanliness Act (YMCA), which Congresswoman Davis has been promoting this fall through taped appearances with New York-based celebrity actress Sarah Jessica Parker, who recently caught a bad case of tinea cruris from using an unclean yoga mat in her home state of Ohio, a swing state.

As noted above, before responding to the call of democracy, Congresswoman Davis was a star of stage and screen, appearing with show business luminaries such as Helen Hunt, Amy Sedaris, Nathan Lane, Bette Midler, Kristin Davis, Paul Dinello, Martin Short, Matthew Broderick and Susan Sarandon. Davis skyrocketed to fame in the 1990's with her raunchy rock-anthem "(Doing the) Baby Dance," which reached No. 4 on the Billboard pop charts. Davis was appointed to her Congressional seat late last year after the tragic Astor Place Cube death of her husband, Congressman Soon-Yi Davis and was re-elected this November by a slim but substantial majority. Prior to leaving show business to represent her Congressional district, Davis also played the role of Penny Pingleton in numerous regional performances of "Hairspray."

Kel said...

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for that. It did make me smile. Here at The Osterley Times we are great fans of Congresswoman Sherri Davis and have featured a few of her videos. In fact, for a short time, I was in email contact with her producer.

Her spoof is frighteningly accurate at times.