July, 08 2024, 01:43pm EDT
![Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)](https://assets.rbl.ms/32012677/origin.jpg)
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Kyle Ann Sebastian Communications Officer Food & Environment, Global Security ksebastian@ucsusa.org
More Than 700 Scientists Call on Biden, Congress to Scrap Plans for New Land-Based Nuclear Missiles
Canceling “Expensive, Dangerous, and Unnecessary” Sentinel Would Save $100 Billion
As the Pentagon certified the continuation of the new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic nuclear missile (ICBM) today, 716 scientists, including ten Nobel laureates and 23 members of the National Academies, are calling for the program to be cancelled. In a letter to President Biden and Congress, scientists recommend retiring the land-based leg of the nuclear triad entirely, calling it “expensive, dangerous, and unnecessary.”
“There is no sound technical or strategic rationale for spending tens of billions of dollars building new nuclear weapons,” said Dr. Tara Drozdenko, director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which organized the letter. “These weapons – stored in silos across the Plains states – place a target on communities and increase the risk of nuclear war while offering no meaningful security benefits. The U.S. could eliminate the land-based leg of the triad tomorrow and the U.S. public would only be safer for it.”
The Pentagon review of the Sentinel came after the projected cost of the project rose 37%, to $131 billion, requiring a re-evaluation of the program and possible alternatives under the Nunn-McCurdy Act.
"It is unconscionable to continue to develop nuclear weapons, like the Sentinel Program,” said Dr. Barry Barish, recipient of the 2017 Nobel prize in physics, member of the National Academy of Sciences and signatory to the letter. “The Russell-Einstein Manifesto in 1955 simply stated for us that 'such weapons threaten the continued existence of mankind.' Today's more advanced weapons only emphasize that profound statement."
While the ballooning cost is reason enough to cancel the program, silo-based nuclear missiles also pose an unnecessary danger to the U.S. public, according to the letter. A recent study found that an attack on U.S. land-based missiles – which are intended to act as a “sponge” to attract and absorb incoming adversary missiles – would result in millions of deaths across the U.S. due to radioactive fallout. Because the locations of these missiles are well known, they are vulnerable to attack. The U.S. military keeps these missiles on “hair-trigger” alert so they can be launched within minutes, increasing the risk of nuclear war due to false alarms, misunderstandings and miscalculations.
Improvements in other legs of the U.S. nuclear triad have rendered the land-based leg of the triad redundant and unnecessary. Nuclear-armed submarines hidden at sea are as accurate as silo-based missiles, quick to respond and essentially invulnerable to attack. Previous UCS research found U.S. land-based missiles to be superfluous and argued they could be eliminated without sacrificing U.S. security.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III is recommending continued spending on the over-budget and behind-schedule Sentinel program. But President Biden and Congress should examine this evaluation with a critical eye, conclude that the costs outweigh the benefits and cancel the program, saving U.S taxpayers over $100 billion.
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices.
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IDF Soldier Confesses That in Gaza, 'It's Permissible to Shoot Everyone'
Detailed accounts by former Israeli soldiers describe how they fired their weapons out of "boredom," designated any Palestinians in sight as a threat, and routinely burned homes down.
Jul 08, 2024
Disputing the repeated claims of Israeli officials and their vehement supporters in the Biden administration, who have scoffed at concerns that the Israel Defense Forces are targeting civilians in Gaza, in-depth reporting on Monday based on the testimony of six former IDF soldiers described how they were encouraged to fire their weapons to relieve "boredom" and felt "authorized to open fire on Palestinians virtually at will, including civilians."
In their latest investigative report on the IDF's rules of engagement in Gaza, Israeli publications +972 Magazine and Local Call interviewed six soldiers who had been released from active duty.
Medical providers and eyewitnesses have described the shooting of Palestinian women and children by Israeli snipers, and footage has shown unarmed Palestinians being executed while walking along a road, but the soldiers confirmed that the IDF has been operating with "total freedom of action," as one said, since October.
"If there is [even] a feeling of threat, there is no need to explain—you just shoot," said a soldier identified as B.
If troops see a person approaching and don't know whether they are armed or pose a threat, "it is permissible to shoot at their center of mass [their body], not into the air... It's permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman," said B.
"Every day, at least one or two [civilians] are killed [because] they walked in a no-go area. I don't know who is a terrorist and who is not, but most of them did not carry weapons," said one soldier.
The soldiers said they sometimes fired their weapons as "a way to blow off steam or relieve the dullness of their daily routine," with one reservist saying that they wanted "to experience the event [fully]."
The reservist described shooting "for no reason" at times, "into the sea or at the sidewalk or an abandoned building," while a soldier identified as S. told +972 and Local Call that the IDF would engage in a tactic called "demonstrating presence," in which they would repeatedly fire their weapons to show any Palestinians in the area that they were there.
They would "shoot a lot, even for no reason—anyone who wants to shoot, no matter what the reason, shoots," said S.
The report follows the publication of an analysis by medical experts in The Lancet, who said the death toll in Gaza—officially over 38,000—could be off by roughly 150,000 people due to the deaths of Palestinians who have starved, died of medical conditions that couldn't be treated due to the destruction of the healthcare system, and succumbed to other "indirect" impacts of the war.
Al Jazeera journalist Laila Al-Arian said that the confessions of the Israeli soldiers to +972 only confirm what "has been clear since the beginning."
"Israeli soldiers in Gaza are operating under the premise that they can kill anything that moves and that every Palestinian is fair game for slaughter," she said.
The soldiers also described "routinely" executing Palestinian civilians because they had entered an area designated a "no-go zone" by the IDF, and allowing their surroundings to become "littered with civilian corpses, which are left to rot or be eaten by stray animals."
The soldiers were instructed to hide the bodies when international aid groups arrived, to ensure that "images of people in advanced stages of decay don't come out."
S. said they "saw a lot of civilians—families, women, children," and confirmed that "there are more fatalities than are reported."
"Every day, at least one or two [civilians] are killed [because] they walked in a no-go area. I don't know who is a terrorist and who is not, but most of them did not carry weapons," they said.
B. told +972 and Local Call that the army suspects any male between the ages of 16 and 50 of being a terrorist, and treats anyone walking around outside or looking at the IDF from a building as suspicious—and a legitimate target.
"You shoot," said B. "The [army's] perception is that any contact [with the population] endangers the forces, and a situation must be created in which it is forbidden to approach [the soldiers] under any circumstances."
The report follows previous revelations from the Israeli news outlets on the IDF's use of artificial intelligence to target Palestinians, with little regard for civilians who might be killed when suspected Hamas members were attacked in their homes.
A soldier identified as A. said that working alongside commanders in an operations room and determining which buildings should be struck "felt like a computer game."
"I, too, a rather left-wing soldier, forget very quickly that these are real homes," said A. "Only after two weeks did I realize that these are [actual] buildings that are falling: if there are inhabitants [inside], then [the buildings are collapsing] on their heads."
Yuval Green, who served in the 55th Paratroopers Brigade late last year and signed a letter with 40 other reservists last month refusing to take part in the invasion of Rafah, testified that soldiers were ordered to burn down homes that they had occupied.
"If you move, you have to burn down the house," he said, adding that the policy did not make sense to him in an operation that was supposedly aimed at targeting Hamas.
"We are in these houses not because they belong to Hamas operatives, but because they serve us operationally," Green said. "It is a house of two or three families—to destroy it means they will be homeless."
Policy analyst Tariq Kenney-Shawa addressed those who might be surprised that "Israeli soldiers would so readily admit their war crimes."
"It's simple," Kenney-Shawa said. "They've never faced any consequences. They are only rewarded for their massacres."
Yael Berda of the Middle East Initiative said the latest dispatch from +972 regarding the orders IDF soldiers are given is likely just a fraction of the truth that will eventually come out about the war in Gaza.
"I am pretty sure we don't know half of what went on during these nine months in Gaza," she said.
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Dozens of Seniors Arrested Protesting Citigroup's Fossil Fuel Financing
"We are on the cusp of a ruined planet, and the big banks like Citi are funding it, to the tune of trillions," said one organizer.
Jul 08, 2024
As Earth sizzles during what's likely to be its hottest summer on record amid a worsening planetary emergency, dozens of elder climate campaigners including 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben were arrested Monday in New York while protesting Wall Street giant Citigroup's continued fossil fuel financing.
Members of the group Third Act—who are mostly aged 60 and older—led a "funeral procession" near Citigroup's Manhattan headquarters in remembrance of the senior citizens who have died during recent dangerous heatwaves and to call out the bank "for being the number one funder of fossil fuel expansion in the world," according to Summer of Heat, which is organizing a series of ongoing climate protests.
Summer of Heat said McKibben was one of 46 demonstrators arrested Monday, and that "with today's protest, there have now been 305 total arrests in this summer's historic campaign of relentless, disruptive protests to stop Wall Street funding the oil, coal, and gas projects that are making our planet unlivable."
According to Summer of Heat:
Older Americans are worried about growing climate extremes and how Wall Street is using their savings to harm the planet and their grandchildren's future. Third Act supporters are retired teachers, healthcare professionals, lawyers, union members, parents, grandparents, great aunts, uncles, and now activists. They are taking action—together with youth and families—to make a difference! They are calling on banks like Citi to invest in a peaceful and livable world for all.
"It might feel very hot to us, but it was 122 degrees (Fahrenheit) in New Delhi two weeks ago. Lots and lots and lots of people died," McKibben told protest participants before his arrest. "Things like this now happen every day around the world, and they happen worst [and] first in the places that have done the least to cause this crisis."
"This is the deepest question of justice the world has ever come across," McKibben added. "And the bank that we're outside has done more than almost any institution on Earth to make it worse. Given full warning by scientists of all kinds for the last 30 years, they have decided instead to try to make profit off the end of the world."
Margaret Bullit-Jonas, an Episcopalian priest and author who took part in Monday's protest, said that "Citibank is destroying the world that God loved into being and entrusted to our care."
"At this decisive moment in history, we teeter on the brink of climate chaos," she added. "Now is the time for Citibank to choose life and to stop financing fossil fuels."
Third Act members were joined by activists from various climate, environmental, and social justice groups. Summer of Heat organizer Liv Senghor said that the campaign "is an intergenerational and intersectional movement."
"We know that there is no climate justice without social justice," Senghor said. "And we know that if we do not stop financial institutions like Citibank right now, we will all feel the deadly consequences today, tomorrow, and for generations to come."
HipHop Caucus president and CEO Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. asserted that "to limit ongoing damage, and ensure a bright future for the next generations, we need bold action now to curb emissions, transition to clean energy, and to help households and communities mitigate current and future risks."
Gus Speth, a former U.S. Council on Environmental Quality chair, warned that "we are on the cusp of a ruined planet, and the big banks like Citi are funding it, to the tune of trillions."
"It's time for the Citigroup board of directors to wake up to their responsibility," he added. "Citi talks about environmental sustainability but practices environmental destruction."
Citigroup contends that it is "supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy through our net zero commitments and our $1 trillion sustainable finance goal," and that its "approach reflects the need to transition while also continuing to meet global energy needs."
However, since the 2015 signing of the Paris agreement, Citi has provided $204.46 billion in financing for new fossil fuel projects, according to Stop the Money Pipeline, a Summer of Heat co-organizer.
"From the Bronx to the Gulf South, Black, Latine, Asian, Indigenous, and low-income communities living on the frontlines of the climate crisis—and the ones least responsible for it—face the highest asthma rates and staggering cancer rates while an unprecedented number of people are dying from heat waves," Summer of Heat said.
"Instead of staying home and hiding from the heat, organizers are calling on all New Yorkers and climate defenders from across the globe to take to the streets and demand that Wall Street stop destroying our future," the group added.
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Defying Calls From Voters and Lawmakers, Biden Refuses to Step Aside in New Letter
"This is very obviously a letter to voters, not to Congress," said one reporter. "It reads like a campaign speech."
Jul 08, 2024
As U.S. President Joe Biden faces mounting pressure from elected officials and voters to drop out of the current contest for the White House, he remains defiant, as was on display in a Monday letter to Democratic members of Congress.
Biden's letter begins, "Now that you have returned from the July 4th recess, I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump," a former president and the presumptive Republican nominee for November.
Since Biden's poor debate performance against Trump last month, at least nine Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have called on the president to exit the race and another 18 elected officials have raised concerns about whether he is up to beating the Republican and serving another term, according toThe Washington Post's new tracker.
"I have had extensive conversations with the leadership of the party, elected officials, rank-and-file members, and most importantly, Democratic voters over these past 10 days or so," Biden wrote in the letter, which he shared on social media. "I have heard the concerns that people have—their good faith fears and worries about what is at stake in this election. I am not blind to them."
Trump is on track to get the GOP's nomination despite three ongoing criminal cases, two impeachments during his first term, a recent conviction in New York, and fears that the aspirational dictator on "day one" will impose a sweeping far-right policy agenda, aided by new king-like powers.
"Believe me, I know better than anyone the responsibility and the burden the nominee of our party carries," wrote Biden, whose win four years ago provoked some actions for which Trump now faces state and federal charges. "I carried it in 2020 when the fate of our nation was at stake."
"We had a Democratic nomination process and the voters have spoken clearly and decisively," he continued. "I received over 14 million votes, 87% of the votes cast across the entire nominating process. I have nearly 3,900 delegates, making me the presumptive nominee of our party by a wide margin."
Biden has not faced any major challengers during this year's Democratic primary process—though voters in several states checked boxes for "uncommitted," to express outrage over the administration's support for Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, which has led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Aaron Regunberg, who is part of a new campaign urging Biden to "Pass the Torch," called the primary section of Biden's letter "so breathtakingly cynical and dishonest," adding: "They blocked anyone of substance from running and refused to debate. Does anyone honestly think that if we'd seen that debate performance last fall Biden would have won a single primary?"
Responding to the letter on social media, Current Affairs similarly blasted the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for actions that have benefited Biden during the primary:
This argument is sickeningly unprincipled. The DNC did everything possible to make sure there wasn't a real primary. They refused to hold debates, rigged the calendar of elections to be maximally favorable to Biden, and pressured would-be competitors to stay out of the race.
Even as voters were overwhelmingly indicating they wanted someone other than Biden, party elites made sure they had no other viable option. And now they have the audacity to say that democracy means we have to respect their deceitful coronation of an incompetent candidate.
Biden, meanwhile, highlighted some of his administration's accomplishments on the climate, healthcare, infrastructure, jobs, and student debt relief, and proclaimed that "I have no doubt that I—and we—can and will beat Donald Trump."
"More importantly, we have an economic vision to run on that soundly beats Trump and the MAGA Republicans. They are siding with the wealthy and the big corporations and we are siding with the working people of America," he wrote, warning that the ex-president and GOP members of Congress aim to push through more tax cuts for ultrarich corporations and people while continuing to attack the Affordable Care Act, marriage equality, Medicare, reproductive rights, and Social Security.
"The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it's time for it to end," Biden argued. "We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump. We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump."
The president delivered similar messages in a private call with donors on Monday—a recording of which was obtained by Politico—as well as an interview last week with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos and when he called in to MSNBC's "Morning Joe" early Monday and insisted that "I am not going anywhere."
The recent messaging has elicited a wide range of reactions, from Biden defenders welcoming "our marching orders from the president" to critics expressing disappointment over his determination to stay at the top of the ticket.
"It is hard to see how 'take a hard line in order to force a bitter public reckoning in the party shortly before the convention' is going to have a happy ending but hey who knows," journalist Hamilton Nolan said of the Monday letter.
Next Gen America stressed that "no matter who is at the top of the ticket, young voters know the stakes couldn't be higher. We are ready to turn out to defend our movement and the progress we've made and advance our own agenda."
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