Ottawa Peace Calendar* June 1987
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Ottawa Peace Calendar * June 1987 |
by Angelo Mingarelli
On May 3, 1987, the Canadian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Science for Peace, Lawyers for Social Responsibility, and Nurses for Social Responsibility hosted a dinner at the Westin Hotel for Dr. John Charles Polanyi of the University of Toronto. Dr. Polanyi is a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. He is the founding chairman of Canadian Pugwash and one of the founders of Science for Peace.
After the dinner, Dr. Polanyi gave a forty minute talk on the subject of War and Peace in Space. He described his present hopes and fears about the militarization of space. Polanyi used this important example to illustrate the mechanisms of the arms race. The Strategic Defense Initiative (S.D.I.) is, in his view, symptomatic of the conflict within every nation on whether the best path to lasting peace is to be found in a technological fix or in a new world order.
Polanyi made extensive use of a recent unclassified document sponsored by the American Physical Society to draw the public's attention to the problems in system reliability that researchers in S.D.I. face. The report, dated April 1987, is titled The Science and Technology of Directed Energy Weapons (DEW). It is to be published soon in Reviews of Modern Physics. The complete version is over 400 pages long. However, a nontechnical Executive Summary, along with the major conclusions, is available from the American Physical Society. One of the conclusions of the report is that all the existing candidates for DEW'S, such as nuclear-explosion-pumped X-ray lasers, electron lasers, or excimer lasers, will require improvements of two or more orders of magnitude in beam output and power quality before they may be seriously considered for use in Ballistic Missile Defense systems. In fact, in the case of the pumped X-ray laser, many of the physical concepts involved require validation prior to its use. In itself, it poses a special threat to space-based sensors, electronics and optics.
On May 4, Dr. Polanyi, Dr. Pollonetsky, Chair of the Ottawa chapter of Canadian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Dr. Sagenur of CPPNW, the Chair of Lawyers for Social Responsibility, and Dr. Mingarelli attended a meeting with Hon. Perrin Beattie, Minister of Defense, and his aides to discuss Dr. Polanyi's views on Canada's role as a peacekeeper. They reiterated the important role of peace groups in these issues. The enjoyable, informative and relaxing session lasted one and one-half hours.
Later that afternoon, the group met with the Assistant Deputy Minister of External Affairs, Mr. Allan Sullivan, since the Minister and Deputy Minister were out of the country. The Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Division at External Affairs also attended. Dr. Polanyi summarized his views, and the Arms Control Director generated discussion. The session began on a good note, but reactions were mixed. The result was of questionable usefulness.
All agreed that Dr. Polanyi speaks with the thoroughness, understanding and conviction of a peacemaker.
Converted July 7, 2002 - Lg
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