Ottawa Peace Calendar* November 1987
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Ottawa Peace Calendar * November 1987 |
... The conference did draw up specific actions to be taken by the U.N. The Action Program states that "an improved and comprehensive data base on global and national military expenditures would greatly facilitate the study and analysis of the impact of military expenditures on the world economy." In addition, "considerations should be given to the idea of establishing a mechanism within the existing framework of the United Nations to monitor the trends in military spending." Furthermore, the U.N. "should facilitate an international exchange ... in the field of conversion."
The document also supported a periodic review of disarmament and development.
from the Disarmament Times (Sept. 18, 1987)
If the treaty is signed as planned on Thanksgiving Day, 26 November, and then ratified and implemented in the next three to five years, it would be unprecedented in 700 years of modern history.
A successful INF treaty would be the first instance of genuine, voluntary, bilateral disarmament.
from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, compiled by The German Tribune (Sept. 27,1987).
A 1948 letter on the letterhead of the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, Princeton, N.J, typewritten and signed by Albert Einstein was discovered in a Mississauga flea market book. The letter said Einstein feared "the imminence of war and the inevitability of the use of atomic weapons in that war." He urged scientists to "do all within our power to assure that this historic achievement of mankind does not become his trap and his tomb."
from the Science for Peace Bulletin (September, 1987).
The invitation extended by the United States in March 1985 for Canada to take part in Star Wars research was followed by a vigorous and ... well informed public debate, parliamentary hearings, and finally a government decision. In the case of ADI, public and parliamentary participation has been dispensed with in favour of a one-line announcement. The Defence Department's claim that no debate is necessary—since ADI "is not SDI"—is unsatisfactory, given the close relationship between the two programs and the challenge posed by strategic defences to the stability of deterrence.
from the Arms Control Communiqué.
Eric Fawcett, Dept. of Physics, U. of T., is Canadian coordinator of the second International Peace Week of Scientists, November 9-15, coordinated this year by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
Concept: ... Scientists and non-scientists jointly hold events then announce their activities as part of a world-wide event.
Aims: To further arms control and disarmament and the application of science for peace and human betterment by promoting well-informed public discussion and enhancing world-wide cooperation between concerned scientists and non-scientists.
A $50,000 (US) Peace Prize is being offered for the best proposal for a plan to provide incentives that science be used for peaceful rather than destructive purposes. Deadline: March 15,1988. For the rules, write or call Prof. Fawcett or the Bulletin.
from the Science for Peace Bulletin (October, 1987).
According to the recent White Paper on defence, 47,000 Warsaw Pact tanks face 20,000 NATO tanks in Europe. According to the Pentagon, ... 32,000 Warsaw Pact tanks face some 19,600 NATO tanks in Europe.
... In this case, it's part of a persistent pattern of exaggeration of the "Soviet threat" to be found in the White Paper.
by Bill Robinson, in The Ploughshares Monitor (September, 1987).
Canadians in Support of the Helsinki Process are drawing our attention to the newsletter, "Focus on Vienna", published by the Austrian Committee for European Security and Cooperation. This monthly publication is full of information about the proposals at the review conference in Vienna. (The conference has been going on since last October.)
Order from: Ledergasse 23/111 - 27
A - 10 - 80 Wien.
No Charge. Request for donations.
An Alternative "bean count" | NATO | Warsaw Pact |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ground forces personnel (normal peacetime): total | 3,200,000 | 2,800,000 |
| 2. Ground forces personnel (normal peacetime): Europe | 2,450,000 | 2,250,000 |
| 3. Divisions (in place or rapidly deployable): Europe | 110 | 93 |
| 4. Main Battle Tanks (in place or rapidly deployable):Europe | 21,600 | 23,100 |
| 5. Ground-attack aircraft (reinforced) | 3,450 | 2,600 |
| 6. Attack helicopters (reinforced) | 1,250 | 970 |
Notes: 1,2,3,4: see text; 5,6: US Department of Defense, Soviet Military Power 1987, p. 92-93. | ||
Refer to "Is NATO Hopelessly Outnumbered?" in The Ploughshares Monitor (Sept. 1987).
Converted May 6, 2002 - Lg
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