Eliminate land-based missiles (ICBMs) from the nuclear arsenal.

Since the 1950s the U.S. has spent huge amounts of our tax dollars building and maintaining land-based nuclear missiles in a number of U.S. states in the northern and central parts of our nation.  These Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) are now widely regarded as obsolete and unnecessary.  But they persist as one “leg” of the U.S.’s nuclear “triad,” along with airplanes that can drop nuclear bombs and submarines (such as the Trident) that can launch nuclear warhead-tipped missiles from oceans.

Here is some information about the new movement to abolish the ICBMs:

 

The U.S. government plans to REPLACE some current ICBMs with ALL NEW land-based missiles.  That would be provocative and stupid.  It would waste billions of our tax dollars that we need to spend on things we really need.  Instead of replacing the Minuteman III missiles with an expensive new “Ground Based Strategic Deterrent,” which some people have called the “Money Pit Missile,” people urge eliminating those altogether and using our tax dollars to fund human and environmental needs.  At the larger scale, we need to move toward abolishing all nuclear weapons instead of provoking a new nuclear arms race.

 

PREVENT the U.S. from spending $100 BILLION on more than 600 new nuclear missiles!

The article linked here — https://www.psr.org/blog/should-america-buy-new-missiles-in-the-middle-of-a-deadly-pandemic/?emci=26549cd5-1d72-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&emdi=1dee357b-2276-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&ceid=135885 — provides information about horribly expensive new nuclear missiles the U.S. government wants to buy.  It’s called the “Ground Based Strategic Deterrent.”  The Air Force wants more than 600 of these missiles.  Each is much deadlier than the bombs we dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Don’t we have better uses for the $100 BILLION these “weapons of mass destruction” will cost?

 

This link — https://secure.everyaction.com/Wnr9fIRN1k2EVPhGh8mzGw2?contactdata=19koCTtxnjlwdoOJcRyIUSXeAcRhubY7sBgQB7SE7Bz4mVjMGM%2fCYn%2bkHdGmbcyzi59zHUHmQfQCdYpRxxcl7pHLZtoSzYRHA2pzMYqPHULvV3ePhhEejFmlo0WkkeWIdq%2fju0oHJTGTS250I8MUZ6JgXTbi%2bxgOPYH3VhJbzZ2qenEJEUgM4WdjZu5VK1X%2bp5nmoLcVdOFqy2zfU4czCXPs9aJExosRzG5xOBm2yuyS%2fKWSTG4PkILoPySWn2L3&emci=26549cd5-1d72-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&emdi=1dee357b-2276-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&ceid=135885 — Tells Congress NOT to do that.

 

This article from the very knowledgeable Arms Control Association provides more information:

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2021-03/focus/enough-already-no-new-icbms

 

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists published this article about why not to spend $100 billion on these new missiles and warheads:

https://thebulletin.org/2021/02/why-is-america-getting-a-new-100-billion-nuclear-weapon/?utm_source=Announcement&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Announcement02102021&utm_content=NuclearRisk_NewWeapon_02082021

 

The Air Force was awarded a $13.3 BILLION contract to build a new fleet of nuclear missiles.

This news came from the Friends Committee on National Legislation (www.fcnl.org):

Contract Awarded to Build New ICBMs:  The Air Force awarded a $13.3 billion contract to Northrop Grumman to build a new fleet of intercontinental ballistic missiles. This is expected to be the first step in a complete replacement of the nuclear force, which could eventually cost as much as $1.2 trillion. Urge Congress to halt this program before it is too late.

 

“Beyond the Bomb” (www.beyondthebomb.org) is promoting a clever way to oppose those new nuclear weapons.  They propose cutting that funding and using the money to fight against the COVID pandemic.  They call their campaign “Investing in Cures Before Missiles” (ICBM).  See this information from them:

Yet again, the United States has found another way to pour an absurd and unnecessary amount of money into its nuclear arsenal. But, good news, a bill will be introduced to stop this! Tell your elected officials you don’t want money wasted on nuclear weapons that could go towards real steps to improve our security, like COVID relief!

Contact Your Elected Officials Today!

Right now, the U.S. wants to spend close to $2 trillion dollars to replace infrastructure that already works for our Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)! During a global pandemic and national recession? It’s not a cute look. COVID-19 has killed more than 2 million people worldwide and 500,000 Americans. Variant strains of the virus have emerged, threatening the effectiveness of current vaccines. After battling three novel deadly coronaviruses in the past two decades — SARS, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2 — we should redirect taxpayer dollars to develop a Vaccine of Mass Prevention before we spend that money on a new, unneeded Weapon of Mass Destruction.

The Investing in Cures Before Missiles, or ICBM, (Get it? Get it?) Act calls for an extension of the weapons systems we already have in place and for a transfer of the money that would have been spent on the new “Ground Based Strategic Deterrent” (GBSD, it’s a mouthful…we know 🙄) to go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research and combat real threats like other emerging diseases. Budgets are moral documents. It is time to put our money where our mouths are and show Americans that they are the priority, not the weapons industry that stands to profit.

Tell your elected officials to support the ICBM Act!

At a time when people actually need stimulus checks and vaccines to keep them safe, the allocation of funds to nuclear weapons systems is unacceptable. Tell your elected officials to support the ICBM Act to make sure that the United States’ spending prioritizes and reflects your actual needs.

 

Most Americans want to phase out land-based nuclear missiles!

All of the information posted above was new in March 2021, except for FCNL’s information about the Air Force contract, which was news in October 2020.  But on August 14, 2020, the Quaker-based organization “Friends Committee on National Legislation” (www.fcnl.org) reported that most Americans Want to Phase Out ICBMs.
Some 61% of Americans  favor phasing out the U.S. fleet of intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to a report from the University of Maryland. The Air Force is pushing ahead on construction of new ICBMs, which could cost at least $85 billion. Urge your members of Congress to stop funding for these dangerous, new missiles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About GlenAnderson 1499 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org