Change.org

 

Ideas Home
»
Abolish Nuclear Weapons
»
Blog

Support a Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East

by Rick Wayman

Published June 12, 2009 @ 01:22PM PT

Last week in Cairo, President Obama said, "It is clear to all concerned that when it comes to nuclear weapons, we have reached a decisive point. This is...about preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East that could lead this region and the world down a hugely dangerous path."

The good news is that all countries party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) agreed in 1995 to exert their utmost efforts to establish a "Middle East zone free of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems."

The bad news is that this agreement was made 14 years ago, and to date there has been no progress. However, most countries in the Middle East see this agreement as linked to the indefinite extension of the NPT.

Write to President Obama today and ask him to use the convening power of the United States to begin negotiations on a Middle East Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (NWFZ).

This would mean that all countries in the Middle East, including Israel, commit themselves not to manufacture, acquire, test, or possess nuclear weapons. Much of the Earth - including the ocean floor, outer space and nearly the entire southern hemisphere - is free from nuclear weapons due to NWFZs and related treaties.

Establishing a NWFZ in the Middle East will be a significant step on the path to the complete abolition of nuclear weapons. Please take a moment to write to President Obama today.

Comments

  1. Steven Crandell

    Posted by Steven Crandell on 06/12/2009 @ 05:03PM PT

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

Check Spelling

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Author

Rick Wayman Rick Wayman

close

This user's Profile page is not public. They have restricted it to only their friends.

Already a Member?

Create an Account

You must create a Change.org account to complete this action.
If you already have an account click here.