Shouldn't we leave a safer world to our children and grandchildren? By working together to change US policy on nuclear weapons we can start the long process of addressing the single most immediate catastrophic threat to humanity.

During his campaign, President-elect Obama said, “A world without nuclear weapons is profoundly in America’s interest and the world’s interest. It is our responsibility to make the commitment, and to do the hard work to make this vision a reality. That’s what I’ve done as a Senator and a candidate, and that’s what I’ll do as President.”   Mr. Obama has also said, “If we want the world to de-emphasize the role of nuclear weapons, the United States and Russia must lead by example.”  It’s time for this change to happen in our lifetime.
- Jim Lichtman, Santa Barbara, CA

100 ways Obama can abandon the way things were December 22, 2008

 Joan Russow  PhD - Global Compliance Research Project –Throughout his campaign, Barack Obama declared that he would "chart a new course for America", and in his victory speech he said: "This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make this change. And this cannot happen if we go back to the way things were." The Global Community watching his appointments must wonder if he is not perpetuating the way things were. President-elect Obama had the opportunity to move the United States of America away from its years of militarism, competitiveness and fundamentalism. But will he with this team? One is left with the question: are individuals in positions of power just mouth pieces for current administrations, and thus when administration change, they change their views? How many times have we seen the "retired general syndrome" when generals after years of war-making, in full epiphany, don the robes of peace.

In case these mouth pieces are not going to or will not be allowed to go back to the way things were." Enclosed are a series of suggestion to assist with their epiphanies.
  (1) to reduce the US military budget by reallocating military expenses and transferring the savings into global social justice as undertaken through numerous UN Conference Action Plans and UN General Assembly Resolutions.

2. To abandon the pre-emptive/preventive attack policy that has resulted in aggressive attacks on sovereign states and that has been in violation of the UN Charter article 2 and international law as being the 'supreme' international crime of a war of aggression

3. To withdraw immediately from any military involvement and occupation of sovereign states including Iraq and Afghanistan.

4. To end the practice of mollifying public opposition by couching aggressive acts in euphemistic "operations" such as "operation just cause", Operation Iraqi freedom, "Operation Enduring Freedom" etc

5. To undertake to sign and ratify all Geneva Protocols, including Protocol V, which requires the removal of remnants of war

6. To no longer perceive justice in terms of revenge through military intervention and to instead seek justice through the International Court of Justice.

7. To no longer misconstrue Art 51 (self defence) of the Charter of the United Nations to justify premeditated non provoked military aggression, or to use various such pretexts for invading other sovereign states.
8. To not engage in and to oppose any attempt to undermine the international resolve to prevent the scourge of war; this would include not engaging in intimidation or in offering economic incentives in exchange for support for military interventions.

9. To be willing to be judged by an international tribunal for any actions that might be deemed to violate international law, to be crimes against the peace, to be war crimes, or to involve genocide.

10. To not misuse UN "peace keeping" forces to clean up aggressive acts of destruction and occupation of other states.

11. To close and convert to peaceful purposes all US foreign military bases in sovereign states around the world.
12. To undertake to respect the mandatory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice ,and to abide by its decisions.

13. To end the circulation and berthing of nuclear powered or nuclear arms capable vessels throughout the world.

14. To no longer engaged in "War Games" or "Military exercises" such as Exercise Trident Fury.

15. To discontinue propping up and financing military dictators.

16. To abandon the practice of targeting or assisting in the assassination of leaders of other sovereign states, and of engaging in "regime change" or covert destabilization of democratically elected leaders of or any leader of a sovereign state; to end the interference in the democratic process through US government funded Non governmental organizations..

17, To invoke Chapter VI – the peaceful resolutions of disputes- and be prepared to be judged by the International Court of Justice.

18. To abide by the Nuclear Non Proliferation treaty and immediately implement Article VI of the treaty, (Article VI: commits all parties to pursue negotiations in good faith on measures to end the nuclear arms race and to achieve disarmament.)
19. to end the production of all weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear, chemical, and biological, as agreed to in UNCHE in 1972, and in specific conventions.
20. To be equally critical of all states, including Israel, which possess nuclear weapons, and to recognize the destabilizing impact of the Middle East as a result of the possession of nuclear weapons.

21. To reaffirm the obligations under the 1967 the Outer space Treaty to ensure that exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind [humanity];
22. to discontinue the research, development and installation of Ballistic Missile Defence technology.

23. To make a full commitment to disarmament and to oppose the continued profit- making from the sale of arms,
24. to implement obligations to reduce the trade in small arms
25. to collaborate with the ILO to fund a fair and just transition program for worker currently working in the arms trade.
26.To end the destabilization of states and regions through the sale of arms, including through the guise of "foreign aid".

27. To end the production of land mines and to sign and ratify the Convention for the Banning of Landmines, and affirm a commitment of funds and continuous effort to remove land mines from all areas of the world where land mines are known to exist.

28. To suffocate the production of uranium,

29. to phase out the use of civil nuclear energy, and refuse to accept nuclear energy as the solution to climate change

30. To prohibit the use of weapons such as Depleted Uranium and cluster bombs that would be prohibited under the Geneva Protocol II.

31. To oppose NATO'S first strike policy, and support the disbanding of NATO, and NORAD.

32. To abide by the Geneva conventions on the treatment of civilians, and respect international human rights and humanitarian law.

33. To abide by the Convention against Torture through Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and end the practice of rendition of citizens and to abide by the Geneva conventions.

34. To eliminate cruel and inhumane punishment such as capital punishment, which violates accepted international norms.

35. To abandon institutions and agreements which promulgate globalization, deregulation and privatization; these institutions and agreements undermine the rule of international public trust law, and condone and actively facilitate corporations benefiting and profiting from war.

36. To oppose the promulgation, globalization, deregulation and privatization through trade agreements, such as the WTO/FTAA/NAFTA SPP etc that undermine the rule of international public trust law and international norms, and to support global fair trade.

37. To disband the WTO, to abrogate of NAFTA and to end negotiation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership Agreement.

38. To oppose all proposals such as those in the Security and Prosperity Partnership, which will result, through the practice of harmonization, in standards' and regulations' not achieving the highest tenable principles but arriving at the lowest common denominator.

39. To abandon the IMF structural adjustment program which has led to the violation of human rights, has exploited citizens in the developing world and has adversely impacted on vulnerable and indigenous peoples around the world.

40. To oppose the privatization of public services such as water, sewage and health care,

41. To increase funding to Universities to counter the corporate funding of education including the corporate direction of research and declare that research must be arms length and not tied to government or corporations.

42. To finally implement the long standing international commitment to transfer .7% of the GDP for overseas aid, and to cancel third world debt.

43. To no longer subsidize and invest in companies that have developed weapons of mass destruction, that have violated human rights, that have denied social justice, that have exploited workers, and that have destroyed the environment.

44. To implement the commitment made to ensure that corporations, including transnational corporations comply .. with international law, and that they pay compensation for any previous health and environmental consequences of their actions.

45. To revoke charters and licences of corporations that have violated human rights, including labour rights, that have contributed to war and violence, and that have led to the destruction of the environment.
46. To abandon the capitalist, exploitative, competitive economic model, and embrace cooperative forms of economic entrepreneurship.

47. To support Mandatory International Ethical Normative (MIEN) standards and enforceable regulations to drive industry to conform to international law, and to oppose corporate "voluntary compliance".

48. To enforce the provisions in the Convention to prevent disasters, and to not embrace the acceptance of weaker proposals which would result in "reducing disasters".

49. To ban substances and activities that contribute to environmentally induced diseases,
50. to address poverty related health problems and ensure universal access, to publicly funded not for profit health care system.

51. To end the production of toxic, hazardous, atomic waste,

52. To prevent the transfer to other states of substances and activities that are harmful to human health or the environment as agreed at the UN Conferences on the Environment and Development, 1992.

53. To ban the production, approval and promotion of genetically engineered foods and crops which have led to a deterioration of the food supply, and to loss of heritage seeds; and

54. To oppose all proposals such to supply genetically engineered food and crops to address the issue of poverty, or to contribute to the mitigation of climate change.
55. To promote organic agriculture, and to institute a fair and just transition program for workers and communities affected by the conversion to organic agriculture.

56. To protect Biodiversity by signing and ratifying the Convention on Biological Diversity and oppose "megadiversity"--resulting from genetic engineering.

57. To be forthright in acknowledging that the Biosafety Protocol is a disguised trade agreement, and serves to promote the acceptance of Genetically modified living organisms.

58. To accept the warnings of the Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change, and to no longer disregard obligations under the Framework Convention on Climate Change and its protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to preserve carbon sinks, and commitment made under Habitat II Agenda to move away from car dependency.59. To urge the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to investigate and estimate the full impact on greenhouse gas emissions by the military and demand that each state release information related to the greenhouse gas emissions from the production of all weapons systems, military exercises, from war games, weapons testing, military aviation, environmental warfare, troop transfer, military operations, waste generation, reconstruction after acts of violent interventions etc.;

60. To counter the deniers of the issue of climate change by citing the precautionary principle contained in the legally binding Framework Convention on Climate Change;
Which reads that where there is a threat of climate change, the lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postpone measures to prevent the threat [a paraphrase].

61. To oppose any suggestion that civil nuclear energy is the solution to climate change. {civil nuclear energy violates the principle that a solution should never be equally bad or worse than the problem it is intended to solve].

62. To end the misappropriation of agricultural land for the growing of biofuel.

63. To oppose the practice by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of promoting civil nuclear energy as a solution to climate change [in violation of the principle that a regulator should not a promoter be].

64. To support a Forest Protocol to be linked to the Convention on Biological Diversity and to the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

65. To repeal Patriot act because it violates civil and political rights, and results in racial profiling.

66. To end the obsession with the war on terror

67.To open up a full investigation of the events surrounding September 11, 2001.

68. To release the Cuba 5

69.To release Leonard Pelltier

70. To clearly distinguish legitimate dissent from criminal acts of subversion.

71. To address the ignominy in the case USA vs Al-Arian

72. To abandon the "no-fly" list, and the FBI list of activists.

73. To tear down the wall between Mexico and the United States.

74. To oppose "slap suits" against public participation.

75. to no longer target, intimidate and discriminate against activists on the grounds of political and other opinion (a listed ground in the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights}.

76.. To end all discrimination on the following grounds:
- race, tribe, or culture;
- colour, ethnicity, national ethnic or social origin, or language; nationality, place of birth, or nature of residence (refugee or immigrant, migrant worker);
- gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or form of family, [including same-sex marriage]
- disability or age;
- religion or conviction, political or other opinion, or - class, economic position, or other status.

77. To end the discrimination against immigrants, and refugees.

78.To sign and ratify the Convention for the Protection of Migrant Workers and their Families; and the Convention on Refugees.

79.To offer amnesty to all those who were war resisters.

80. To fully abide by ILO Convention related to indigenous rights

81. To longer engage in practices that destroy the lands of indigenous people or that are deemed to be inappropriate as agreed to in Agenda 21 (UNCED);

82,. To adopt the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

83. To respect women's reproductive rights, and abide by commitments made under the International Conference on Population and Development, and the Beijing Platform, and to sign and ratify the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, and its protocols.

84. To ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child

85. To sign and ratify all of the ILO Conventions, including the provisions related to the right to strike, and the right to equal pay for work of equal value

86. To support the institution of an International Court of Compliance linked to the International Court of Justice; The Court of Compliance will hear evidence from citizens of state non compliance.

87. To support the establishment of an International Court of Compliance where citizens can take evidence of state and corporate non-compliance, and where, in the absence of compliance, charters and licences of corporation can be revoked.

88. To discharge obligations incurred through conventions, treaties, and covenants; and act on commitments made through conference action plans related to Common security - peace, environment, human rights and social justice

89. To sign, ratify, and enact the necessary legislation to ensure compliance with, or respect for Common Security international Conventions, Covenants and Treaties.

90. To affirm a commitment to multilateralism and oppose unilateral actions that undermine global common security

91. To affirm that true security is not "collective security" or "human security" which has been extended to "humanitarian intervention" and used along with the "responsibility to protect" with a view to justifying military intervention in other states. True security is "common security", not as defined in the SPP, but in documents prepared by Olaf Palme, and which entrench peremptory norms related to the following actions:

92. To promote and fully guarantee respect for human rights including labour rights, civil and political rights, social and cultural rights- right to food, right to housing, right to universally accessible, not for profit health care system , right to education and social justice; to this end, to ratify the international Covenant on Social Economic and Cultural Rights.
* to enable socially equitable and environmentally sound employment, and ensure the right to development [as per Convention];
* to achieve a state of peace, social justice and disarmament; through reallocation of military expenses, and eradication of poverty
* to create a global structure that respects the rule of law ; and
* to ensure the preservation and protection of the environment, respect the inherent worth of nature beyond human purpose, reduce the ecological footprint and move away from the current model of overconsumptive development and toward forms of economic cooperation.

93..To ratify the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, under which Article 53 has the provision that a treaty is null and void if the treaty violates international peremptory norms

94. To oppose religious extremism and proselytizing including the spread of Evangelical Christianity around the world, which has undermined local indigenous cultures, instilled fear through the dangerous, belief in the "rapture", "Armageddon" and "left behind", has promulgated dispensationalist "end times" scenario which has serious irreversible
consequences. and has led to the denigrating other established beliefs and practices.

98. To no longer undermine the notion of democracy by couching a plutocracy/theocracy in democratic notions of "freedom";

96.To end the interference in the democratic process through US government funded non governmental organizations.

97 . To reverse the practice of United States' undermining years of international obligations incurred through treaties, conventions and covenants;

98. To reverse the practice of United States' of undermining international commitments made through UN Conference Action plans,

99. To reverse the practice of United States' of undermining international expectations created through UNGA declarations and resolutions.

100. To refuse to end speeches with God Bless America    

Civil Society has already produced a Model Nuclear Weapons Convention, relying on scientists, lawyers, policymakers laying out all the steps for verifying, dismantling and securing nuclear materials to achieve nuclear disarmament.  It is now an official UN document and can be found at www.abolition2000.org  We know how to do it.  The time is now!

US leadership to abolish nuclear weapons is crucial to our survival and must become a priority for our president. No issue is more essential to the present and future of the world.

The events of the past few years have demonstrated that the might of a superpower lies not with its military, but by moral example.  The time has come for America to lead by example.

I agree with Soraya here. Also, we need to consider the fact that as long as there are nuclear weapons and terrorists, there is a threat of a nuclear holocaust if the two come together. Right now nations have these weapons and cannot afford to protect them or perform the maintenance needed to keep them safe. Even here in the USA we have had problems keeping track with some of ours. If we have those problems, what are these other nations doing?

It is time to make this a "post nuclear" world...I would hope Presidnt Elect calls for multilateral disarmament as soon as he is sworn into office and that he sticks to that commitment.

Nuclear Weopen is a dangerious & catasrofic as well as useless & childish tool in the hands of the nuclear club countries. The few arogant governments that have it, are using it against the less fortunate states. It is useless because no one has used it with the exception of the USA, childish becasue having the weapon has been used agaisnt smaller countries to blackmail, and catasrofic because there's no winner once a country unleash the weopon and starts a nuclear holocost. Its time to abolish nuclear weapon all together.

John Davis is right when he notes that "there is a threat of a nuclear holocaust if the two come together." And the "two" need not be terrorists and nuclear weapons. The spark that sets off the powder keg (atomic keg?) could come from a number of sources, such as a second Georgian war -- especially if Obama follows through on his campaign statements about bringing that nation into NATO. (Though he did hedge by saying, "when it met the requirements," which won't happen for a long time.) My article 
http://nuclearrisk.org/soaring_article.php

has more on the danger and the hope. Thanks to Nuclear Age Peace Foundation for bringing this critical issue to this site.

I wholeheartedly support David Krieger's appeal for US leadership in the long-overdue movement towards a nuclear-weapons-free world. Nuclear weapons are an absolute evil. They are fundamentally genocidal in nature. Any use of nuclear weapons would involve massive deaths civilians without any regard for guilt or innocence - babies, boys and girls, men and women in their prime and old people. The fundamental immorality of nuclear weapons is the reason why they they have been illegal since 1996. John Avery

I fully support all 100 of Joan Russow's fine suggestions!

John Avery

There is a need to present a mid-point between David Krieger's plea to abolish nuclear weapons and the 100-point policy suggestions of Joan Russow which cover the whole water front. The  abolition of nuclear weapons requires a consideration of world security which nuclear weapons are supposed to address but do not. While deep cuts should be possible quickly in US and Russian nuclear weapons as there are basically no outstanding post Cold War security issues, there are security concerns for India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea and the security situation of Iran if we expect Iran not to develop nuclear weapons. A  "citizen diplomcy" over all nuclear weapon- security system should be worked out prior to the 2010 NPT Review where we should push for real progress toward a nuclear-weapon free world. Best wishes, Rene Wadlow, Representative to the UN, Geneva, Association of World Citizens

This is so important! Nuclear arms and weapons should be completely eliminated from our world. We have to set an example. So far we are the only country that has actually used nuclear bombs against others! Insanity!!!

I have a question for you. I support Krieger's idea, and voted for it, of course. I would add to his idea to dump ALL nuclear production activities, not just nuclear disarmament.

Here's the question: how do you arrange the top priority threats to our continuing existence on earth, which are: global warming mitigation; war and its subsequent effects; exceeding carrying capacities (loss of ecosystems, food chain, and social structures)?

Without addressing the disease of war (promoting peace), the others are not possible. Krieger's idea fits that sequence.

I support U.S. and U.N. leadership in abolishing nuclear weapons and to strictly control all weapons of mass destruction. 

Let's spend money to save mankind, not destroy it!

God bless Joan Russow. She has succinctly articulated how a principled administration would behave. Her 100 reasons are relevant precisely because no one thing exists in a vacuum. Nuclear armament is seen as attractive only because it matches, in its extremism, the social outrages that called it into existence in the first place. When we step up to our position as fully responsible adults in the world we will treat all people with dignity and thereby eliminate the "need" for all forms of war and violence. It has always been so, we have simply been too adolescent until now to resonate with that truth.

The U.S. should lead the world in nuclear disarmament.

We should be working on ridding the world of ALL weapons of mass destruction.  Nuclear weapons would be a good start... .

We all lose with war and nuclear. Let's have a century of peace !

The problem of stopping nuclear weapons proliferation needs to be approached from various positions.  It is not enough just to have a treaty that all nations sign on to, we need to address the root causes of why some nations would want to possess or use these weapons.  Poverty, illiteracy, lack of opportunity, unfair trade policies have to be eliminated so we bring each other up and start taking care of one another.  We know that we cannot bomb our way to peace.  It has never worked and will not work.  We either do something different or risk going up in a nuclear war. 

u are the best president in the world.

We already have enough nuclear weapons around the world to blow it up thousands of times over.  It is time to put an end to this madness! 

This is an extremly important issue that should be addressed ASAP.

 Out with the old " unevolved" Nuclear/Greed era and start setting REAL examples for our youth ! It is pathetic the role models our youth has ! Humans are meant to fight to defend their families, properties etc. passionately and nuclear weapons are a technology that was/is a mistake and people have to be responsible enough ( leaders) to dismantle this horrid invention. Besides if they KEEP building Nuclear Power plants in America... Our enemies won't need nuclear weapons !

Let us end the age of fear that the Bush administration created globally. The first step toward diplomatic sanity will be nuclear disarmament.

Nuclear disarmament is essential for the future of the planet as we know it.  Missile defense is a waste of money.  Being addicted to nuclear weapons is the same as being addicted to heroin.  The persuit of the goals in either is insane.  Who can remember MAD?  That was an insane policy.  As Pope Paul VI said, "if you want peace, act for justice".  May the incoming Administration do what it can to regain US influence in the world by leading the nuclear disarmament discussion and leading by example.

Nuclear disarmament is an idea whose time has more than come and this is the presidential leadership to do it.

I agree that we should abolish those weapons in order for our country to have a safer world, free from nuclear confrontation. That's what the Obama administration should do to make those countries not be a threat to human society. I hope he better sign a treaty within his presidency that we should ban all of those old armheads by 2020, or else, go into more confrontations to attack them.

We have the best opportunity since World War II to mount a campaign here and worldwide to abolish nuclear weapons. For the first time pragmatic realists share the view of principled moralists that nuclear weapons should be eliminated before their possession generates catastrophic scenarios of actual use.

We have the best opportunity since World War II to mount a campaign here and worldwide to abolish nuclear weapons. For the first time pragmatic realists share the view of principled moralists that nuclear weapons should be eliminated before their possession generates catastrophic scenarios of actual use.

Getting rid of all nuclear weapons or even heading in that direction will be a major improvement for humanity and the earth.  It will also be a powerful symbol that machismo is no longer the automatic response to international disagreements.

The abolition of  nuclear weapons is a very urgent need for the sake of future generations as well as our own. Mr. Obama  says he agrees, but his designated secretary of defense wants to update those we have - to make them "safe"? The new president will need to find a way to walk the fine line between those two pressure points.

On Christmas Eve with storms shutting down a large part of the U.S., let's follow nature's message and shut down what would create a far larger disaster than the crash of Wall Street around the world. Global Peace is the only way to live our lives.

Perie Longo

The only project that I would consider as important as abolishing nuclear weapons is to control global warming. Let's do both. I believe we can!

We do not need nuclear weapons in this world!  Nuclear weapons act as a deterrent to real world peace!  We must get fid of the nuclear weapons as soon as possible!  Joyce Raby, Sarasota, Florida

It is essential that nuclear weapons be dismantled, abolished and that no further kinds of nuclear weapons be researched or built. We cannot have a world of negotiation with nuclear weapons always in the background to be used if the negotiations fail.

I speak from my late brother, Ron Pierce who was a Commander in the Navy. I believe that Ron Pierce and I would agree that the 1st and important issue is to "Abolish Nuclear Weapons". American lives must be saved at all costs. Yes leadership is vital in specific issues. Perhaps, we can question whether Abolishing neuclear weapons is important to save people's lives. But at what cost will it affect people's lives?
Camille Pierce
marklael@aol.com

President - elect Obama knows that the existence of nuclear weapons is a clear and present danger to the world.  Our leaders have always known that, but other issues have been given priority as the years have passed. I hope this will not happen again, although I recognize that our president will be facing many challenges. The effects of the first atomic bombs - used only by the United States - were so terrible that no one has ever used them again - yet.We survived a nuclear standoff against the Soviet Union and pledged to work toward the reduction and eventual  abolition of nuclear weapons, but  the urgency of those pledges  has been lost.   We also pledged to help prevent proliferation of these weapons, but  the   knowledge  and  materials   needed to create  smaller but far more powerful weapons are steadily spreading out to countries and nonstate groups who see nuclear capability as membership in an exclusive club.  The restraint required to avoid mutual destruction during the Cold War may not be present in these new groups. Unfortunately,  the United States and other nations who  already have the weapons are not leading efforts to abolish them but instead are  protecting their friends who have them and  threatening   others who  want to acquire them.   All of us need to be reminded that  using  nuclear weapons means mutual destruction, not just in the target areas - but wherever the  effects of radioactivity are carried.  We need to take the lead on this issue and   President Obama should make education about the realities of  nuclear competition a priority at home so he can build the political will to support  the international agreements we hope he will be able to achieve.

Everyone posting has said it repeatedly.  For any nation on the planet to have nuclear weapons is insanity.  How can we believe that one will not be used in the future?!  If not in my lifetime (at age 64) then God forbid, in that of my children and grandchildren, and children and grandchildren of everywhere.  I also think of the numbers of people we can feed, educate, provide health care for and a decent standard of living, if we weren't making war and weapons.

It is time for Hope. It is time for Change. It is time for Action:A Nuclear weapons (Elimination) Convention under the aegis of the UN to proceed towards Zero Abolition in a time-bound manner. (A model is already available at .)Immediate moves must be initiated to de-alert all nuclear weapons and de-couple warheads from the delivery mechanism.All missile defence schemes to be scrapped. 1972 ABM Treaty to be revived.All nuclear weapon states – declared and undeclared, to commit “No First Use” The US must lead.Negative Security Assurance for non-nuclear states to be provided by the UNSC.The talks between the US and Russia to cut down the number of nuclear warheads – total and deployed – to be immediately initiated.The CTBT must be brought into force. All explosive tests, including the simulated ones, must be barred in a credible and non-partisan verifiable manner.A verifiable FMCT is to be brought into force.All fissile materials to be secured under international supervision.

This is a most urgent need - the future of our children and grandchildren depends on our leadership in ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

We need globally to divert energy away from military resources towards learning to live with less fossil fuel consumption. It would be good if Obama could give a credible lead in this direction, and abolition of nuclear weapons would be a good start. It would however need to be followed rapidly by serious global political and economic reforms, under inspired local leadership in all States, especially those currently involved in conventional military activities.

Yes, we need to face fossil fuel depletion - now! And work to eliminate nuclear weapons, increase peaceful co-existence and security measures, and support human rights. We know how to do these things and millions of people *are* doing them. 

Inspired by hundreds of people, many known and some unknown, who have been jailed or imprisoned over the last 60+ years for their nonviolent opposition to nuclear weapons, by the U.S. and every other nuclear power, we heartily endorse this proposal.

Developing the next generation of weapons for our enemies to use is an expensive habit!

President Obama should make a proority out of restoring Constitutional rights that have been compromised by President Bush.  The 4th amendment has been altered. 
If we are to be a nation that obeys the law, we need to wipe out all changes that have been affected by President Bush.
If we are to be a nation that sets examples for a democratic society, then we need to follow our own laws.
Let us quit trying to oversell our nation. I do not deny that we live in a great nation but we spend an inordinant amount of time trying to sell ourselves as "the greatest nation on earth".  Act and let the other nations tell us what a great nation we are.  

We need to abolish nuclear weapons before they abolish us.

Lets do it together for change!

B. R. H.

I certainly agree on the goal.  It's also great to see so many people posting here -- like Richard Falk -- that have been arguing for disarmament and international law for so long.

The details of how to do this can be thorny.  Here is my idea:
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/abolish_war_forever