1504 Franklin St. Suite 202, Oakland, CA 94612 phone: (510) 839-5877
fax: (510) 839-5397 e-mail: webmaster@wslfweb.org
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WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION 1504 Franklin St. Suite 202, Oakland, CA 94612 phone: (510) 839-5877 fax: (510) 839-5397 e-mail: webmaster@wslfweb.org | |
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PRESS RELEASE Inspection Notification Letter to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director
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PRESS RELEASE November 8, 2002 Conduct Inspection at Lawrence Livermore National Lab Livermore, CA - On Veteran's Day, Monday, November 11th, at 12:00 noon, a citizen's inspection team will demand entrance to the Lawrence Livermore National Lab to investigate the development of weapons of mass destruction. The team will include representatives from some of California's leading disarmament organizations as well as Veterans for Peace. Student teams from University of California campuses will call on the UC Regents, who manage the Livermore and the Los Alamos National Lab, to support the admission of international weapons inspectors into the two primary nuclear weapons labs. "In light of the Security Council's vote in favor of sending weapons inspectors back to Iraq, we seek to hold our own country to the same standard. As people committed to the genuine and comprehensive elimination of weapons of mass destruction, as veterans and as students of the University of California which manages these labs, we call for full inspections of the Lawrence Livermore Lab," said Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation The inspections will seek to publicize the fact that research is underway to develop more "useable" nuclear weapons for the U.S. arsenal including earth-penetrating "bunker busters" and lower-yield nuclear weapons for smaller conventional war fighting scenarios. "There is overwhelming evidence that Livermore Lab is developing the next generation of weapons of mass destruction," according to Tara Dorabji of Tri-Valley CAREs based in Livermore. "Congress just allocated $15 million for developing the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator. We are absolutely committed to eliminating the threat posed by those weapons whether they are in Iraq or right here in the suburbs of a major metropolitan area." New weapons are in development at Livermore and at Los Alamos as part of a new offensive US nuclear policy outlined in the Nuclear Posture Review, leaked to the Los Angeles Times in March. "The Bush Administration's policies of building new nuclear weapons and threatening their use will put our nation at risk and launch a new, more dangerous multi-lateral arms race" said California Peace Action's Executive Director Peter Ferenbach. "We don't intend to stand by while this administration endangers the security of Americans for generations to come." The Inspectors have specifically chosen Veterans Day to challenge these destructive policies. "We need to inspect Lawrence Livermore because the United States is the only country to have used nuclear weapons," said Jim Long of Veterans for Peace. "We need to secure the world for future generations. If we really want to honor America's veterans, we should stop generating veterans and start generating peace." The Bush Administration has made the case that Iraq's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction is a violation of United Nations Resolutions and International Law, but has failed to acknowledge their own noncompliance. "The United States is bound by the Non-Proliferation Treaty to pursue genuine nuclear disarmament. The weapons development taking place at this facility puts the US in material breach of that treaty," said Cabasso. "As an institution of higher learning it is inappropriate for the University of California to be designing these devastating weapons that could be used in World War III. As a student and American tax-payer it is our responsibility to challenge the development of all weapons of mass destruction, both here and in Iraq." Sandino Gomez of Standing United for Peace a student coalition at UC Santa Cruz. | |||||
