Roguely Stated

There is no other way to say it: we, as Americans, simply ignore the threat of nuclear terrorism. Yes, some of you may remember duck and cover under the desk drills, building fallout shelters, or listening to one of many presidents warn us about the catastrophic results that would occur in the event of a nuclear attack. But, those are just memories in a decade long ago, when proliferation was the problem of two superpowers, in a system that worked because of balance and the promise of mutual destruction. You may even disagree that we have forgotten, but I challenge you to show me otherwise. The threat is real, the threat is growing, and we are doing very little to either prevent it or to prepare for its coming.

Why We Should Care

Ash Carter, former Assistant Secretary of Defense from 1993 to 1996, along with former SecDef Bill Perry, described in a recent New York Times piece how and why the nuclear threat has grown in recent years.

“The probability of a nuclear weapon one day going off in an American city cannot be calculated, but it is larger than it was five years ago. Potential sources of bombs or the fissile materials to make them have proliferated in North Korea and Iran. Russia’s arsenal remains incompletely secured 15 years after the end of the Soviet Union. And Pakistan’s nuclear technology, already put on the market once by Abdul Qadeer Khan, could go to terrorists if the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, cannot control radicals in that country.

In the same period, terrorism has surged into a mass global movement and seems to gather strength daily as extremism spills out of Iraq into the rest of the Middle East, Asia, Europe and even the Americas. More nuclear materials that can be lost or stolen plus more terrorists aspiring to mass destruction equals a greater chance of nuclear terrorism.”

There are two things that are widely agreed upon in the policy world when it comes to nuclear terrorism: the threat is growing and something should be done. Some practioners argue that securing existing nukes right now is the best way to prevent attack. Others argue for a no new nuke policy. Graham Allison, author of Nuclear Terrorism, argues for a three pronged approach that addresses the full spectrum. He also offers compelling reasons to why we should care. From Allison’s book:

-Every day 30,000 trucks, 6,500 rail cars, and 140 ships deliver more than 50,000 cargo containers into the United States, but only 5 percent ever get screened. But even this screening, which rarely involves physical inspection, may not detect nuclear weapons or fissile material.

-There are approximately 130 nuclear research reactors in 40 countries. Two dozen of these have enough highly enriched uranium for one or more nuclear bombs.

-In Russia, 10,000 nuclear warheads and fissile material for 30,000 additional weapons remain vulnerable to theft.

What We Must Do

Quite frankly I disagree that the focus of this conversation needs to be about what to do “After the Bomb,” which by the way was the title of the NY Times piece by Carter and Perry. Ultimately what is missing, from most citizens and certainly among those in my generation, is a conciousness about how real the threat is we are facing. Yes, we care about nuclear terrorism, but we do not take the steps of a population that 1) has been recently attacked 2) has the technological know-how to be a safer nation. This comes down to the simple facts presented above. Change, however is a possibility, if this generation so desires..

The first step, and what I think every college and university should be actively involved in starting this fall, is pressuring the US Congress to fully fund legislation to secure all weapons grade material immediately(this would be in the spirit of Nunn-Lugar, but with a wider scope and full funding). The White House should feel the pressure as well, especially leading up to the 2010 NPT conference. This time we need an administration and team that is prepared and backed by a coalition of nations that want to change how we address this threat.

This campaign, a campaign as important as any race for the presidency, must educate the daydreaming US citizen. The campaign should begin on college campuses, led by college students, like most other major movements in our history. Each of us, if nothing else, can begin to educate those around us. Or, we can wait. We can wait and then witness what Carter describes in his piece as the helplessness that would be created by such an attack. If that article doesn’t make you want to take action, visit www.nuclearterrorism.org and put in your zip code on a blast map. Maybe that will finally wake all of us up, before we all wake up to a world with a new reality and fewer choices.

Tags: Allison, Carter, Congress, Harvard, Lugar, Musharraf, New York Times, North Korea, nuclear, Nukes, Pakistan, Perry, Russia, Terrorism, UN
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