GVCP Calls on President Obama to Take Real Action to Reduce Nuclear Weapons

May 11, 2016

President Obama plans to visit Hiroshima, Japan during the G7 Summit, on May 26th and 27th, 2016.

Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace (GVCP), along with many other peace groups, agrees that it’s time for a U.S. President to visit Hiroshima’s Peace Park in Japan. The President can honor those who died during the atomic bombing, and he can affirm his goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. However, at this point, it’s not enough for the President to repeat the words that he used in his historic 2009 Prague speech, when he called for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Obama must announce actions he will take in his remaining months as President that will actually bring the world closer to being free of nuclear weapons. In other words, we are asking for deeds, not just words.

We feel that there are specific steps the President could announce in Hiroshima that will show the world that his words about a world free of nuclear weapons aren’t hollow rhetoric. One of these options is a reduction in the number of nuclear warheads in reserve. Another would be to move nuclear weapons away from “hair-trigger alert.” “Hair-trigger alert” allows weapons to be launched within minutes, which increases the chance of a nuclear launch made by mistake. Another possibility for the President is to cancel the Long Range Stand Off nuclear cruise missile (LRSO), or other expensive, dangerous nuclear weapons.

GVCP believes that President Obama will look insincere if his words call for ridding the world of nuclear weapons, while at the same time his administration continues its plan to spend a trillion dollars over thirty years to upgrade nuclear weapons.

GVCP asks readers to communicate with President Obama, asking him to take specific actions for nuclear peace when he goes to Hiroshima later in May.

By postal mail: President Barack Obama, The White House, Washington, DC 20500

By e-mail: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

By phone: The White House comment line is 202-456-1111

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