A Letter to UC President
Robert Dynes
by David Krieger, December 10, 2003
The following is the text of David
Krieger's letter to the University of California's President Robert
Dynes opposing the UC's management of the Los Alamos and Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratories, which research and develop nuclear
weapons.
Dear President
Dynes,
I am writing on Human Rights Day to urge you to
oppose further collaboration between the University of California
and the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Laboratories. It is highly inappropriate
for a great university like the University of California to involve
itself in the research and development of weapons of mass destruction.
By providing oversight and management to the nation’s nuclear
weapons laboratories, the University of California places itself
in the position of researching and developing weapons capable
of causing massive suffering and slaughter, such as occurred at
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The International Court of Justice has stated,
“There exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and
bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament
in all its aspects under strict and effective international control.”
Rather than contributing toward the elimination of nuclear weapons,
the University of California is providing support for continued
U.S. reliance on and development of nuclear weapons. Policies
of the current administration include research on more usable
nuclear weapons, such as mini-nukes and “bunker-busters,”
research being carried out at the UC-managed labs.
A great university should provide not only knowledge
but a moral compass to the students it educates and to the larger
society. The University of California cannot fulfill this function
so long as it remains an accomplice in the U.S. effort to base
its security on the ongoing threat of mass annihilation. The University
of California should be a leader in working to end the nuclear
weapons era; not a leader in contributing to new nuclear arms
races that extend the nuclear weapons era.
I encourage you to take a strong and principled
stand against a continued relationship between the University
of California and the nation’s nuclear weapons laboratories,
a stand that will contribute to nuclear sanity and the security
of all Americans.
Sincerely,
David Krieger
President
*David Krieger is the president of the Nuclear
Age Peace Foundation (www.wagingpeace.org). He is the editor of
Hope in a Dark Time (Capra Press, 2003).
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