Contact: Sandy Jones  (805) 965-3443; sjones@napf.org

Rick Wayman  (805) 696-5159; rwayman@napf.org

 

For immediate release – In what the Pentagon is calling a “post-INF treaty world” on Sunday, August 18, 2019, at 2:30 pm., without prior notice, the Department of Defense conducted a test of a land-based cruise missile off the California coast at San Nicolas Island.

This missile test would have been banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) treaty which the Trump administration terminated just over 2 weeks ago.

There are many who believe that the termination of the INF brings us to the brink of a dangerous new arms race between the U.S. and Russia.

Rick Wayman, Deputy Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, a non-profit based in Santa Barbara, CA dedicated to sustaining a peaceful and just world, free of nuclear weapons, commented, “Yesterday, I spent a peaceful, beautiful afternoon at the beach in Santa Barbara, celebrating a friend’s birthday. The only defense we needed was some sunscreen and a beach umbrella. I was appalled to learn that, just miles from our family’s tranquil celebration, the U.S. took a dangerous and ill-advised leap forward in its arms race with Russia. Testing and deploying such missiles is dangerous and unnecessary, and raises the risk of armed conflict. There was good reason why these weapons were banned for 32 years, and should have remained banned forever.”

Having ended the INF treaty, both the U.S. and Russia are able to deploy nuclear-armed missiles in the foolish pursuit of a nuclear advantage. This is part of a pattern of bad decisions by the Trump administration, which also includes pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran.

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If you would like to interview Rick Wayman, NAPF’s Deputy Director, please call the Foundation at (805) 965-3443 or (805) 696-5159.

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s mission is to educate, advocate and inspire action for a peaceful world, free of nuclear weapons. Founded in 1982, the Foundation is comprised of individuals and organizations worldwide who realize the imperative for peace in the Nuclear Age. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with consultative status to the United Nations. For more information, visit wagingpeace.org.

*photo by Scott Howe / U.S. Department of Defense