Gen. James Mattis
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000
February 9, 2018
Dear Secretary Mattis,
We were very pleased to learn of the postponement of the scheduled February 7 launch of a Minuteman III ICBM from Vandenberg Air Force Base. We urge you to act swiftly to postpone any additional nuclear-capable missile tests scheduled during the period of the 2018 Olympic Truce, which lasts through March 25.
Regardless of advance planning of such tests, it is essential to global security that the United States be flexible and respect worthwhile initiatives for peace such as the Olympic Truce. The Air Force has postponed launches due to unfavorable weather conditions, technical problems, and other issues. There is no reason why the Air Force cannot – at a minimum – postpone these ICBM tests until after the designated weeks of the Olympic Truce.
If North Korea were to test an ICBM during the Olympics, many nations, including the United States, would view the act as provocative and threatening. One does not have to stretch the imagination too far to guess how North Korea might react to our testing of ICBMs during the same period.
For the sake of global stability and to honor the Olympic spirit, we urge you to postpone any additional ICBM tests during the period of the Olympic Truce.
Sincerely,
(Organizational affiliations listed for identification purposes only)
Lilly Adams, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility
Christine Ahn, Women Cross DMZ
Edward Aguilar, Coalition for Peace Action, Pennsylvania
Katherine Alexander, Peace Action of New York State
Rev. Dr. Chris J. Antal, Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Rock Tavern,
Veterans for Peace, Representative to the United Nations
Jean Athey, Peace Action Montgomery
Mavis Belisle, Dallas Peace and Justice Center
Medea Benjamin, Code Pink
Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies, New Internationalism Project
Matthew Bolton, Associate Professor, Political Science, Pace University
Jacqueline Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation
Glenn Carroll, Nuclear Watch South, Atlanta
Sister Clare Carter, New England Peace Pagoda
Jeff Carter, Executive Director, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Gerry Condon, President, Veterans For Peace
Alexis Dudden, Professor of History, University of Connecticut
Leonard Eiger, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
Carolyn Rusti Eisenberg, Professor of History, Hofstra University
Vicki Elson, Resistance Center for Peace and Justice
Oliver Fein, M.D.
Gordon Fellman, Professor of Sociology and Chair, Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies, Brandeis University
Norma Field, Professor Emerita, Japanese Studies, University of Chicago
Martin Fleck, Security Program Director, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Shelagh Foreman, Massachusetts Peace Action
Mary J. Geissman, Peace & Justice Task Force, All Souls Unitarian Church, NYC
Irene Gendzier, Professor Emeritus, Boston University
Joseph Gerson (PhD), Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
Todd Gitlin, Professor, Columbia University
Van Gosse, Professor of History, Franklin & Marshall College, Co-Chair, Historians for Peace and Democracy
Jonathan Granoff , President Global Security Institute
Claire Greensfelder, INOCHI: Plutonium Free Future / Women for Safe Energy,
Co-Creator, nowarwithnorthkorea.org
Evie Hantzopoulos, Global Kids
Rabia Terri Harris, Founder, Muslim Peace Fellowship
Cole Harrison, Massachusetts Peace Action
David Hartsough, Peaceworkers, San Francisco
William D. Hartung, Center for International Policy
Ira Helfand, Co-President, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Patrick Hiller, War Prevention Initiative
Mary Hladky, United for Peace and Justice
Christine Hong, Professor, Literature, Critical race & ethnic studies, University of California Santa Cruz
Will Hopkins, New Hampshire Peace Action
Mari Inoue, Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World
Rev. Julie Johnson Staples, J. D.
Sally Jones, Peace Action Fund of New York State
Lauri Kallio, Peace Action National Board
Louis Kampf, Emeritus Professor, MIT
Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Specialist, Beyond Nuclear
Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CARES, Livermore, CA
Assaf Kfoury, Professor, Computer Science, Boston University
John Kim, Veterans For Peace-Korea Peace Campaign
Jonathan King, Professor, MIT Dept. of Biology
Bob Kinsey, The Colorado Coalition for Prevention of Nuclear War
Michael Klare, Five College Professor, Peace & World Security Studies, Hampshire College
David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Peter Kuznick, Professor of History, American University
John Lamperti, Professor of Mathematics, Emeritus, Dartmouth College
Tony Langbehn, Maryland United for Peace and Justice
Judith Le Blanc, Director, Native Organizers Alliance
Robert Jay Lifton, MD, Lecturer in Psychiatry, Columbia University, Distinguished Professor Emeritus,The City University of New York
Dan Luker, Boston Veterans for Peace, Chapter 9
Kevin Martin, President, Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund
Margaret Melkonian, Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives
Stephen Miles, Win Without War
Susan Mirsky, Newton Dialogues on Peace and War
David Monsees, PhD, Snake River Alliance, Boise, Idaho
Helga Moor, New Jersey Peace Action
Rev. Bob Moore, Coalition for Peace Action, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
Elizabeth Murray, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East, National Intelligence Council (retired)
Richard Ochs, Baltimore Peace Action
Koohan Paik, International Forum on Globalization
Rosemary Palmer, Cleveland Peace Action
Tony Palomba, Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment
Rev. Rich Peacock, Peace Action of Michigan
Guy Quinlan, All Souls Nuclear Disarmament Task Force, New York City
Rosemarie Pace, Director, Pax Christi Metro New York
Charlotte Phillips, MD, Brooklyn for Peace
Allison Pytlak,Programme Manager, Reaching Critical Will, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
Steve Rabson, Professor Emeritus, Brown University
Jon Rainwater, Executive Director, Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund
Kristina Romines, Women’s Action for New Directions
Jerald P. Ross, First Parish Bedford UU Peace and Justice Cmte
Linda Rousseau, Peace & Justice Task Force, All Souls Unitarian Church, NYC
Coleen Rowley, Women Against Military Madness
Deb Sawyer, Utah Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Claire & Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, SS., Francis & Therese Catholic Worker, Worcester, MA
Robert Shaffer, Professor of History, Shippensburg University
Paul Shannon, American Friends Service Committee
Alice Slater, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Jeff Stack, Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, Director, Hibakusha Stories
David Swanson, Word Beyond War
Florindo Troncelliti, Peace Action Manhattan
David Vine, Associate Professor of Anthropology, American University
Timmon Wallis, NuclearBan.US
Alyn Ware, World Future Council
Rick Wayman, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Cora Weiss, International Peace Bureau, UN Representative
Sarah G. Wilton (CDR, USNR-R, retired), Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Lawrence Wittner, Professor Emeritus, SUNY/Albany, Co-chair, Peace Action
Ann Wright, US Army Colonel retired