People Before Profit blog

Hiroshima Day message: Abolish nuclear weapons, build lasting world peace

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 10:10:00 +0000

NEW HAVEN - "...Slicing through the clear blue sky, a previously unknown absolute evil is unleashed on Hiroshima, instantly searing the entire city. Koreans, Chinese, Southeast Asians, American prisoners of war, children, the elderly and other innocent people are slaughtered. By the end of the year, 140,00 are dead." - from the Hiroshima Peace Declaration.

Around the world, peace vigils and actions on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9 commemorated the 71st year since the first atomic bombs were dropped, destroying Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. In the United States gatherings and petitions called for an end to nuclear weapons.

On the New Haven Green in Connecticut, the 8:15 am gathering listened as church bells tolled to mark the exact time it took the bombs to rain from the sky. The Peace Declaration issued by Matsui Kazumi, Mayor of Hiroshima was read. It paid recognition to the visit by President Obama to Hiroshima earlier this year and then asked, "Is it not time to honor the spirit of Hiroshima and clear the path toward a world free from that "absolute evil," that ultimate inhumanity? Is it not time to unify and manifest our passion in action?"

Before leaving for their daily appointments, those present signed letters to Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut asking that he vote and take leadership in the fight for abolition of nuclear weapons, and use those resources for human needs.

The full text of the Hiroshima Peace Declaration follows:

"1945, August 6, 8:15 a.m. Slicing through the clear blue sky, a previously unknown "absolute evil" is unleashed on Hiroshima, instantly searing the entire city. Koreans, Chinese, Southeast Asians, American prisoners of war, children, the elderly and other innocent people are slaughtered. By the end of the year, 140,000 are dead.

"Those who managed to survive suffered the after-effects of radiation, encountered discrimination in work and marriage, and still carry deep scars in their minds and bodies. From utter obliteration, Hiroshima was reborn a beautiful city of peace; but familiar scenes from our riversides, patterns of daily life, and cultural traditions nurtured through centuries of history vanished in that "absolute evil," never to return.

"He was a boy of 17. Today he recalls, "Charred corpses blocked the road. An eerie stench filled my nose. A sea of fire spread as far as I could see. Hiroshima was a living hell." She was a girl of 18. "I was covered in blood. Around me were people with skin flayed from their backs hanging all the way to their feet-crying, screaming, begging for water."

"Seventy-one years later, over 15,000 nuclear weapons remain, individually much more destructive than the one that inflicted Hiroshima's tragedy, collectively enough to destroy the Earth itself. We now know of numerous accidents and incidents that brought us to the brink of nuclear explosions or war; today we even fear their use by terrorists.

"Given this reality, we must heed the hibakusha. The man who described a living hell says, "For the future of humanity, we need to help each other live in peace and happiness with reverence for all life." The woman who was covered in blood appeals to coming generations, "To make the most of the life we've been given, please, everyone, shout loudly that we don't need nuclear weapons." If we accept these appeals, we must do far more than we have been doing. We must respect diverse values and strive persistently toward a world where all people are truly "living together."

"When President Obama visited Hiroshima in May, he became the first sitting president of the country that dropped the atomic bomb to do so. Declaring, "... among those nations like my own that hold nuclear stockpiles, we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear, and pursue a world without them," he expressed acceptance of the hibakusha's heartfelt plea that "no one else should ever suffer as we have." Demonstrating to the people of the U.S. and the world a passion to fight to eliminate all remaining nuclear weapons, the President's words showed that he was touched by the spirit of Hiroshima, which refuses to accept the "absolute evil."

"Is it not time to honor the spirit of Hiroshima and clear the path toward a world free from that "absolute evil," that ultimate inhumanity? Is it not time to unify and manifest our passion in action? This year, for the first time ever, the G7 foreign ministers gathered in Hiroshima. Transcending the differences between countries with and without nuclear weapons, their declaration called for political leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and fulfillment of the obligation to negotiate nuclear disarmament mandated by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This declaration was unquestionably a step toward unity.

"We need to fill our policymakers with the passion to solidify this unity and create a security system based on trust and dialogue. To that end, I once again urge the leaders of all nations to visit the A-bombed cities. As President Obama confirmed in Hiroshima, such visits will surely etch the reality of the atomic bombings in each heart. Along with conveying the pain and suffering of the hibakusha, I am convinced they will elicit manifestations of determination.

"The average age of the hibakusha has exceeded 80. Our time to hear their experiences face to face grows short. Looking toward the future, we will need our youth to help convey the words and feelings of the hibakusha. Mayors for Peace, now with over 7,000 city members worldwide, will work regionally, through more than 20 lead cities, and globally, led by Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to promote youth exchange. We will help young people cultivate a shared determination to stand together and initiate concrete action for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

"Here in Hiroshima, Prime Minister Abe expressed determination "to realize a world free of nuclear weapons." I expect him to join with President Obama and display leadership in this endeavor. A nuclear-weapon-free-world would manifest the noble pacifism of the Japanese Constitution, and to ensure progress, a legal framework banning nuclear weapons is indispensable. In addition, I demand that the Japanese government expand the "black rain areas" and improve assistance to the hibakusha, whose average age is over 80, and the many others who suffer the mental and physical effects of radiation.

"Today, we renew our determination, offer heartfelt consolation to the souls of the A-bomb victims, and pledge to do everything in our power, working with the A-bombed city of Nagasaki and millions around the world, to abolish nuclear weapons and build lasting world peace."

Photo: The 'ultimate evil' (right) is what the demonstrators in New Haven (left) said must never happen again. | Left image by Art Perlo; right image by Stanley Troutman/AP

Turkey: HDP’s Eyyup Doru – “What we need is democracy and freedom”

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 11:42:00 +0000

(l'Humanite | English) Eyyup Doru is the European representative of the Kurdish HDP, the People's Democratic Party. For Doru, the solution to the crisis in Turkey is not in a state of emergency, but rather the return to democracy.

How do you interpret the coup attempt in Turkey and the large-scale crackdown that has followed?

Eyyup Doru: I think this is a power struggle within the Turkish state between regime of Erdogan and its former key ally, the Gülen group (the powerful movement of the Muslim preacher exiled in the United States, Fethullah Gulen, who is very active in the police and justice system). They were united against the Kurdish people. 10,000 people have been arrested because of this alliance between the Gülen group and the regime of Erdogan. Subsequently Erdogan and Gulen faced internal problems over the control of the state apparatus. There were political clashes between the two groups, but until recent years, Erdogan considered Gülen as his spiritual leader and all his ministers, looking at statements made in the last few years, named the Gülen regime as a democratic regime, as the savior of Turkey, the savior of democracy etc . Today they at odds, and Erdogan describes the Gülen movement as a terrorist group.

It's true that there was a military coup but it is also true that Erdogan has profited from the coup's failure in order to arrest any person or group that could one way or another represent a danger for his dream of an empire built in the Ottoman fashion, a total presidential system. There have been mass arrests. There are virtually no judges left; they have all been arrested. The technical staff of the army have also arrested, which will put the army in difficulty on the ground. But we also seen huge number of academics and teachers dismissed. The heads of universities have been deposed, replaced by people close to Erdogan and the AKP (the party of Recep Erdogan). All academic bodies are under the control of a regime that has also taken control of the press and justice system. The police were already controlled by the regime, but now the military police and army who were not, are now fully under his control. Now we can really say that it is a dictatorial regime, the regime of one person, who will decide the future of Turkey.

The HDP rejects this anti-democratic system which has resulted from the declaration of martial law, which will strengthen the dictatorship. We voted against this state of siege. The only way out of this crisis is democracy, is the participation of all political forces in the country's political life.

But can the Turkish Parliament still play a role in the current situation?

Eyyup Doru: Parliament cannot really play an important role because the government will make laws without parliament. Martial law was established by decree. The decrees will only be discussed between the president and the council of state; this means that the parliament is virtually ruled out of any decision.

Everyone still wonders whether the coup was genuine, when we see today how it has allowed Erdogan to better consolidate his dictatorial regime. Finally, the coup served his aims. How do you interpret thing on your side?

Eyyup Doru: Yes it is true that this military coup favors the dictatorial regime of Erdogan, I confirm that. But I think that there was indeed a military coup. And what is also important is that it had an impact on public opinion. Public opinion is totally against the military coup. Erdogan has already used this public opinion to prohibit pro-democracy demonstrations in the Kurdistan region, but also in Istanbul and elsewhere, including the activities of major labor unions. Unfortunately, after the coup and the declaration of the state of siege that is the consequence; Erdogan will be able to further strengthen his presidential power over Turkey.

How can the current situation change?

Eyyup Doru: I think the only solution is the restoration of democracy and freedoms. There has been no democratic elections, the AKP (Justice and Development Party, the party of Erdogan) is confident of electoral fraud, there is also a fascist party that will ally with the AKP to gain a majority in parliament. In the current state, there is not much that can be done at this level. We need a mobilization of civil society, its representatives and also of all MPs who believe that out of this crisis must come the restoration of democracy and peace. What we need is democracy and freedom. I believe we must create an alliance against this dictatorship, unite political forces for the creation of a large front for democracy and propose solutions in order to advance the democratic system in Turkey, and also to solve the Kurdish problem which is one reason for the malfunction of the current system. The leader of the Kurdish people. Abdullah Ocalan [the PKK leader who has in jail for 17 years in Turkey] already predicted that if the Turkish system is not democratized, there will be military coups and that is what has happened. For now, it should be recalled that Ocalan is in total isolation; even his lawyers cannot have any contact with him and our MP (HDP) that during the peace process had the opportunity to get close to him, cannot anymore. It is also one of the reasons for the tension in the Kurdistan region.

Erdogan appears to want to use this failed coup to distance Turkey from Europe. What do you think?

Eyyup Doru: I think that even if Erdogan wants to distance Turkey from Europe, it is very difficult for him. Turkey's relationship with Russia is in crisis, it has very poor relations with Iran, but also with Syria and with the Greeks. Will he seek other alliances? I think he has no alternative but to move closer to Europe and accept the march towards an process of integration of Turkey with the EU. Turkey is a NATO member, member of the Council of Europe. If it moves away from these institutions, I don't think it can survive in this region of the Near and Middle East, because Turkey still enjoys all the benefits of NATO and the Council of Europe. The application to be a member of the EU also benefits Turkey and I do not think Erdogan will forgo it.

ORIGINAL FRENCH ARTICLE: Turquie. Eyyup Doru « Ce dont nous avons besoin, c'est de démocratie et de liberté »

Translated by Tom Gill

Photo: Eyyup Doru by Gael Le Ny, l'Humanité,fr

This week in history: Sesquicentennial of African-American explorer Matthew Henson

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 12:34:00 +0000

One hundred and fifty years ago, on August 8, 1866, an African-American boy named Matthew Alexander Henson was born in Charles County, Md. He would grow up to become an explorer best known as the co-discoverer of the North Pole with Robert Edwin Peary in 1909.

Henson was the son of two freeborn black sharecroppers. He lost his mother at an early age. When Henson was four, his father moved the family to Washington, D.C., in search of work opportunities. The father died there a few years later, leaving Henson and his siblings in the care of other family members.

At the age of 11, Henson left home to find his own way. After walking all the way to Baltimore, he found work as a cabin boy on the ship Katie Hines. Its skipper, Capt. Childs, took Henson under his wing and saw to his education, which included instruction in the finer points of seamanship. During his time aboard the Katie Hines, Henson saw much of the world, traveling to Asia, Africa and Europe.

In 1884 Capt. Childs died, and Henson eventually made his way back to Washington, D.C., where he found work as a clerk in a hat shop. It was there that, in the late 1880s, he met Robert Edwin Peary, an explorer and officer in the U.S. Navy Corps of Civil Engineers. Impressed by Henson's seafaring credentials, Peary hired him as his valet for an upcoming expedition to Nicaragua.

After returning from Nicaragua, Peary found Henson work in Philadelphia, and in April 1891 Henson married Eva Flint. But shortly thereafter, Henson joined Peary again, for an expedition to Greenland. While there, Henson embraced the local Inuit culture, learning the language and the natives' Arctic survival skills over the course of the next year.

Their next trip to Greenland came in 1893, this time with a goal of charting the entire ice cap. The two-year journey almost ended in tragedy, with Peary's team on the brink of starvation; they managed to survive by eating all but one of their sled dogs. Despite this perilous trip, the explorers returned to Greenland in 1896 and 1897, to collect three large meteorites they had found during their earlier quests, ultimately selling them to the American Museum of Natural History and using the proceeds to help fund their future expeditions. However, by 1897 Henson's frequent absences had taken their toll on his marriage, and he and Eva divorced.

Over the next several years, Peary and Henson would make multiple attempts to reach the North Pole. Their 1902 attempt proved tragic, with six native team members perishing due to a lack of food and supplies. However, they made more progress during their 1905 trip: Backed by President Theodore Roosevelt and armed with a then state-of-the-art vessel that had the ability to cut through ice, the team was able to sail within 175 miles of the North Pole. Melted ice blocking the sea path thwarted the mission's completion, forcing them to turn back. Around this time, Henson fathered a son, Anauakaq, with an Inuit woman, but back at home in 1906 he married Lucy Ross.

The team's final attempt to reach the North Pole began in 1908. Henson proved an invaluable team member, building sledges and training others on their handling. Of Henson, expedition member Donald Macmillan once noted, "With years of experience equal to that of Peary himself, he was indispensable."

The expedition continued into the following year, and while other team members turned back, Peary and the ever-loyal Henson trudged on. Peary knew that the mission's success depended on his trusty companion, stating at the time, "Henson must go all the way. I can't make it there without him." Peary, Henson, four Inuit and 40 dogs (the trip had begun with 24 men, 19 sledges and 133 dogs) finally reached the North Pole - or at least they claimed to have.

"Peary shook my hand," Henson recorded, "and beamed at our four Eskimo dog drivers at 10:30 a.m., Eastern Standard Time, on April 6, 1909."

Triumphant when they returned, Peary received many accolades for his accomplishment, but in a sign of the times, as an African American, Henson was largely overlooked. Though Peary was lauded by many for his achievement, he and his team faced widespread skepticism. Peary had to testify before Congress about reaching the North Pole due to a lack of verifiable proof. The truth about Peary's and Henson's 1909 expedition still remains clouded.

Henson spent the next three decades working as a clerk in a New York federal customs house, but he never forgot his life as an explorer. He recorded his Arctic memoirs in 1912, in the book A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. In 1937, the 70-year-old Henson finally received the acknowledgment he deserved: The highly regarded Explorers Club in New York accepted him as an honorary member. He also received the Gold Medal of the Geographical Society of Chicago. In 1944 he and the other members of the expedition were awarded a Congressional Medal. He worked with Bradley Robinson to write his biography, Dark Companion, which was published in 1947.

Matthew Henson died in New York City on March 9, 1955, and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. His wife Lucy was buried beside him in 1968. To honor Henson, in 1987 President Reagan approved the transportation of both their remains for reinterment at Arlington National Cemetery, which is also the burial site of Peary and his wife Josephine.

In 1986 the United States issued a 22-cent postage stamp featuring the images of Peary and Henson together.

Adapted from The biography.com and Chase's Calendar of Events.

Photo: Wikipedia (CC)

In a historic first, Rio 2016 fields Refugee Olympic Team

Fri, 05 Aug 2016 18:31:00 +0000

Sports and politics often intertwine, and this year's Summer Olympics in Brazil will be no exception. For the first time in modern Olympic history, a team without a country will compete in the games. Representing an estimated 65.3 million displaced people in the world, 10 elite athletes will compete on the Refugee Olympic Team. If the total number of refugees were a population of a single nation, it would rank 22nd edging out the United Kingdom from that spot.

"By welcoming the team of Refugee Olympic Athletes to the Olympic Games Rio 2016, we want to send a message of hope for all refugees in our world," said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

"Having no national team to belong to, having no flag to march behind, having no national anthem to be played, these refugee athletes will be welcomed to the Olympic Games with the Olympic flag and with the Olympic Anthem. They will have a home together with all the other 11,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees in the Olympic Village."

The ten athletes selected, out of a pool of 43, come from South Sudan, Syria, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo. They will be competing in Athletics (Track and Field), Swimming and Judo.

Each athlete has a story of "unimaginable tragedy" and incomparable perseverance, said the IOC president. One member of the team is 18-year-old swimmer Yusra Mardini from Syria who dove into the sea after the small boat she was on with others almost capsized. She and her sister Sarah, also a swimmer, towed the boat to land--the Greek isle of Lesbos, swimming in the cold water for three hours.

Sarah, who will be cheering for her sister when she competes in the 100m freestyle, said, "I was not afraid of dying, because if anything happened I could swim to arrive at the island. But the problem was that I had 20 persons with me."

She added, "In Syria I worked in a swimming pool to watch people not drowning, so if I let anyone drown or die I would not forgive myself."

Bach said the committee hopes that by fielding such a team it "will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis. It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society."

The IOC said the Rio 2016 opening ceremony will be about promoting "peace and tolerance" and will call on the world to "save the planet from climate change."

Photo: IOC President Thomas Bach and Refugee Olympic Team Chef De Mission Tegla Loroupe attend the first day of the 129th IOC Session at the Windsor Oceanic Hotel in Rio De Janeiro ahead of the Rio 2106 Olympic Games. (Ian Jones/IOC)

Facing bullets and prison, Mexican teachers stand up to education reforms

Wed, 03 Aug 2016 11:25:00 +0000

On Sunday, 19 June, demonstrators blocked a highway - a common form of protest in Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca - after the federal government arrested leaders of the state's teachers union. Heavily armed police then fired on teachers, students, parents and supporters. Nine people were killed, and many more were wounded.

Nochixtlán, the town where the massacre took place, has since become a symbol of the resistance of Mexican teachers to corporate education reform. In the United States educators quickly responded to support their embattled Mexican colleagues, condemning the attacks and calling for the release of the imprisoned unionists.

These events were set into motion a week earlier, when Rubén Núñez - head of Oaxaca's Sección 22 of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE) and a national leader of the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE or Coordinadora, a group within the SNTE organized in the late 1970s) - was arrested as he left a meeting in Mexico City. He was then flown a thousand miles north to Hermosillo, Sonora, to a high-security federal lockup.

Hours earlier the same thing happened to Francisco Villalobos, the union's second-highest officer. Both joined Aciel Sibaja, Sección 22's financial secretary, imprisoned in the same penitentiary since 14 April.

The union officers were accused of accepting dues given voluntarily by teachers across Oaxaca. Sección 22 has had to collect dues in cash for the last year, since federal authorities froze not only the union's bank accounts but also even the personal ones of its officers. The government called dues so collected "funds from illicit sources."

Five other union leaders have been imprisoned since last October. Luis Hernández Navarro, a former teacher and now opinion editor for the Mexico City daily La Jornada, calls them "hostages".

"Their detention is simultaneously a warning of what can happen to other teachers who continue to reject the [federal government's] 'education reform,' and a payback to force the movement to demobilise," he says.

On 19 May, Education Secretary Aurelio Nuño Mayer announced that he was firing 4,100 teachers from the CNTE stronghold states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Chiapas and Michoacán for not having worked for the days when they were on strike.

One much-hated provision of the federal government's education reform requires teachers to take tests to evaluate their qualifications. Those who do not get good enough marks are fired. Thousands of teachers have refused to take the tests.

Earlier on 22 March, Nuño also announced a measure that would spell the end to Mexico's national system of teacher training schools, called normales. Since the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), the normales have been the vehicle for children from poor families in the countryside, and from the families of teachers themselves, to become trained educators.

Guerrero's normale school in Ayotzinapa was the target two years ago of an attack that led to the disappearance and possible murder of 43 students, which has since galvanized Mexico.

Oaxaca became a target of repression because Sección 22 proposed its own alternative education reform over six years ago. It concentrates on respecting indigenous culture and forging alliances between teachers, students, parents and their communities.

For several years the union used its political strength to implement its program, rather than that of the federal government. Observers like La Jornada's Navarro believe that the federal government sees defeating Sección 22 as the key to forcing acceptance of its corporate education reforms instead.

Solidarity protests

After the enormous public outcry following the shootings in Nochixtlán, however, demonstrations against the federal education reform spread across the country. A protest march in Mexico City, organised by the left-wing MORENA party (National Regeneration Movement) headed by former mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, drew over 100,000 participants. Highways were blocked in several states.

Protests were also organised by teachers in the United States, including pickets of the Mexican consulates in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. A statement read by Lita Blanc, president of United Educators of San Francisco, announced a campaign to convince the US Congress to suspend military aid to Mexico "until the Mexican government stops these massive abuses of labor and human rights."

In Chicago demonstrating members of the Chicago Teachers Union made a video in which they chanted, "We are all Oaxaca!"

Formal protests and calls for freeing the imprisoned teachers also came from Josh Pechthalt, president of the California Federation of Teachers, Eric Heins, president of the California Teachers Association, and Dr. Lorretta Johnson, secretary treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Pechthalt asked all the union's local chapters in California to join the demonstrations and write to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.

"We are all facing the same attacks," he told them. "The same corporate interests in both of our countries seek to privatize public education, undermine our ability to function as professional and socially-responsible educators, and end our right to unions and collective bargaining and action."

In Mexico, the Peña Nieto administration was forced into negotiations with the CNTE, but said that changes in its education reform program weren't up for discussion. Enrique Enríquez Ibarra, head of the Mexico City teachers union, responded that teachers would not back down and would keep developing an alternative democratic education plan. Demonstrations and strikes would continue, he said, until "all our fired colleagues are returned to their jobs, their lost salaries paid, and our bank accounts unfrozen."

Trains were blocked leading to Michoacán's main port of Lázaro Cárdenas, and the state's governor then met with the CNTE. Highways in and out of Chiapas' capital Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Guerrero's capital Chilpancingo, and Tabasco's capital Villahermosa were blocked as well.

Amanda, a parent in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, told La Jornada that: "One of the main jobs of parents now is to protect the public schools during the teachers' strike." Other parents called for abolishing school fees and ending the government's education reform.

As protests mounted, the Secretariat of Public Education announced on 10 July that it would not proceed further with the firing of thousands of teachers. During a national day of protest on 16 July, secciones 7 and 40 of the SNTE in Chiapas occupied radio and television stations to inform the public of their reasons for opposing the federal education reform, and to condemn the shootings in Nochixtlán. Marches on the same national day of protest took place in Puebla, Jalisco, Hidalgo and Mexico states.

Finally two of the imprisoned teachers were released in mid-July - Aciel Sibaja and Roberto Abel Jiménez.

And as they sat in prison, Rubén Núñez and Francisco Villalobos were reconfirmed as general secretary and organisational secretary respectively of Sección 22 in the union's monthly state conference. "While recent dialogues between CNTE and the Secretariat of the Interior are promising," the AFT's Johnson said in her letter to the Mexican ambassador to the US, "their legitimacy is lessened as long as these leaders remain in prison."

Photo: David Bacon

NATO’s stance toward Russia increases nuclear danger

Tue, 02 Aug 2016 12:45:00 +0000

"Today, the danger of some sort of a nuclear catastrophe is greater than it was during the Cold War and most people are blissfully unaware of this danger."

-William J. Perry, U.S. Sec. Of Defense (1994-97)

Perry has been an inside player in the business of nuclear weapons for over 60 years and his book, My Journey at the Nuclear Brink, is a sober read. It is also a powerful counterpoint to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) current European strategy that envisions nuclear weapons as a deterrent to war: "Their [nuclear weapons] role is to prevent major war, not to wage wars," argues the Alliance's magazine, NATO Review.

But, as Perry points out, it is only by chance that the world has avoided a nuclear war-sometimes by nothing more than dumb luck-and, rather than enhancing our security, nukes "now endanger it."

The 1962 Cuban missile crisis is generally represented as a dangerous standoff resolved by sober diplomacy. In fact, it was a single man-Russian submarine commander Vasili Arkhipov-who countermanded orders to launch a nuclear torpedo at an American destroyer that could have set off a full-scale nuclear exchange between the USSR and the U.S.

There were numerous other incidents that brought the world to the brink. On a quiet morning in November 1979, a NORAD computer reported a full-scale Russian sneak attack with land and sea-based missiles, which led to scrambling U.S. bombers and alerting U.S. missile silos to prepare to launch. There was no attack, just an errant test tape.

Lest anyone think that November incident was an anomaly, a little more than six months later NORAD computers announced that Soviet submarines had launched 220 missiles at the U.S.-this time the cause was a defective chip that cost 49 cents-again resulting in scrambling interceptors and putting the silos on alert.

But don't these examples prove that accidental nuclear war is unlikely? That conclusion is a dangerous illusion, argues Perry, because the price of being mistaken is so high and because the world is a more dangerous place than it was in 1980.

The danger today

It is 71 years since atomic bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and humanity's memory of those events has dimmed. But even were the entire world to read John Hersey's Hiroshima, it would have little idea of what we face today.

The bombs that obliterated those cities were tiny by today's standards, and comparing "Fat Man" and "Little Boy"-the incongruous names of the weapons that leveled both cities-to modern weapons stretches any analogy beyond the breaking point. If the Hiroshima bomb represented approximately 27 freight cars filled with TNT, a one-megaton warhead would require a train 300 miles long. Each Russian RS-20V Voevoda intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) packs 10 megatons.

What has made today's world more dangerous, however, is not just advances in the destructive power of nuclear weapons, but a series of actions by the last three U.S. administrations.

First was the decision by President Bill Clinton to abrogate a 1990 agreement with the Soviet Union not to push NATO further east after the reunification of Germany or to recruit former members of the defunct Warsaw Pact.

NATO has also reneged on a 1997 pledge not to install "permanent" and "significant" military forces in former Warsaw Pact countries. Just last month, NATO decided to deploy four battalions on, or near, the Russian border, arguing that since the units will be rotated they are not "permanent" and are not large enough to be "significant." It is a linguistic slight of hand that does not amuse Moscow.

Second was the 1999 U.S.-NATO intervention in the Yugoslav civil war and the forcible dismemberment of Serbia. It is somewhat ironic that Russia is currently accused of using force to "redraw borders in Europe" by annexing the Crimea, which is exactly what NATO did to create Kosovo. The U.S. subsequently built Camp Bond Steel, Washington's largest base in the Balkans.

Third was President George W, Bush's unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the decision by the Obama administration to deploy anti-missile systems in Romania and Poland, as well as Japan and South Korea.

Last is the decision by the White House to spend upwards of $1 trillion upgrading its nuclear weapons arsenal, which includes building bombs with smaller yields, a move that many critics argue blurs the line between conventional and nuclear weapons.

The Yugoslav War and NATO's move east convinced Moscow that the Alliance was surrounding Russia with potential adversaries, and the deployment of anti-ballistic missile systems (ABM)-supposedly aimed at Iran's non-existent nuclear weapons-was seen as a threat to the Russian's nuclear missile force.

One immediate effect of ABMs was to chill the possibility of further cuts in the number of nuclear weapons. When Obama proposed another round of warhead reductions, the Russians turned it down cold, citing the anti-missile systems as the reason. "How can we take seriously this idea about cuts in strategic nuclear potential while the United States is developing its capabilities to intercept Russian missiles?" asked Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

When the U.S. helped engineer the 2014 coup against the pro-Russian government in Ukraine, it ignited the current crisis that has led to several dangerous incidents between Russian and NATO forces-at last count, according to the European Leadership Network, more than 60. Several large war games were also held on Moscow's borders. Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev went so far as to accuse NATO of "preparations for switching from a cold war to a hot war."

In response, the Russians have also held war games involving up to 80,000 troops.

The threat of uncertainty

It is unlikely that NATO intends to attack Russia, but the power differential between the U.S. and Russia is so great-a "colossal asymmetry," Dmitri Trenin, head of the Carnegie Moscow Center, told the Financial Times-that the Russians have abandoned their "no first use" of nuclear weapons pledge.

It is the lack of clear lines that make the current situation so fraught with danger. While the Russians have said they would consider using small, tactical nukes if "the very existence of the state" was threatened by an attack, NATO is being deliberately opaque about its possible tripwires. According to NATO Review, nuclear "exercises should involve not only nuclear weapons states...but other non-nuclear allies," and "to put the burden of the doubt on potential adversaries, exercises should not point at any specific nuclear thresholds."

In short, keep the Russians guessing. The immediate problem with such a strategy is: what if Moscow guesses wrong?

That won't be hard to do. The U.S. is developing a long-range cruise missile-as are the Russians-that can be armed with conventional or nuclear warheads. But how will an adversary know which is which? And given the old rule in nuclear warfare-use 'em, or lose 'em-uncertainty is the last thing one wants to engender in a nuclear-armed foe.

Indeed, the idea of no "specific nuclear thresholds" is one of the most extraordinarily dangerous and destabilizing concepts to come along since the invention of nuclear weapons.

There is no evidence that Russia contemplates an attack on the Baltic states or countries like Poland, and, given the enormous power of the U.S., such an undertaking would court national suicide.

Moscow's "aggression" against Georgia and Ukraine was provoked. Georgia attacked Russia, not vice versa, and the Ukraine coup torpedoed a peace deal negotiated by the European Union, the U.S., and Russia. Imagine Washington's view of a Moscow-supported coup in Mexico, followed by an influx of Russian weapons and trainers.

In a memorandum to the recent NATO meetings in Warsaw, the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity argued, "There is not one scintilla of evidence of any Russian plan to annex Crimea before the coup in Kiev and coup leaders began talking about joining NATO. If senior NATO leaders continue to be unable or unwilling to distinguish between cause and effect, increasing tension is inevitable with potentially disastrous results."

The organization of former intelligence analysts also sharply condemned the NATO war games. "We shake our heads in disbelief when we see Western leaders seemingly oblivious to what it means to the Russians to witness exercises on a scale not seen since Hitler's army launched 'Unternehumen Barbarossa' 75 years ago, leaving 25 million Soviet citizens dead."

Disagreements within NATO

While the NATO meetings in Warsaw agreed to continue economic sanctions aimed at Russia for another six months and to station four battalions of troops in Poland and the Baltic states- separate U.S. forces will be deployed in Bulgaria and Poland -there was an undercurrent of dissent. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for deescalating the tensions with Russia and for considering Russian President Vladimir Putin a partner not an enemy.

Greece was not alone. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeler called NATO maneuvers on the Russian border "warmongering" and "saber rattling." French President Francois Hollande said Putin should be considered a "partner," not a "threat," and France tried to reduce the number of troops being deployed in the Baltic and Poland. Italy has been increasingly critical of the sanctions.

Rather than recognizing the growing discomfort of a number of NATO allies worried that beefing up forces on Russia's borders might be destabilizing, U.S. Sec. of State John Kerry recently inked defense agreements with Georgia and Ukraine.

After disappearing from the radar for several decades, nukes are back, and the decision to modernize the U.S. arsenal will almost certainly kick off a nuclear arms race with Russia and China. Russia is already replacing its current ICBM force with the more powerful and long range "Sarmat" ICBM, and China is loading its ICBM with multiple warheads.

Add to this volatile mixture military maneuvers and a deliberately opaque policy in regards to the use of nuclear weapons, and it is no wonder that Perry thinks that the chances of some catastrophe is a growing possibility.

This article originally appeared at Conn Hallinan's blog Dispatches From the Edge.

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