U.S. Presence Makes Us Nuke Targets, Scientists Tell Arroyo
Biggest WMD stockpile is in the U.S., AGHAM says

"The U.S. is the only country to have used the atomic bomb which killed 220,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It has the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. With no less than 10,600 nuclear warheads intact, it is the presence of U.S. nuclear weapons that is clearly putting the world in danger."

Posted by Bulatlat

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo misses the point of why we should be worried about the North Korean situation. This was the reaction of AGHAM chairperson Dr. Giovanni Tapang to Arroyo's warning that the Philippines was "within striking distance" of North Korean weapons. AGHAM (Samahan ng Nagtataguyod ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Sambayanan) is a progressive organization of scientists and engineers.

"GMA should realize it is U.S. aggression that destabilizes regional security and that the presence of U.S. troops in our soil makes us targets for retaliatory action," noted Dr. Tapang, who is also a physicist at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

"The U.S. is the only country to have used the atomic bomb which killed 220,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is the U.S. that has the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. With no less than 10,600 nuclear warheads intact, 8,000 of which are considered active or operational and 3,000 ready to deploy from its 'Enduring Stockpile', it is the presence of U.S. nuclear weapons that is clearly putting the world in danger", Dr. Tapang pointed out.

"It is the U.S. that has been trying to enforce its war of terror by constantly threatening a nuclear war. It is this nuclear blackmail that is being used against so-called ‘rogue’ states while it is keeping a blind eye on its allied states: Israel, India and Pakistan, all of whom have nuclear weapons," added Dr. Tapang.

"It is so easy for the GMA government to ride on the wave of condemnation to North Korea's action, while keeping a double-standard and closing her eyes to the fact that the U.S. has one of the biggest stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction capable of being launched from and targeted to anywhere in the planet," said Dr. Tapang.

"Our country has kowtowed to U.S. military interests. Take the case of the VFA 9Visiting Forces Agreement) rape case and countless other examples, U.S. troops have ridden roughshod on our sovereignty and yet the government continues to allow the U.S. government and troops access to large areas of our national territory in the guise of "Balikatan" exercises," lamented Dr. Tapang.

"It is no surprise then that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been trying all possible ways to defend itself from aggression given that for several years the U.S. has been sounding its war drums against the  DPRK," said Dr. Tapang.

"To promote genuine regional security, the government should be calling instead for U.S. troops’ pullout from the region and to establish truly equal relations among nations in the region. It is the complete prohibition and destruction of all nuclear weapons, including those of the U.S., Russia, China and others, not just for selected states, that should be pursued," concluded Dr. Tapang. Posted by Bulatlat

© 2006 Bulatlat ■  Alipato Media Center

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