Swedish Scientists and Engineers against Nuclear Arms

Stefan Björnson. President

FAX nr Stockholm September 27, 1999

F A X

to

President Bill Clinton: FAX (+1) 202-456-2461

President Boris Yeltsin: FAX (+7) 095-205-4330

Dear Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton,

The Cold War ended years ago, but the nuclear danger endures, menacingus all. Thousands of nuclear weapons remain on high-alert in the United States and Russia. Although both countries have announced their "de-targeting" of the other, that step is virtually meaningless when both countries keep their weapons on alert and maintain a launch-on-warning posture.

Keeping nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert does not add to the security of either nation; indeed it makes all of us less secure. You are well aware of the various occasions when Russia and the U.S. came close to launching nuclear weapons because of misunderstanding or poor data. Removing the weapons from hair-trigger alert would eliminate the risk of hasty reaction.

Therefore we urge you to lessen the nuclear danger by removing all nuclear weapons from high-alert. This can be accomplished in a matter of weeks without treaty negotiation or ratification. This approach has worked before. In 1991 President George Bush took the bold step of removing hundreds of U.S. nuclear weapons from high-alert status, and in response Mikhail Gorbachev did the same with hundreds of Soviet weapons. Now we need similar courageous leadership to finish the process that they started.

De-alerting takes on added urgency this year. When January 1, 2000 arrives, no one will know if all of the Y2K computer problems have been fixed. Why causing disaster by having nuclear warheads on hair-trigger alert when we do not know how the computers in the nuclear system will function?

Last year the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution which calls on the nuclear weapons states to de-alert their weapons. It is wise counsel. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, please de-alert all nuclear weapons now.

Sincerely,

Stefan Björnson