LEVERETT — The Leverett Alliance’s book club finished reading Daniel Ellsberg’s latest book two months ago.
“(It) was pretty terrifying,” steering committee member Pat Fiero said about “The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner,” by the legendary whistleblower that leaked the Pentagon Papers. “So we got to the end of it and we said, ‘Well, you can’t just read this and do nothing.’ So we decided we would at least reach out to Ira Helfand and we would ask him if he would be willing to come speak with us.”
Helfand, a western Massachusetts physician who is a member of the international steering group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and co-president of the ICAN founding partner International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, was more than willing to visit. He is slated to deliver a presentation at Leverett Town Hall on Feb. 21. “The Growing Danger of Nuclear War and What We Can Do About It” is set to begin at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Not one to mince words, Helfand said he will explain why he thinks mankind is the closest it has ever been to nuclear annihilation. He explained the relevance of The Doomsday Clock should alarm every inhabitant of Earth. This metaphorical clock, maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, a nonprofit organization, represents the likelihood of a manmade global catastrophe, such as nuclear war and climate change. Midnight is the end of the world and the minute hand represents how far away the planet is from calamity. The most recent setting is at “two minutes to midnight.”
However, Helfand said there are real opportunities for change. In July 2017, the United Nations adopted a treaty banning nuclear weapons, prohibiting a variety of activity, such as “undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons,” according to the UN. Helfand said this was an extraordinary step to ending “nuclear madness.” He said the world cannot allow to exist a system in which a few powerful people can on a whim or in a panic kill billions of people.
Next week, Helfand will talk about “Back from the Brink: The Call to Prevent Nuclear War,” a local grassroots initiative that has become a national campaign of civic engagement aimed at changing this country’s nuclear weapons policy. As someone who practices as an internist and urgent care physician at Family Care Medical Center in Springfield, Helfand said one of his biggest focuses is on the health of the community at large. He said the two greatest threats to public health are climate change and nuclear war.
“This is something that could happen while we’re having our conversation right now,” he said this week. “This is something that should keep everybody up at night.”
But the physcian said there is a relatively simple prescription. He said instead of the United States relying on its nuclear weaponry and hoping it never has to use it, the superpower should develop “a detailed, enforceable, verifiable and time-bound plan for the complete elimination of” the world’s nuclear arsenal. Helfand said this can be done in four steps – taking nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert, renouncing first use of nukes, end the unchecked authority of the American president to wage nuclear war, and abandon the plan to spend $1.7 trillion over 30 years to modernize and enhance every aspect of the arsenal.
According to Helfand, any sitting president of the United States can launch nuclear weapons without any congresssional or cabinet approval.
“That’s a terribly dangerous policy,” he said.
Helfand said his discussion will last 20 to 25 minutes and then there will be a discussion of how to create plans for resolving this monstrous issue. He explained those in attendance will be asked to recruit any religious, civic, governmentl, non-governmental, social and professional groups they are a part of to take up the “Back from the Brink” call.
Helfand said nine countries have nuclear weapons, though the United States and Russia make up 90 to 95 percent of the arsenal. He said even a relatively small-scale nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan would cause incredible worldwide climate destruction and put billions of people at risk of starvation.
Fiero said the current situation is even scarier because of plans to withdraw the United States from its nuclear arms treaty with Russia.
“It’s one of those things that makes you shake your head and say, ‘What are these people thinking?’ she said. “We can’t get involved or educated any sooner. If you haven’t already been involved, it’s now time.”
The Feb. 21 talk will be co-sponsored by the Traprock Center for Peace & Justice.
The Doomsday Clock can be found at bit.ly/2OyRJRT.