Despite End of Cold War, Danger of Nuclear Conflict Looms Like Never Before

Between the Lines' Scott Harris Interviews Dr. Helen Caldicott, leading anti-nuclear activist and founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Interview by Between the Lines' Scott Harris

Despite the end of the Cold War a decade ago, the danger of nuclear war -- and the human catastrophe such a conflict could inflict on the planet -- has not diminished. In recent months, India and Pakistan have both threatened to use their nuclear arsenals in any future conflict over the disputed territory of Kashmir. The Bush administration, in its drive for military superiority, has abandoned arms control treaties and embarked on deployment of a controversial missile defense system; proposed the development of new battlefield nuclear weapons and threatened to use nukes against non-nuclear states that may possess biological or chemical weapons.

The specter of terrorist groups acquiring and using nuclear weapons has caused great public anxiety with concerns fueled by the recent arrest of a suspect alleged to be planning to explode a radioactive bomb. These new threats, combined with the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington, have provided the White House renewed public support for more aggressive war plans and increased military spending.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Dr. Helen Caldicott, a leading anti- nuclear activist for 30 years and founder of the Nobel prizewinning group Physicians for Social Responsibility. Dr. Caldicott, whose latest book, "The New Nuclear Danger, George W. Bush's Military Industrial Complex," examines the peril she sees in the Bush administration's nuclear weapons policy.

Dr. Helen Caldicott is author of "The New Nuclear Danger, George W. Bush's Military Industrial Complex," published by New Press. Contact Dr. Caldicott's Nuclear Policy Research Institute at (213) 225-5941 or visit their Web site at www.nuclearpolicy.org

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