Former Commander Callsfor Abo

Itwas just a little more than a year ago (December

But it was only the Cold .War

'96) that former Air Force General Lee Butler publicly denounced the continued possession of nuclear weapons and declared his intent to work for their total abolition. What made that announcement especially noteworthy is that General Butler, until his retirement in 1994, was the Senior Commander in charge of all U.S. nuclear forces, worldwide.

A few weeks ago (February 2), in a speech at

the National Press Club, he repeated his call for the elimination of nuclear weapon..s and elaborated on the reasons for his passionate commitment to that goal.

The discussion below provides some information about General Butler and a brief summary·of this important speech, excerpts of which are printed on pages 2-4. A videotape of the entire speech will be shown at our May 22 meeting [see Events, page 10].

There are few people as comprehensively knowledgeable about nuclear weapons as General Lee

J Butler. During his 30-year military career he was

intimately involved in every aspect of their development,

deployment and planned use - from highest-level policymaking to the supervision of launch crews in submarines and missile silos. It was his responsibility to develop and approve all U.S. nuclear targeting plans, advise government officials on weapons and force structure, and plan for the actual conduct of nuclear war.

In the end, he says, he came away from it all "deeply troubled" and with "profound misgivings" about what happened in the past, but even more so about the continued commitment to nuclear weapons which keeps them at the center of U.S. military planning.

In his speech, Butler reviewed the Cold War period - tHe thinking that fueled the accumulation of colossal nuclear arsenals which threatened not only those who possessed them, but all humanity. "It was, in every respect, a modern-day holy war" in which "messianic believers" became so consumed by rigidly held beliefs that their actions might be judged in retrospect as frighteningly irrational.

Butler includes himself in that "nuclear priesthood", steeped in the thinking of the period and narrowly focused on the mission at hand. He recalls the immense burden he experienced as ultimate commander, and acknowledges the growing concern he began to feel, even then, about the very existence of nuclear weapons.

Catholic Peace Fellowship March/Aprill998 \

tensions that has allowed his thinking to crystallize and his conclusions to form. Concerned that his public position not be seen as denigrating those with whom he served, Butler asserts that his intent is "not to accuse, but to assess, to understand..!. And then to act.

General Butler's central theme is a vigorous

denunciation of deterrence, the underlying belief which gave birth to - and continues to sustain -the nuclear arsenals. Deterrence is the notion that our possessing nuclear weapons will prevent their use, because such possession will dissuade others from using theirs.

Himself once a believer in this rationale, Butler now sees it differently. Upon reflection, he considers the concept of deterrence, both then and now, to be fundamentally flawed. Itwas, and is, militarily, politically, and morally indefensible. In his speech, he discussed the reasons for that deeply held conviction.

He reminds us that deterrence, rather than being

a benign posture, is actually a declaration of willingness to use nuclear weapons if certain-coR itions arise. He expresses astonishment that we could'conceive of any circumstance - even in retaliation -where we would permit these massively destructive instruments ever to be used in our name.

Nuclear weapons "play on our deepest fears and

pander to our darkest instincts. They corrode our sense of humanity, numb our capacity for moral outrage, and make thinkable the unimaginable." One might hope to hear such sentiments from an enlightened archbishop, perhaps, but they are especially heartening coming from this respected military leader.

While he is haunted by patterns of the past, Butler's concern is clearly on the future -especially the decision by our government to keep nuclear weapons permanently. That ominous choice "exposes all humanity to unconscionable dangers", says Butler. "I find that intolerable. I know too much of these things, and thus I cannot remain silent..." "As a nation, we have no greater responsibility than to bring the nuclear era to a close.•

Let us be grateful that one such as this has taken

up the cause to abolish nuclear weapons. In that endeavor he has a growing number of influential allies, as noted in the brief piece on Jonathan Schell later in this newsletter. But nothing is as important as what ordinary people all over the world think and do about this issue during the next several years. 0 (Tom O'Rourke)