The weekly meeting of war protesters, every Friday, went on without a hitch.\u00c2\u00a0 There were eight people.\u00c2\u00a0 The man with the bullhorn shouted, “US Out of Afghanistan.\u00c2\u00a0 Can we do it?”\u00c2\u00a0 The seven peoples behind him responded in unison, “Yes We Can”.\u00c2\u00a0 Message made clear, I gather.<\/p>\n
I thought about the matter of Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize yesterday.\u00c2\u00a0 I guess the key line in the presentation speech <\/a>and award citations came to the forefront yesterday.<\/p>\n The vision of a world free from nuclear weapons has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Under Obama’s leadership, the U.N. Security Council gave its unanimous support to the vision of a world without nuclear weapons. The new administration in Washington has reconsidered the deployment in Eastern Europe of the planned anti-missile defences and is instead looking at other multilateral options to secure the region. This has contributed to an improved atmosphere in the negotiations on strategic nuclear weapons between the U.S.A. and the Russian Federation. A new agreement between them will, we hope, soon be on the table.<\/em><\/p>\n We can see how the vision of a world without nuclear weapons is encouraging even the smaller nuclear powers to make cuts. And we can certainly not prevent the spread of nuclear arms to new countries unless the established nuclear powers meet their obligations. That was the clear premise underlying the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and it still applies today. The important Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference is being held next year. Either the nuclear powers will clearly signal their willingness to disarm, or the conference may prove a fiasco, with the danger of a new arms race. President Obama has sent his signal.<\/em><\/p>\n