Stop the Divine Strake Detonation Test in Nevada

[Guest mclarty@greens.org]

The Green Party has endorsed the Stop Divine Strake Coalition's 'International Day of Action' demanding that the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the Nuclear National Security Agency cancel the Divine Strake detonation scheduled for June 23.

 

Green candidates and other party members from various states will join the coalition at the Nevada Test Site on May 28 during Memorial Day weekend to stand with dozens of other organizations protesting the event and urging officials to cancel the test.

 

"It's obvious that Divine Strake is a show of force preceding an imminent attack on the people of Iran -- which may include the use of nuclear weapons. It's a test run for President Bush's apparent attempt to set off a world war with Middle Eastern nations," said Deanna Taylor, Desert Green candidate for Salt Lake County Council http://www.deannataylor.org, who plans to participate in the protest. Desert Greens (Green Party of Utah) have led the Green Party of the United States in opposing the test.

 

Many of the International Day of Action events will take place at the Nevada Test Site Peace Camp, located across Highway 95 from the Test Site. For a schedule of various events planned for May 28 and further information, resources, and links, visit http://www.desertgreens.org/events.html or http://www.gput.org/events.shtml

 

The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency plans to detonate a 700-ton ammonium nitrate and fuel oil explosive at a federal facility 65 miles north of Las Vegas.

 

While the 'Divine Strake' test is not nuclear, its purpose is to "simulate a low-yield nuclear weapon." Since previous nuclear tests have occurred only a few miles away from the Divine Strake site, the test threatens to kick up previous radioactive contamination and send it downwind. No full environmental impact statement has been done to verify that there is no radioactive contamination at the site.

 

Greens also noted that the detonation is planned to take place on Western Shoshone land, without Western Shoshone approval, at a time when the latter have been fighting for sovereignty over their ancestral and treaty-recognized lands and for the removal of the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

 

The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recently found the U.S. in violation of human rights standards and international law and has ordered the U.S. to cease activities on Western Shoshone land.