20 Times More Powerful than the
Atomic Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima
Annika London / Win Without War
(October 16, 2021) — President Biden promised us on the campaign trail that he would reduce “our reliance and excessive expenditure on nuclear weapons.” We’re not about to sit back and let him forget that promise. But we need your help to keep doing this work.
The exorbitant amount of money these new nukes cost could, and SHOULD, be invested in the needs of our communities instead. But beyond that, humanity deserves to have a world free of these monstrous weapons. The US government has a moral responsibility to do everything it can to help make that world a reality — we hope you’ll help us hold it accountable to that responsibility.
Recently, news broke that the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was so concerned that Trump could launch an attack during his last days in office that he twice called his Chinese counterpart to reassure them.
It’s a shocking revelation that clarifies a deeper terrifying reality: in a matter of seconds, one person withoutanyconstraints can launch nuclear weapons that’d wipe out half the planet.And incredibly, President Biden could accelerate that nightmare scenario.
The Pentagon is pitching hard to spend over $260 BILLION to build a new generation of nuclear missiles that would run the length of a bowling lane, carrying a warhead over 20 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
It’s just one of the core decisions being weighed in a new Biden administration Nuclear Posture Review, and there’s deeply troubling signs: President Biden’s team just fired the person leading it because they have a long history supporting nuclearrestraint. What happens next is pivotal.
The $264 billion estimated for the new Ground Based Strategic Deterrent is enough to pay 3.27 million elementary school teacher salaries for a year, provide 7.41 million Head Start slots for four years, or provide 74.16 million low-income adults with healthcare for one year.
And that’s just one of a slate of proposed new nuclear weapons that, if approved, would cost $1.7 TRILLION and set off an unstoppable new nuclear arms race.
Because for years, the theory has been that stockpiling a gobsmacking number of nuclear weapons would send a “deterrent” message to other countries: attack us and you’ll be obliterated.
But the reality is that it accelerates an arms race that could have devastating impacts on all of us.
President Biden said all the right things during the campaign, promising to reduce “our reliance and excessive expenditure on nuclear weapons.” But now that he’s in the White House, there are troubling signs that he’s backing away from the work of turning those principles into action — and that’s why we have to act fast.
Our team is pulling together a huge new behind-the-scenes advocacy effort, a dramatically increased media campaign, and a critical grassroots advocacy campaign.
Win Without War, 1 Thomas Circle NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005
(202) 656-4999 | info@winwithoutwar.org
