Political Director Geoff Wilson was featured in the Colorado Springs Independent, discussing the nuclear threat to Colorado Springs, the nuclear implications of the crisis in Ukraine, and the dangers of increased defense spending.
“The idea that the world’s nuclear superpowers would be standing off against each other? I think many Americans thought that would be beyond the pale. And many would be surprised that we still maintain thousands of nuclear weapons ourselves,” Wilson says.
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While NATO isn’t obligated to defend Ukraine, so far Wilson’s been impressed with the alliance coming together to rally international support and sanction Russia, which he says shows there are other tools at our disposal — Wilson pushes back hard against the idea that the only way for the U.S. to show strength is to “go bomb something.” But he still worries that Americans have forgotten the “rules of the nuclear game,” and he views discussions of a no-fly zone as a disastrous development.
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For Wilson, cutting defense spending is crucial to de-escalating risk. He recalls a time when America led the way in arms reduction, and George H.W. Bush essentially wiped out tactical nuclear weapons — meaning weapons below a deterrence level, meant to support conventional military missions. The new boom in defense spending worries him, as he recalls Cold War-era nuclear depth charges, mines and artillery shells.
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“This is the terrifying truth: Once nuclear weapons have been used, there is no real way to ensure anyone survives that. A ‘regional’ nuclear war in India and Pakistan could lead to the deaths of more than a billion people worldwide, due to starvation and problems with crops. … The only way to ensure any of us are safe from nuclear weapons is to ensure they are never used in the first place, and can’t escalate that far,” Wilson says.
“There are two existential threats facing humanity. One is climate change, the other is nuclear weapons. One could eventually lead to the downfall of humanity, one could do it in 30 minutes,” Wilson says. Read more
