Statement Released for Complete Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

"We, military professionals who have devoted our lives to the national security of our countries and our peoples, are convinced that the continuing existence of nuclear weapons in the armories of nuclear power, and the ever present threat of acquisition of these weapons by others, constitutes a peril to global peace and security and to the safety and survival of the people we are dedicated to protect." So begins an historic statement released today by dozens of military Generals and Admirals from 17 countries, including the U.S., Russia, France, the United Kingdom, India, and Pakistan. The statement calls for the superpowers to move quickly towards the complete abolition of nuclear weapons. One of the Generals who signed this unprecedented statement is Retired Air Force General Lee Butler who was been intimately involved in U.S. nuclear policy during the Cold War. Butler was the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Strategic Air command which made him responsible for all U.S. Air Force and Navy nuclear forces. General Butler gave an impassioned anti-nuclear address yesterday to the National Press Club in Washington DC.