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CRITICAL
CHALLENGES OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM |
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By Ruci Farrell |
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Visiting US Congressman Eni
Faleomavaenga has seen first hand the impact nuclear warfare has had
on Pacific countries and is adamant that in an ideal situation the
world would be a better place if it were nuclear free.
Having served on the US Congress for 17 years as the American Samoan
representative, Faleomavaenga has effectively pushed the Pacific
point of view in a forum where the Pacific voice desperately needs
to be heard.
Speaking at the Auckland University of Technology recently,
Falaomavaenga spoke of New Zealand's foreign policy and this
country's defiant stand against the nuclear stance US holds.
"I believe questions on nuclear terrorism have serious social
implications. From a legislative point of view, the answers to
questions like - does man have the will and ability to care for
Mother Earth or just blow it to pieces by nuclear annihilation -
have tremendous impact on public policy which government leaders
cannot ignore,' Faleomavaenga said.
But he says, the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 against some
3000 innocent people in New York, Pennyslvania and Washington DC
changed the entire spectrum of US national and foreign policy issues
towards certain countries and other areas of the world.
"The crisis of 9/11 poses some very serious questions relative to
the issues of terrorism and the use of nuclear weapons, especially
by either rogue nations or extremist organizations like Al Qaeda,
Hamas and others," Faleomavaenga said.
"The greatest danger we are now confronted with in the world today
is the ability of these terrosist organizations to have access to
chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
"Nowdays even a little dirty bomb can easily destroy the entire city
of New York and can be conveniently carried or transported in a
suitcase anywhere in the world."
In his time in the US Congress, Faleomavaenga visited several atolls
in the Marshall Islands, whose entire population was exposed to
nuclear radiation as a result of US nuclear tests.
"It is unfortunate that my own government |
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Congressman Faleomavaenga spoke at the AUT recently of his hopes
for a compromise between the US and NZ on the threats posed by
nuclear warfare.
(Photo: Alfred Schuster) |
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Congressman Faleomavaenga seated with Samoa Consulate General,
Va’ai Simon Potoi, being welcomed with a Samoan ‘ava’ ceremony
on his recent visit to New Zealand.
(Photo: Alfred Schuster)
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Congressman Faleomavaenga seated with Michael Jones from
Auckland University of Technology on his recent visit to New
Zealand as a key note speaker.
(Photo: Alfred Schuster) |
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has not kept its promise to provide adequate medical
care for the hundreds of Marshalese exposed to nuclear radiation. It
is my sincere hope that the US Congress will do something about it
in the next two years."
Faleomavaenga accompanied Tahitian president Oscar Temaru in 1995 on
the Greenpeace Warrior vessel to Mororoa alongside 20,000
demonstrators from Europe, Japan, the US, NZ and Australia to
protest President Chirac's decision to break the moratorium that
barred nuclear testing.
"I remember well that certain areas of the island were off limits
and obviously contaminated and unfit for human occupation.
"For some 30 years the French detonated approximately 218 nuclear
devices in the air, on the surface and under the atolls of Mororua
and Fangataufa.
"Some 10,000 Tahitians are believed to be severely exposed to
nuclear radiation and the French Government has done nothing to
properly diagnose or even provide medical treatment to the Tahitian
workers who were victims of this tragedy," Faleomavaenga said in
Auckland.
It is not surprising that there is a high incidence if thyroid
cancer, leukemia, women giving birth to what doctors term as jelly
babies and w hole host of other illnesses associated with nuclear
testing.
The fact that two of the world's major nuclear sites were situated
in the Pacific can only give reason as to why the people of NZ
through their duly elected leaders were adamant that their country
should remain nuclear free.
"Like the US, New Zealand promotes and protects the rights of people
to live in a free and pluralistic society.
"The question before us is not whether New Zealand needs the United
States or whether the US needs NZ. I submit that we both need each
other.
"In my humble opinion, NZ is a most important link that ties all the
nations of the Pacific region to its current alliance with the US to
fight collectively and unitedly against the threat of nuclear
terrorism posed by certain rogue and terrorist nations."
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Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd.
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