'I'm one of the MMP participants (it's why I'm booked on so many radio
shows) -- I received this today from the booking project director
which I'm sure the list would like to also read -- it is addressed to
a wide public. (That which I'm reprinting here; the part "snipped"
has nothing to do with the subject matter at hand--it only dealt with
radio booking issues.)
--Roleigh
Dear Mainstream Media Project Campaign Participants,
Michael Kraig, a participant in the Y2K campaign, is doing some
important research on the problems of preparing the world's nuclear
infrastructure for the new millennium. Enclosed is a letter from him
asking for assistance from any of you who may have useful contacts or
information to offer.
[snip]
Mark Sommer
Director
**********
A Letter from Michael Kraig, Scoville Fellow, BASIC
I am heading a project on Y2K and nuclear weapons arsenals at the British
American Security Information Council (BASIC) in Washington, DC, and
London, United Kingdom. We just released a first report on the nature of
the "Millennium Bug," or "Y2K Problem," as it relates to the Department of
Defense and nuclear operations. The report summarizes the generic computer
problem, the state of existing DoD Y2K remediation programs (including
their many management deficiencies and failures), and possible Y2K
vulnerabilities for nuclear weapons and associated nuclear operations,
including especially Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence
(C3I) systems (i.e., warning satellites, radar arrays, data storage and
correlation centers, communications nodes, and so on). It also outlines
some general policy alternatives in the conclusion, such as the reduction
of our alert rates from "launch on warning" to a lower state of readiness
(also known as the "de-alerting" of nuclear forces). The entire text
(including endnotes) can be found on BASIC's web page, www.basicint.org.
I have sent the report to the key staffers of all house members and
senators with nuclear warhead storage or deployment in their own backyard,
as well as majority and minority staffers on the Armed Services Committee
in the Senate. Reports have also gone to some key committee staffers (for
instance, one person on Stephen Horn's Y2K subcommittee in the House, which
has given "D" grades to the DoD on their Y2K repair progress), and all
members of the Senate's Special Committee on the Year 2000 Problem. To
support these mailings, we have had several meetings with the offices of
Senators Jeff Bingaman, Robert Kerrey, John Kerry, Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
Pete Dominici, Tom Harkin, Joseph Lieberman, and Christopher Dodd. Our
hope is that senators such as Bob Kerry of Nebraska and Tom Daschle of SD
-both of whom are recommending "de-alerting" of the arsenals and unilateral
cutbacks- will add Y2K to their agenda, or possibly use it to gain
leverage with US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) in Omaha, Nebraska. In the
past several years, both STRATCOM and civilian nuclear planners in the
Office of Secretary of Defense have scuttled any attempts to consider
de-alerting options.
Helen Caldicott, currently head of the STAR Foundation (Standing for Truth
about Radiation) and former head and founder of the Physicians for Social
Responsibility, is putting together a symposium jointly with BASIC and the
Nuclear Information Resource Service (NIRS) in March with Bruce Blair, Ted
Taylor, myself, and multiple experts on the domestic, or energy, side of
nuclear power. Our policy goal is twofold: to get Congress to 1) charge
the DoD Inspector General to do a series of highly specific reports on
individual "high risk" nuclear systems, including nuclear C3I, and 2) to
move ahead on de-alerting (or at the very least, consider it as a realistic
policy option).
The General Accounting Office (GAO) has done, and is doing, reports on DoD
procedures, test data, contingency planning, and so on for its remediation
program, but no one at the GAO is preparing narrowly focused reports on
critical nuclear systems. In other words, the activity at this point is at
least one step removed from the actual sources of potential trouble.
If you are interested in this program or have your own suggestions for
action, please contact me at (202) 785-1266 or mkrai-@basicint.org. John
Pike of the Federation of American Scientists has suggested, for instance,
that CPSR get 40 to 50 top computer scientists to write a letter to
congress containing clearly defined goals and policy alternatives,
including the tasking of Inspector General reports as well as more
technical advice from the field.
As a last note, I should say that BASIC is pretty much alone on this issue.
Most expert analysts currently have other well funded programs, and thus,
other responsibilities for the foreseeable future. Other than appearing in
the joint STAR-BASIC-NIRS symposium in March, or keeping an updated web
page, no one seems to be devoting time or resources to the topic. I have
been looking for ways to split the research pie, as I cannot possibly cover
all facets of DoD-STRATCOM nuclear operations. If you know of someone who
could help on nuclear weapons, either in terms of original research or as a
source of technical information for nuclear C3I and/or launch platform
support systems, I would be very grateful.
Sincerely,
Michael R. Kraig mkrai-@basicint.org
Scoville Fellow (202) 785-1266
BASIC
1900 L St. NW, Suite 401
Washington, DC 20036
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roleigh Martin ourworld.compuserve.com
( easy to remember alias is: webalias.com )
(A Web Site that focuses on Y2k threat to Utilities, Banks & more)
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