Wednesday, April 30, 2014



A good question

Last week, the Marshall Islands shocked the world by taking 9 nuclear-armed powers to the International Court of Justice for violating their obligations under Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which requires them to

pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.

Since the treaty became effective in 1970, the nuclear-armed powers have done no such thing, and have frequently opposed attempts to outlaw their toys or promote a general nuclear disarmament treaty. And its good to see someone finally calling bullshit on their hypocrisy.

Meanwhile, over at Frogblog, Kennedy Graham asks the obvious question: why didn't New Zealand do this? We supposedly support nuclear disarmament, so weren't we the ones calling bullshit? Sadly, I suspect the answer lies in the desire of the current government to suck up to America. They sent kiwis to die for nothing in Afghanistan, they let America murder our citizens without even a peep, so the last thing they'll do is sue their over-armed murderous friends to get them to keep their word on the international stage. That would go against the Key government's entire policy of sycophancy.

But this is a case which is entirely aligned with our national values of peace, disarmament, and international law. I agree with Graham and with Labour's Maryan Street: we should support this case.