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The world-renowned anti-nuclear activist's assessment of the surprising nuclear dangers facing us at a time when many assume the nuclear threat is a thing of the past. In a fascinating and frightening assessment of George W. Bush's ties to the nuclear industry, the world's leading anti-nuclear spokesperson, Dr. Helen Caldicott, reveals with hard, up-to-the minute facts that even at the dawn of a new millennium, with the Cold War behind us, and no enemies of any magnitude threatening our national security, we unwittingly risk on a daily basis the unimaginable horrors of nuclear holocaust. Explaining in plain English the meaning and ramifications of current nuclear policy, begun in the Clinton administration, and taking a dramatic turn for the worse under current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Caldicott lays out the little-known specifics of the US Department of Energy's Manhattan II project, and George W. Bush's plan to develop a National Missile Defense System "the old wine of Star Wars in a new bottle." She shows clearly how both efforts violate the spirit of arms treaties to which the US is currently a party, and how these violations stand to cause a new eruption of arms build-up around the world, both by countries that currently have nuclear arms, and a host of additional countries with far less stable governments. Enumerating, as a physician, the medical consequences of nuclear war, Caldicott demonstrates conclusively that the notion of nuclear survival is a complete fantasy, nuclear victory an oxymoron. Most importantly, Caldicott explains how nuclear war can be averted, and suggests how great science, great physics, great exploration indeed all our noble hopes and dreams can be achieved without mushroom clouds. In the same way that a generation embraced Caldicott's hugely influential Nuclear Madness and Missile Envy, The New Nuclear Threat stands to educate, alert, and mobilize millions of young people and concerned citizens who care about the fate of the earth. Here is the frightening truth about our nuclear world in a book that no American can afford to ignore. The world's leading spokesperson for the anti-nuclear movement, Dr. Helen Caldicott is the founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. Both the Smithsonian Institute and the Ladies Home Journal named her as one of the Most Influential Women of the 20th Century, and she has honorary degrees from 19 universities. She divides her time between Australia and the U.S., where she has devoted the last two years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age. |