Where anti-nukes dare

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones - (Albert Einstein 1879 - 1956).

The Pro Nuke lobby has recently made a new proselyte. In a speech delivered to the Nationalist Party's general council, Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg had a go at the European Greens and criticised them and called them extremists, among other things because "... they want to dismantle the nuclear deterrent" (In-Nazzjon, May 8).

Approximately 60 years after the first (and, hopefully, the last) nuclear detonation on an inhabited city, and more than 10 years after the end of the Cold War, a politician was capable of bringing back to life the obsolete Cold War concept of nuclear deterrent! Way back in modern civilisation's Dark Age this absurd idea fuelled what became known as "the arms race" and led to a stockpile of nuclear weapons capable of destroying the planet 24 times over!

This fear of destroying, at the push of a button, all that had been achieved in 100,000 years of human history prompted many celebrities to join the anti-nuke bandwagon; Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Martin Luther King Jr, Pope John XXIII are but a few examples.

From Vatican Council II onwards the Catholic Church took an outspoken stand against the proliferation of nuclear weapons and in favour of the abolition of what it called "horrendous weapons".

"Nuclear deterrence as a national policy must be condemned as morally abhorrent because it is the excuse and justification for the continued possession and further development of these horrendous weapons. We urge all to join in taking up the challenge to begin the effort to eliminate nuclear weapons now...," the US Catholic bishops said.

In April 2002, at the preparatory committee for the review (in 2005) of the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the Holy See voiced its position in favour of the banishment of all nuclear weapons and against the "old policies of nuclear deterrence".

"... The old policies of nuclear deterrence, which prevailed in the Cold War, must lead now to concrete disarmament measures. The rule of law cannot countenance the continuation of doctrines that hold nuclear weapons as essential.

"There can be no moral acceptance of military doctrines that embody the permanence of nuclear weapons. That is why Pope John Paul II has called for the banishment of all nuclear weapons..." - Mgr Francis Chullikatt, deputy head of delegation of the Holy See.

The Green Movement has since its inception been for Global Nuclear Disarmament. In fact, the pacifist and anti-nuclear movement together with other protest movements from the 1960s played an important role in giving birth to this new political force. In their common manifesto for the European Parliament elections, the Greens have committed themselves to continue working against the production and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to free Europe from their menace; for this reason the Greens have been daubed extremists by Dr Borg!

This extremist label smacks much of the smear campaign orchestrated by the PN in order to lose the credibility Alternattiva Demokratika - The Green Party, gained last year during and after the EU referendum campaign.

Dear Dr Borg, Pope John Paul II is also in favour of "dismantling the nuclear deterrent", is he a left-wing extremist as well? Are you playing the same game, the European People's Party ("Christian" democrats) plays in the European Parliament? First they (the "Christian" democrats) say they uphold Christian values and then they adopt stands which are diametrically opposite to those adopted by the Catholic Church. The war in Iraq is a case in point: even though the Pope strongly opposed it, a number of "Christian" democrats (Berlusconi, Aznar et al) adopted a pro-war approach in order to acquiesce to George W. Bush's warmongering libido!

For the PN and its allies Catholicism is just a "flag of convenience" to be flaunted when in dire need of rendering the electorate oblivious of their incompetence. It's about time that these people stop (ab)using the Maltese people's religious sentiment in order to gain political mileage. Perhaps a stiff warning in the June 12 elections will teach them a lesson!

Mr Scerri is a former Moviment Iva activist.