Ted Kennedy dreamed of a world at peace
Aug, 31-2009 5:25 pm
Political Columnist
The Coalition for Peace and Justice, and peace activists everywhere, are saddened by the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Senator Kennedy was always a steadfast leader for peace and nuclear disarmament. He had long supported the abolition of nuclear weapons, and he was the congressional leader of the Nuclear Freeze campaign, from which the Coalition for Peace and Justice was born. The founding of the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign and its merger with the group SANE led to the founding of our parent organization, Peace Action.
Ted Kennedy worked for peace from the beginning of his Senate term until his last days. During the Cold War, he remained committed to a world based on cooperative security and sane foreign policies. Kennedy worked with the Nuclear Freeze and peace activists as an early opponent of nuclear weapons testing. He built support for both the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and for international agreements to stop the spread of biological weapons.
During President Reagan's first term, when the likelihood of nuclear war seemed very real, Senator Kennedy allied with Republican Senator Mark Hatfield in sponsoring the Nuclear Freeze amendment, which would have halted the crazy nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The Freeze also would have started comprehensive nuclear disarmament talks between the U.S. and Soviet Union. Teddy's out-front position on the issue galvanized the grassroots Freeze Movement, leading to the passage of a Nuclear Freeze resolution here in New Jersey and in many states across the country.
When the Cold War ebbed away, Senator Kennedy continued to lead the fight for the ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which would have banned the testing of nuclear weapons worldwide. His brother, President John Kennedy, won the ratification of the Partial Test Ban, which banned aboveground nuclear weapons tests. Ted wanted to finish the work his brother began.
The CTB remains unratified, but in an end run around Congress, Kennedy worked for a global moratorium on nuclear testing, which was agreed to by President George H.W. Bush. With the ending of the Cold War, Kennedy supported the grassroots "peace economy" campaign, which demanded a "peace dividend" that would reallocate Cold War military spending to be invested in meeting human needs such as health care, education and social welfare. Had this country only followed Ted Kennedy's lead, we would have saved trillions of wasted military budget dollars and would not be in the financial mess we find ourselves in today.
His work to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons continued in recent years. He led numerous legislative efforts to cut funding from proposals to expand the U.S. nuclear weapons complex.
In debating funds for a new generation of “mini-nukes,” Senator Kennedy said, “You’re either for nuclear war, or you’re not. We don’t want it anywhere, anytime, anyplace. … No Congress should be the Congress that says, ‘Let’s start down this street,’ when it’s a one-way street that can lead only to nuclear war.”
With support from the peace movement and his allies in Congress, Senator Kennedy repeatedly won those recent battles against new nuclear weapons spending.
He also became one of the most thoughtful and vocal opponents to U.S. involvement in several armed conflicts, from Central America to the Middle East. When he voted against authorizing an invasion of Iraq, he declared, “My vote against this misbegotten war is the best vote I have cast in the United States Senate since I was elected in 1962.”
He cast many more anti-war votes and led congressional efforts toward reconciliation, reconstruction, and the resettlement of Iraqi refugees.
As we all mourn the loss of this great leader, we have many opportunities to honor his legacy by advancing the causes he championed. Let us work, in his memory and in the spirit of President Obama’s stated commitment to nuclear disarmament, for the successful passage of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and other international agreements to eliminate global nuclear stockpiles.
Let us extend Senator Kennedy’s compassion to the civilians of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan who continue to suffer under occupation and attack, and let us not forget the needs of U.S. veterans, military personnel and their families who are also devastated by these wars. A world at peace and without nuclear weapons is part of Senator Kennedy’s dream that must not die.
Editor’s note: Shelagh Forman of Peace Action Massachusetts contributed to this column.
Norm Cohen is executive director of the Coalition for Peace and Justice and a coordinator for the UNPLUG Salem Campaign. Learn more at www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org and www.unplugsalem.org. He can be reached at ncohen12@comcast.net.
