If NATO countries do not start reducing their nuclear arsenals, they lack the moral authority to stop terrorists or rogue states from acquiring them, according to Senator Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian lieutenant-general who led UN forces in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.

“If we are moving down a road of disarmament, we can ethically, morally and legally stop rogue nations from going down that route because it is fundamentally against the security of humanity,” he said in an interview from his Ottawa office – noting that, with true moral authority, “we could be quite ruthless” with those who would threaten humanity with these weapons.

Dallaire, who has been public about his strong Christian faith*, has made ridding the world of nuclear weapons a priority. He was motivated to do so when peace advocate Douglas Roche (see below), asked him to host the 50th anniversary of the highly regarded anti-nuclear Pugwash Conferences this past July.

Dallaire said the credibility of countries  which have nuclear weapons, but don’t want anyone else to have them, is “shot to hell.”

He finds it ludicrous that the United States and Britain are modernizing their nuclear arsenal, instead of making moves to reduce the 27,000 nuclear weapons worldwide.

The sheer numbers of nuclear weapons make it all the more likely they will fall into the hands of terrorists, he said.

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“If we think the two towers coming down created paranoia and panic, imagine if we have our first nuclear blast.”

He said he wants NATO and its members to “shift gears” in their global security strategy and push towards an internal reduction and reduction process. NATO countries could easily start reducing their own arsenals without compromising security.

Since his ordeal in Rwanda, Dallaire has become involved in the promotion of human rights. When Roche asked him to host the conference, he realized nuclear weapons systems were a “gross violation of my human right to security.”

He said the end of the Cold War, and the “peace dividend,” did see some movement in the reduction of nuclear weapons; but since then, the issue has fallen “off the radar.”

However, despite experiencing the worst of human nature through his time in Rwanda, Dallaire said his view of human nature remains optimistic.

The advancement of human rights, and the reassignment of priorities in human development, in efforts to reduce friction, and eliminate nuclear weapons “will one day lead us to the serenity we are all looking for,” he said – though, he admitted, “it may take two centuries.”

– Deborah Gyapong / Canadian Catholic News

* www3.telus.net/st_simons/cr0511.html

Winter/Spring 2008