Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Licence needed for work use Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Nuke-ban Naivety

Wed, 2 Mar 2005

Nuke-ban Naivety

"Naive efforts by the Labour-led government to ban nuclear weapons internationally is a nonsense that does not recognise the need for these weapons in an unstable world" announced Libertarianz Leader and Wellington Central candidate Bernard Darnton.

"For New Zealand to join a club of countries that seek the scrapping of the American, British and French nuclear weapons when murdering dictatorships like Iran and North Korea continue to pursue them - and China, India and Pakistan continue to grow their arsenals - would put the entire Western world at the mercy of rogue states."

"The naivety is breathtaking!" says Darnton, who attributes Labour's stupidity to politicking.

Darnton offers Labour's peaceniks a short history lesson. "Like it or not, it was nuclear weapons that kept the peace during the Cold War. But for this significant deterrent, the Red Army was willing to extend its murderous tentacles out over western Europe. It was only nuclear weapons that kept the peace during the Cold War, as no doubt US nuclear weapons are currently deterring North Korea and China from attacking South Korea and Taiwan respectively."

Libertarianz advocates that as long as the knowledge to produce nuclear weapons exists, then allies of New Zealand should continue to develop and hold such weapons as a deterrent. "The Labour Party and the Greens might want to pretend that nuclear weapons never existed; that the USSR would never have attacked Europe; that the Tooth fairy is real ... " he tails off, before suggesting Labour and Green peaceniks "try telling South Koreans that they should let North Korea develop nuclear weapons without protection from the US nuclear umbrella. The idea is absurd."

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Libertarianz believes that it is desirable to take all reasonable steps to stop rogue states like Iran and North Korea that torture and kill their own citizens from acquiring nuclear weapons. However, we also believe it is perfectly within the moral right for countries such as the United States and Israel, to maintain nuclear deterrents, in order to defend themselves" Darnton concluded.

ENDS


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

Featured News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.