In response to Bush’s threat of using nuclear force against Iran, a nation which does not have nuclear weapons nor is seeking to develop any, 22 physicists have petitioned Congress to restrict the president’s power. The group is comprised of 12 Nobel laureates. In their petition, the physicists say it should be up to Congress to decide “which course of action would best serve the American people on the use of the terrible weapons our profession helped create.”

In a statement, the group said they want to “restrict the authority of President Bush to order nuclear strikes against non-nuclear-weapon states.” They added that, “the rising tensions with Iran and the potential for military confrontation, as well as the public statement by President Bush on April 18, 2006, that a nuclear strike against Iran is an option ‘on the table,’” caused them to act.

Kurt Gottfried, chair of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said, “The very fact that nuclear weapon use is not being ruled out as an option-against a state that does not have nuclear weapons and does not represent a direct or imminent threat to the United States-illustrates the extent to which the Bush administration has changed U.S. nuclear weapons policy. The use of such a weapon against deeply buried targets would create massive clouds of radioactive fallout that could spread far from the site of the attack, including to other nations.”

What adds to this story is not the mere fact that educated professionals think it’s downright scary for Bush to command such power, but that President Chirac of France recently stated that Iran is not a threat, even with nuclear capabilities. It’s not a good sign when your allies and countrymen think you’re a bigger threat to the world than the country you’ve placed in the “axis of evil”.

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