Dr Helen Caldicott: The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bush's Military-Industrial Complex

By PAT BASKETT

It is hard to believe that the world is in more danger of nuclear holocaust now than at any time during the Cold War - and that it probably would have been even without the horrific events of September 11.

If you can't face 200 pages of Caldicott's energetic, convincing expose of how weapons manufacturers have dominated US foreign policy and brought us to this terrible brink, spend five minutes in a bookshop and read the introduction. The 10 decisions of the Bush Administration which Caldicott considers are responsible for this situation are on page XVII. For more examples of their aggressive nuclear policy, turn to page three.

Then flick back to the pie graph at the beginning of the book which shows the Discretionary Budget for last year, and ask yourself why the most powerful country in the world spends 49 per cent of that budget on the military.

The answer is pretty much Caldicott's main thesis - that behind many of these decisions lies the ogre of corporate greed and the incredible power that money wields.

Not only has the defence department been taken over, Caldicott shows, by unreconstructed, Reagan-era Cold War warriors, but many of its key players have, or held, senior positions with the major weapons manufacturing companies. The chapter giving details is aptly titled Corporate Madness and Death Merchants.

Here are just two examples of their influence: the expansion of Nato to include several Eastern European countries (to Russia's alarm) was, Caldicott claims, entirely about weapons sales; after the Reagan years, weapons manufacturers (Lockheed Martin, Boeing and others) advocated ending a ban on sales to Latin America because of those countries' human rights abuses, and President Clinton's Directive 41 stated that arms sales were essential for preserving industrial jobs.

Of course, it's not just the corporates. Somehow, George W. Bush and a whole administration have bought into a mindset which fails to perceive the fact that they have themselves spawned the dangers they use to justify their policies.

This is one of the book's tragic ironies which fill you with despair. Note also that the Pentagon originally encouraged the creation of Lockheed Martin in 1993 because it wanted to avoid dealing with several smaller companies, and the result was lack of competition, higher prices and a mega-company with extraordinary power.

The pursuit of that sublime folly known as Star Wars, or National Missile Defence, has driven erstwhile foes China and Russia into each other's arms, creating a bloc which the Bush Administration uses as further justification for defence.

After the end of the Cold War the Administration of George Bush snr left a legacy of active arms control and unilateral disarmament programmes, but Clinton's ignorance of military matters - and his preoccupation with other, more salacious aspects of his presidency - led him to pass this important buck, and he failed to support those who advocated continuing Bush's policies.

The name "heritage" will henceforth arouse deep suspicion because, according to Caldicott, the Heritage Foundation is one of the US Government's most influential think tanks, its enormous budget provided by transnationals such as Exxon, Phillip Morris and Hyundai. Caldicott gives the text of a petition circulated by the foundation in support of National Missile Defence, called the Citizens' Petition to Protect America Now (page 77).

And if you ever read of the US Government's Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program - beware! It's nickname is Manhattan II, which more realistically describes its true purpose of designing, developing and testing new nuclear weapons.

The worst horrors are in chapters on space and on nuclear war in the Gulf and Kosovo - space because it looks to the future (the Long Range Plan was written with the co-operation of 75 military corporations), and Kosovo and the Gulf because the use of weapons made from depleted uranium has left large areas contaminated by radiation for ever.

Believe it or not, New Zealand is included in a list of countries either to which uranium weapons have been exported or where their production is encouraged.

The book is overwhelming in its detail and the force of its arguments. Caldicott, the paediatrician with fire in her belly who so stirred us here in 1982, allows the information to speak for itself, and on the rare occasion she does make a plea it is all the more poignant.

The book's disappointment lies in its copious footnotes, many of which refer to newspaper articles rather than primary sources, but there are some interesting website addresses.

Scribe Publications
$39.95

* Pat Baskett is an Auckland journalist and writer.