Contribution of KKE at the Conference of AKEL on the issue of nuclear weapons

By Nikos Karathanasopoulos,

MP of KKE

Dear comrades

We thank AKEL for the invitation to the conference, the goal of which is to elucidate a particularly important issue in our era: Our stance in relation to nuclear energy.

We cannot ignore that this energy was first used militarily, even if it served clearly political goals. We mean, of course, the use by the USA of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at a moment in time which had no impact on the outcome of the 2^nd World War. But this crime of US imperialism was aimed at politically blackmailing and intimidating the Soviet Union which had emerged victorious from this war, and had acquired enormous international prestige due to its contribution to the crushing of fascism.

In the current period we are monitoring the exploitation of the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme, a country in our wider region, by the USA, as well as by other leading powers of the imperialist unions of the EU and NATO, such as Germany and France, and also the state of Israel. This is being conducted in such a way that we can seriously discuss the possibility of military operations and even of a generalised war against Iran by the summer.

In reality who is today criticizing and threatening Iran?

• Are they not the same powers which possess enormous arsenals of nuclear and conventional weapons?
• Are they not the same powers which intervene in every way including militarily against countries in order to promote their plans?
• Are they not the same powers which bombed Yugoslavia (using depleted uranium bombs amongst other things), which invaded and occupied Afghanistan and Iraq? Which have filled the planet with military bases?
• Are they not the same powers which over the last 20 years have been designing and manufacturing new “mini” nuclear weapons as well as the further militarization of space, through the so-called “Star Wars”?
• Are they not the same powers which in the framework of NATO’s plans have placed their nuclear weapons in various corners of the world, like also Greece, creating massive dangers for the peoples?
• Are they not the same powers which are preparing to install in Europe the so-called “anti-missile shield”, so that they can attack Russia with nuclear weapons without the fear of reprisals in the framework of inter-imperialist competition?

Their hypocrisy regarding the Iran’s nuclear programme is enormous. The political line which is being followed by the USA and other countries, which possess such weapons or expertise, it is a policy of “double standards”! This is also apparent from the fact that certain countries are considered to be the “axis of evil”, while some others, which also have nuclear weapons, such as Israel, are considered to be “a pillar of security”.

Dear friends and comrades!

It is obvious that the reason for the imperialist aggressiveness against Iran are to be found elsewhere. They are mainly related to the struggle among the imperialist powers over sources of energy, the natural resources of the wider region ( North Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea), as well as over their transport routes. This is a tough struggle between monopolies which, supported by the capitalist states, fight for larger shares of the markets.

The capitalist crisis, which this time manifested itself in a synchronised fashion in the strong imperialist powers, leads to a change in the global balance of forces, to the elevation of new imperialist powers, such as China, Russia, Brazil which seek a more significant role in international developments. The contradictions are sharpening in this framework, axes and anti-axes are being created, which have the character of “predatory alliances”. Imperialist interventions are on the increase, under various pretexts, as well as local wars, while no one can rule out the possibility of a generalised conflict in the future between the strong imperialist powers, with the use of nuclear weapons. Besides the two previous global crises, as we know, led to two world wars.

In our opinion the agreements on the reduction of nuclear weapons e.g. START-3 are deceptive for the people. The assessments that this is an important step towards a world free from the nightmare of nuclear weapons have no basis in reality. But the phenomena are deceptive, because:

• To begin with even if the specific agreement is observed, the nuclear weapons which remain (1550 warheads on each side) are enough to blow up our planet many times over.
• In the agreement it is not clear whether the reduction of strategic nuclear warheads means the destruction of the surplus or the disassembly of the nuclear weapons and their storage, something which means their immediate restoration, in an instance when it is considered necessary.
• The issue of tactical nuclear weapons is not touched on at all, as well as missiles which are launched from the sea’s surface.
• The plans for the militarization of space, which are mainly being promoted by the USA, are not touched on at all.
• The nuclear arsenals of other NATO countries, such as France and Great Britain, are not taken in mind.
• The USA and Russia, despite the predicted reduction, will not stop even for one minute the research and manufacture of new nuclear weapons and the replacement of the old with more modern, more “perfected” tools of destruction. The Obama administration promises to spend 85 billion dollars for this purpose over the next 10 years, while the Medvedev-Putin government is planning to spend 23 trillion roubles on its arms programme, which amongst other things provides for a 90% renewal of its strategic nuclear weapons.

This is why in these conditions of the increase in armaments, of imperialist interventions and wars, the KKE considers that no imperialist power or international organization has the legitimacy to formulate decisions against the peoples, to intervene, to determine who is and who is not allowed to have nuclear energy and for what purpose. And we see this happening today in the case of Iran. The proposals of the so-called “group of 6” (in which the USA, France, Germany, Great Britain, China and Russia participate) on the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme, call on this country to stop its attempts at uranium enrichment and to accept the establishment of “international uranium enrichment centres”, (which the nuclear “powers” will create), where Iran and other countries will have to resort to for uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes. It is clear that the goal is to maintain in every possible way the monopoly on expertise and application, which these countries have.

Our party considers that nuclear energy when it is used for peaceful purposes, as any other source or form of energy has objectively both advantages and disadvantages regarding the satisfaction of the people’s needs which of course alter over time and with the development of scientific research. The real political question is what political and social pre-conditions can maximise the positive aspects and minimise the negative consequences and effects, always with the people’s prosperity as the guide. In order to answer, we must begin from the objective facts regarding nuclear energy (the benefits and dangers) based on the entirety of the social needs in the specific historical-social framework.

To the extent that we are referring to facilities which operate with private-commercial criteria and in general within the framework of the capitalist mode of production, whatever commitments to security regulations which may exist in the institutional framework of each country do not safeguard the adequacy of these regulations and their strict implementation. There is a mass of examples and the latest example with the plant in Japan demonstrates many things, since it highlighted the problem of insufficient maintenance, of the complete lack of alternative means of cooling, while they had concealed the fact that problems had been apparent. Also the safety systems were inadequate.

It is possible that someone could at this point oppose our positions by pointing out that the Chernobyl tragedy occurred in a socialist not a capitalist country. While we cannot discuss the matter here at length, we will add that this fact must be examined in the specific history-social-economic framework, of the so-called “Perestroika” and the last decades before the overthrow of socialism, concerning which the party has drawn conclusions

The Communist Party of Greece does not support in the current period nor of course in the immediate future the production of nuclear energy in Greece, because in today’s socio-political conditions the motive of capitalist profit, which dominates, the following factors cannot be developed in the people’s interests:

First, the level of incorporation of this source of energy in the system, prioritizing the complete utilization of domestic sources, which are water, lignite, geothermal sources and other forms.

Second, the technical pre-conditions to ensure the greatest possible safety: the suitable location, the size of the power station, the latest technology.

Third, mutually beneficial international agreements, which include the transfer of technology and expertise.

Besides in the framework of the liberalised transportation of energy, of monopoly competition, as well as of imperialist wars, the production of nuclear energy, like also the importing of energy materials, technology and the export of waste, as a rule takes place in unfavourable conditions for public health, safety and popular consumption. As long as this socio-economic system holds sway with profit at its centre, this specific solution creates enormous dangers for public health, the safety of the residents and the protection of the environment.

In addition, we take into account that the high level of seismic activity in Greece increases the possibility of an accident. The party had issued a joint statement with the CP of Turkey specifically on this issue. The two CPs, taking into account the destructive consequences of the earthquake in Japan, have taken a position against the construction of a nuclear plant in Akkuyu. We noted that its construction in a seismically active region will constitute a permanent threat of nuclear terror for the two peoples.

Dear friends and comrades,

In conclusion to my intervention, allow me to stress our assessment that the danger of an imperialist nuclear war, with incalculable and tragic consequences for humanity, has not been eradicated at all, particularly if we take into account the imperialist rivalries and plans in regions, such as the Korean peninsula and the Persian Gulf. These developments are connected to the sharpening of the inter-imperialist contradictions and the competition between the imperialist centres and emerging capitalist powers which play or seek an enhanced regional and international role. What we hear about a “multi-polar world” or a new “architecture” of international relations, which will allegedly ward off these dangers, hides the reality, that capitalism in its imperialist stage cannot be “humanized”, whether we are talking about the past or the future.

Indeed now we can observe a new sharpening of the inter-imperialist contradictions, as it is a fact that in conditions of a sharpening of the capitalist crisis imperialism becomes more dangerous and aggressive. The possibility of a new nuclear strike or even a generalised conflagration constitutes a part of this implacable competition.

The so-called “multi-polar world” does not ensure peace and security for the peoples, as long as the contradiction between capital and labour is not resolved! The struggle against nuclear weapons is integral to the anti-imperialist struggle, which today is organically incorporated into the struggle for the overthrow of capitalism.

The struggle against nuclear weapons, the struggle against war is directly connected to the struggle against the imperialist system in its entirety. It is connected to the opposition to the involvement of our countries in imperialist interventions and organizations. It is borne out daily that the strengthening of the anti-imperialist struggle, the struggle for the overthrow of the exploitative capitalist system and the construction of socialism, is the only decisive and effective path for peace and social progress.