Prevention of war is a precondition for prevention of nuclear war*

Abstract

I thank you for the invitation and the great honor to speak at the opening ceremony of this important congress. “Aiming for Prevention – Small Arms, Gun-Violence and Injury” is indeed a topic that affects all people of good will – particularly today, 17 days after the tragedy in New York and Washington. Until now, “small arms” have been defined as “weapons that one to three people are able to carry”, but following the many terroristic actions carried out with explosive devices ( e.g. in Israel) in addition to small firearms, the term “small arms” no longer has a clear definition. New developments in weapons have brought forth not only firing and exploding “small arms” –land mines, for example – but also easily portable containers of bacteria or poisons, to say nothing of nuclear bombs portable in suitcases or on the body. We usually refer to them as “mini-nukes”, but they are capable of causing “maxi-injury” – possibly much greater destruction and loss of human life than we are now mourning in New York and Washington.