“The group believes that whatever deterrent value nuclear weapons had in the Cold War is now outweighed by the dangers of proliferation and nuclear terrorism.”

— Valerie Plame

"Reaching Global Zero" (8 March 2011) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/valerie-plame-wilson/nuclear-proliferation_b_832399.html
Context: Without doubt, terrorist groups are trying to buy, build or steal a bomb. Furthermore, there is enough highly-enriched uranium (HEU) in the world to build more than 100,000 weapons, and rogue individuals are selling technology on the black market. If terrorists get hold of HEU, they could not be prevented from smuggling it into a targeted city, building a bomb and exploding it.
To my mind, the only realistic solution to this danger is to lock down all nuclear materials and eliminate all nuclear weapons in all countries: Global Zero. I am now dedicated to achieving this goal as a leader of the Global Zero movement. This movement was launched in December 2008 in Paris by an international group of 100 current and former heads-of-state, national security officials, military commanders and business, civic and faith leaders — and in just two years has grown to 300 leaders and 400,000 citizens worldwide.
The group believes that whatever deterrent value nuclear weapons had in the Cold War is now outweighed by the dangers of proliferation and nuclear terrorism. Our international Global Zero Commission has developed a practical, step-by-step plan to eliminate all nuclear weapons through phased and verified reductions.
To build on the progress made to date, we need a worldwide public movement to make Global Zero an urgent global imperative — and to bring all nuclear weapons countries to the table to negotiate multilateral nuclear arms reductions for the first time in history.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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American spy 1963

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Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

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“The truth emerging from this scattered picture of nuclear proliferation is simple: there is a stronger chance of a nuclear bomb being used now than at almost any point in the Cold War.”

Johann Hari (1979) British journalist

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Denis Healey (1917–2015) British Labour Party politician and Life peer

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“The point of having nuclear weapons is to deter a war of any kind. They have succeeded in doing so for the past 37 years. To be an effective deterrent a potential aggressor must believe that under certain circumstances such weapons will be used.”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

Prime Minister's Questions (1 February 1983) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105246
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“The fact that now we know well that there is proliferation of nuclear weapons and that many of the weapons that Saddam Hussein had, for example, we do not know where they are, so that means the terrorists have access to all that.”

Paul Martin (1938) 21st Prime Minister of Canada

Globe and Mail (May 11, 2004)

“What is the only provocation that could bring about the use of nuclear weapons? Nuclear weapons. What is the priority target for nuclear weapons? Nuclear weapons. What is the only established defense against nuclear weapons? Nuclear weapons. How do we prevent the use of nuclear weapons? By threatening to use nuclear weapons. And we can't get rid of nuclear weapons, because of nuclear weapons. The intransigence, it seems, is a function of the weapons themselves.”

Martin Amis book Einstein's Monsters

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“As long as weapons of mass destruction exist, primarily nuclear weapons, the danger is colossal. All nations should declare... that nuclear weapons must be destroyed. This is to save ourselves and our planet.”

Mikhail Gorbachev (1931) General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

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“Nuclear weapons are obsolete in an era of asymmetric warfare and cyber warfare and have no placed in a European defence policy for the 21st century. Britain and France have ignored their obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons for far too long.”

Molly Scott Cato (1963) British economist and Member of the European Parliament

Quoted in CornwallLive. Cornwall and Devon European MP Molly Scott Cato arrested after breaking into US air base in Belgium https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/cornwall-devon-european-mp-molly-2564421 (20 February 2019)
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“To the Non-Proliferation Treaty, was based on a firm conviction that there can be peace only through the elimination of all nuclear weapons, moved towards the limitation of nuclear armaments and other weapons of mass destruction, are important steps in creating an atmosphere of trust and the relaxation of tensions.”

Ziaur Rahman (1936–1981) President of Bangladesh

Ziaur Rahman's speech in the United Nations Security Council.
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“I am opposed to the use of nuclear weapons. I am opposed to the holding of nuclear weapons. I want to see a nuclear-free world. I believe it is possible. I do not think we should be renewing Trident… I think we should be promoting an international nuclear weapons convention which would lead to a nuclear-free world.”

Jeremy Corbyn (1949) British Labour Party politician

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“The group believes that whatever deterrent value nuclear weapons had in the Cold War is now outweighed by the dangers of proliferation and nuclear terrorism.”

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