Resources for Teachers and Students

Prepare: Lee Butler, a retired general, was at one time in charge of the strategic nuclear arsenal of the United States Air Force and Navy. His comprehensive biography, as well as a bibliography of much of his work, is available on the Nuclearfiles.org website.

Read: Lee Butler's Architects of Peace essay, titled "The Responsibility to End the Nuclear Madness," is excerpted from Waging Peace Worldwide, A Journal of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

Explore: Study the Los Angeles Times article "A Cold War Warrior Looks to Ban the Bomb After a Career in Brinksmanship" (by Robert Scheer, May 23, 1999). Pay particular attention to Butler's thoughts about the use of ballistic missiles as delivery systems for nuclear weapons in the current era, and to his thoughts about the possibility of accidental nuclear war.

Write: Compose a three-to-five page paper either supporting or refuting the following statement from "The Responsibility to End the Nuclear Madness:" "It matters not that we continuously fall short of the mark. What matters is that we continue to strive. What is at stake here is our capacity to move ever higher to the bar of civilized behavior." Butler seems to be making a case that the imperative to disarm has greater ethical weight than the imperative of nuclear deterrence. Is this assertion defensible, given the current world situation? Make certain, as part of your argument, to incorporate some of the research you conducted as part of the "Explore" section.

Extend: Using the internet and library resources, attempt to find data regarding the following questions: What is the number of nations today thought to have the capability to engage in nuclear warfare? Are there currently any nuclear arms disarmament initiatives, such as the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, being considered within the international community? Has there been a worldwide reduction of nuclear weapons in the past year, or are we currently going through a period of buildup?

Additional Resource: More than a dozen of Lee Butler's articles and speeches can be found in the archives of WagingPeace.org, the website of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). (By the way: numerous people featured in the Architects of Peace project, including the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jean-Michael Cousteau, Ted Turner and Queen Noor of Jordan, participate on the NAPF advisory council.)

Biography of Lee Butler