Supporters List

Message of support from Bob and Jan Aldridge

We were happy to hear of the dedicated action planned by Trident 2000 disarmament activists in Britain. It is our conviction that it will take strong and steady nonviolent action to convince the leaders of both the US and Britain, as well as other countries, to overcome their false sense of security in nuclear weapons.

Regarding Britain, we are aware that Trident is now Britain’s only nuclear weapon. The British people have the unique opportunity to immediately take the first step toward general and complete disarmament by eliminating Trident. That first step -- nuclear disarmament by 2000 -- would be a strong example and compelling influence for the rest of the world. But instead Britain seems to be moving toward equipping its Trident submarines to take part in regional wars as well as a strategic nuclear exchange. There is ample evidence that Britain has moved toward configuring those submarines with tactical nuclear weapons. Moving in this direction will only bring more agony to an already suffering world. It will take strong public opposition to reverse that course.

Trident Ploughshares 2000 is a positive step toward mustering that needed strong public opposition to the British government’s policy. When citizens objectively analyze the nuclear situation they will understand the fallacy of nuclear deterrence and their dependency on Trident. But to analyze objectively they must be jarred into thinking beyond the channeled vision of government propaganda. Using symbols instead of words is one way to overcome the blinders. One way of employing this type of communication is through nonviolent symbolic civil disobedience. The Plowshares actions in the US, along with previous ones in Britain and Germany, have made many people realize that some property is really illegitimate, and has no right to exist. The ancient teaching to beat swords into plowshares predates the Christian, Buddhist, and Islamic eras. It is a teaching which the Plowshares movement is striving to reestablish as an accepted norm of society.

This is how we view the planned Trident Ploughshares 2000 demonstration in Britain, and why we support it. It will have repercussions beyond the British Isles. We wish you much success and please be aware that our thoughts and prayers are with you.

In solidarity,

Bob & Janet Aldridge

Santa Clara, California, USA

Message of support from Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit

"I appreciate the invitation to endorse your action. It is an honor to be associated with the Trident Ploughshares 2000. Your goal of nuclear abolition by the year 2000 is, in truth, one of the most important, if not the most important goals of our times. I strongly support your work.

My only regret is that I am unable to join you in Scotland. I wish I could be there to join in the action. Be assured of my prayers and support."

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton

Message of support from Douglas Roche

Douglas Roche was the Canadian Member of Parliament 1972 to 1984, Canada’s Ambassador for Disarmament to the United Nations from 1984 to 1989 and Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Committee at the Forty-Third General Assembly in 1988. He is currently Visiting Professor at the University of Alberta and Vice-Chair of Canada Pugwash. Last year he wrote the book ’The Ultimate Evil, The Fight to Ban Nuclear Weapons’.

On May 21 1998 Douglas Roche wrote;

"I fully support the efforts by Trident Ploughshares 2000 and wish the Canadian Support Committee well in advancing the cause of the abolition of nuclear weapons"

Message of support from Noam Chomsky, Cultural Historian

Homo Sapiens appeared on earth in the last flick of an evolutionary eye, and in the very recent past has modified the world in ways that may give the species a prize for rapid extinction. It is, surely, within our power to demonstrate that the particular forms that higher intelligence took will not prove to be a lethal mutation. Elimination of nuclear weapons from the earth is a fundamental step in this direction. The nonviolent activists who are dedicating themselves to realizing this goal by the end of this terrible century deserve our sincerest thanks and strongest support.

Noam Chomsky. 26 July 1998

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