04mar02

ENVIRONMENTAL and peace groups have urged the federal government to stop supporting the US war against terrorism because it might provoke a nuclear attack.

The Australian Peace Committee, Australian Anti-Bases Campaign and Friends of the Earth said their stance was based on fears that terrorists could obtain nuclear weapons.

"We urge the US itself to reconsider its policy of retaliation, which risks taking the world to the brink," the groups said in a statement.

"We urge the Australian government and opposition to reconsider support for these unwise and dangerous policies."

They said Prime Minister John Howard "does not commit troops in our name".

The groups said Australia's one-time UN ambassador Richard Butler had suggested that terrorists could have access to nuclear arms.

"We believe that the real consequences of marching off to war have not been thought through," the groups said.

"It is becoming clearer and clearer that a policy based on retaliation is not going to solve the terrorism problem at all, but rather will ensure that the world is an even more dangerous place than ever.

"It is quite pointless to shout that we 'must do something', but if the only courses of action under consideration make the problem worse, then even to do nothing would be much wiser."