Greenpeace issues own most-wanted playing cards

By Jonathan Fowler

Apr 30, 2003 | In a play on the deck of cards distributed to U.S. troops in Iraq, anti-nuclear campaigners on Wednesday issued their own most-wanted list -- with President Bush replacing Saddam Hussein as the ace of spades.

"It's an exact copy (of the U.S. deck) in terms of the design and layout," said William Peden, spokesman for the disarmament campaign at Greenpeace.

But while the U.S. cards were meant to help soldiers capture America's most-wanted Iraqi leaders, the Greenpeace deck is meant to focus attention on the dangers posed by nuclear arsenals, Peden told The Associated Press.

Campaigners are handing out 600 decks to delegates at a two-week meeting on the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The conference precedes a review of the 188-nation accord in 2005.

"We haven't had any negative comments -- not even from the U.S. delegation," said Peden. "They're such a hot item."

Along with photographs of Bush and seven other leaders are details of the number of nuclear weapons their countries possess. The ace of spades notes that Bush has around 10,600 weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is the ace of hearts in the Greenpeace deck, with around 18,000 nuclear weapons.

French President Jacques Chirac is the ace of clubs, while Britain's Tony Blair is the ace of diamonds. The kings feature the leaders of China, Pakistan, India and Israel -- all countries with nuclear weapons.

Most of the rest of the cards contain information about nuclear weapons. The two of diamonds notes that 128,000 nuclear weapons have been built worldwide since 1945.

"The idea is to provide delegates with something that's not a boring piece of paper," Peden said. "It's something interesting and innovative that they can actually learn from -- so it's an educational tool as well."

"It's actually being used by delegates in their speeches and they love it because it's full of short snappy facts about the situation of nuclear weapons around the world."

Under the nonproliferation treaty, the declared nuclear powers of the 1960s -- the United States, China, France, Russia and Britain -- were meant to reduce their arsenals, halt the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure nuclear technology was used only for peaceful purposes. However, the accord has failed to stop other nations from becoming nuclear powers.

In 2000, during the last review of the nonproliferation treaty, participants at a conference at the United Nations identified 13 steps for wiping out nuclear weapons, including a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, reductions in tactical nuclear weapons and greater candor by the nuclear powers in reporting on their nuclear arsenals.

Greenpeace is also considering a nuclear-themed version of the party game Twister, Peden said. "It'll have 13 steps. We'd like to get all the delegates playing it."

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