"Divine Strake" is the name of a planned military (Defense Threat Reduction Agency) test above ground explosion of a 700 ton ammonium nitrate mixed with fuel oil bomb planned to be detonated on ground level in the Nevada Test Site (Newe Sogobia, Shoshone land from Treaty of Ruby Valleyof 1862). The Nevada Test Site was the location where above ground nuclear weapons were exploded during the cold war era 1950s-1960s. Some residual radioactive particulates from these tests remain in the desert sands. In the event of a large explosion like "Divine Strake", the particulates will become resuspended in the air and likely enter the watershed of the nearby Amargosa River, home ecosystem of the endangered Amargosa pupfish. The land occupied by the NTS is also the ancestral home of the Western Shoshone (Newe Sogobia), and many other people who live downwind of the test site will also be exposed to the dust cloud containing radioactive particulates released by the "Divine Strake" explosion..
Shundahai Network and Western Shoshone Defense Project is asking anyone with the means and time to come to the Nevada Test Site (near Mercury Gate) and protest the "Divine Strake" test..
some info on the action from Shundahai website;
"Shundahai is a Newe (Western Shoshone) word meaning "Peace and Harmony with all Creation"
Please do not arrive for this event before Saturday. We will be organizing the camp into affinity camps, around a central gathering space. Please contact a local group that is organizing a contingent, or contact Eileen McCabe-Olsen at
eileen_mccabe_olsen@yahoo.com directly about an unaffiliated camping area. We are tying to get an idea about numbers so that we can plan responsibly for a large turnout. Please let us know by Wednesday May 17 how many are in your group, and if you will be organizing some kind of camp
What to bring:
The Nevada Desert is known for extremes of temperature. Please bring clothing to allow you to be comfortable during the noonday heat, as well as cool nights. Hats, sunscreen and an abundant supply of water are also strongly recommended. We do not know if any food will be provided. The camp is about 100 miles from amenities, so plan accordingly, and bring your own food.
What we'll do:
On Saturday: We will offer classes and workshops in cultural sensitivity, non-violent direct action, the history of the test site, and up-to-date information on the test itself.
On Sunday: There will be a sunrise ceremony, followed by a break. There will be an interfaith service from 11-2, followed by a rally, and possible direct action crossing the line into the test site. A detailed agenda is forthcoming.
Affinity camps are welcome to schedule their own activities within their camps. There will be a central gathering tent, in which activities will be scheduled. For more information on scheduling activities in the tent, please contact Deanna Taylor at
deesings@xmission.org.
How to get there:
Here is a map and directions
Keep in mind:
There are absolutely no drugs or alcohol permitted on the site. The site belongs to the Western Shoshone and we are their guests. Please be a culturally sensitive and aware guest and learn Western Shoshone cermonies and protocols. There will be signs posted alerting you to sacred and sensitive sites. Please respect them. Upon arrival, you will be issued a permit by the Western Shoshone for a suggested $5.00 donation.
More details will be provided shortly."
more info @;
http://www.shundahai.org/stop_divine_strake_052806.htm other info on "Divine Strake";
"Hager said on the basis of documents so far released, "no scientist could claim . . . this blast would be safe."
Rickards said published research shows plutonium 238 is "275 times more radioactive than weapons grade plutonium."
The isotope is present at the Nevada Test Site, located 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as are other radioactive particles left over from nuclear weapons testing. If anyone were to inhale a particle of P-238, that would be dangerous, he said.
The federal government's assertion that Divine Strake would re-suspend no radiation and expose no member of the public is "provably a lie," he charged. Radioactive particles deposited after earlier tests would have worked their way into the soil, he said.
"Obviously the Nevada Test Site has uncountable hidden deadly nucleotides buried slightly under the surface," Rickards said. Divine Strake would be detonated 30 feet underground "and lift all the dirt above it."
"
article continues @;
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0510-01.htm from the Western Shoshone Defense Project website;
"* International Indian Treaty Council * Western Shoshone Defense Project * Indigenous Environmental Network * Shundahai Network * Nevada Desert Experience * Citizen Alert * Western Shoshone National Council
The “Stop Divine Strake Coalition” Calls for an International Day of Action
The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) plans to detonate a 700-ton ammonium nitrate and fuel oil explosive on June 2, 2006 at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), a federal facility 65 miles north of Las Vegas. They are calling this test “Divine Strake.”
While this test is not nuclear in composition, its purpose, according to DTRA documents, is to “simulate a low-yield nuclear weapon.” Given that previous nuclear tests have occurred only a few miles away from where Divine Strake will occur, this test raises the specter of kicking up previous radioactive contamination and sending it downwind. We have been told too many half-truths and outright lies to believe in the “safety” of this test. Furthermore, no full environmental impact statement has been done to verify that there is no radioactive contamination at the particular site.
It must be stressed that the presence of the United States military on Western Shoshone land is uninvited. In fact, the Western Shoshone have been fighting for sovereignty over their ancestral and treaty-recognized lands, and to shut down the NTS for years. Most recently, their efforts brought them to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) which found the United States in violation of recognized fundamental human rights standards and international law, and ordered the United States to “freeze”, “desist” and “stop” their activities on Western Shoshone land. All this while the DTRA was preparing for the “Divine Strake” test
As tensions increase with Iran, speculation has increased in the media and elsewhere that this test, in conjunction with other military projects, is building up to an imminent attack on the peoples of Iran, possibly in the form of nuclear bombardment. This test is seemingly a “war game” to initiate a U.S. led invasion of Iran. Many media articles about Divine Strake and its possible role in the escalation of tension with Iran may be found on
http://www.shundahai.org/divine_strake.htm and
http://www.disarmamentactivist.org Because our goal is to stop the test, and to not expose anyone to undue health risks from the actual blast, our focus will be an International Day of Action on Sunday May 28, 2006 (Memorial Day Weekend) at the Nevada Test Site Peace Camp, located across Highway 95 from the Test Site. We are looking for allied organizations to join our coalition, and either join us at the Nevada Test Site on the 28th, or stage actions in their own communities throughout the following week.
Some of our anticipated activities will be:
¨ Delivering eviction/deportation notices to the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Energy as illegal, non-respecting immigrants to indigenous lands.
¨ A rally with speakers from indigenous, immigrant, nuclear abolition, and peace and justice communities.
¨ Non-violent direct action training
¨ Peacekeeper training
¨ Workshops on the history of the test site and radiation compensation, indigenous sovereignty, and the escalation with Iran.
¨ Spiritual ceremonies to remember those who have suffered or died as a result of war and nuclear weapons testing.
¨ Brainstorming workshops on what common actions folks can do later in the week in their respective cities
¨ Vigil activities at U.S. Federal Buildings and Bechtel Corporation offices on June 1 and June 2, if the test has not been canceled.
Some of our anticipated needs are:
¨ Getting the word out to sympathetic communities
¨ Development of fliers and other outreach materials
¨ Optimizing media participation both before, during and after the event
¨ Providing shelter, food and water to participants
¨ Organizing workshops
¨ Providing “peacekeepers” to keep the event on message and free of violence.
Ongoing activities – Please keep the phone calls, letters coming!
The test detonation can be cancelled. We call for the United States Government to do so immediately. Concerned citizens can call or write to express their opinions to their Congressional Representatives and:
President George W. Bush
comments@whitehouse.gov 202-456-1111
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
http://www.dod.gov/faq/comment.html Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000
James Tegnelia
dtra.publicaffairs@dtra.mil (800) 701-5096
Defense Threat Reduction Aagency
Attn: James Tegnelia
8725 John J Kingman RD Stop 6201
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6201
Please contact us if you would like to join our coalition. We will then proceed with detailed plans based on the coalition’s collective abilities.
http://www.treatycouncil.org jimbosimmons@treatycouncil.org andrea@treatycouncil.org http://www.wsdp.org wsdp@igc.org http://www.ienearth.org rshimek@ienearth.org ien@igc.org http://www.shundahai.org eileen_mccabe_olsen@yahoo.com pete@shundahai.org http://www.nevadadesertexperience.org amy@nevadadesertexperience.org http://www.citizenalert.org pmj1@citizenalert.org,
tonyg@citizenalert.org "
http://www.wsdp.org/ http://www.wsdp.org/divine_strake_alert.htm