This year’s annual International Day of Peace won’t be marred by an American missile launch after all.

 

Last month, when the U.S. Air Force announced plans to conduct another Minuteman 3 missile test off the coast of California on September 21, peace advocates were incensed. The International Day of Peace, established by the United Nations in 1981, has been observed on September 21 for a decade now. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation felt it was insensitive on the part of the U.S. military to launch a dummy warhead at Vandenberg Air Force base on a day reserved to promote non-violence.

 

The Air Force, however, changed its mind on September 16, and decided to postpone the Minuteman 3 test. Officials made no mention of International Peace Day, while saying more analysis was needed about why a previous missile test in July failed.

 

The Santa Maria Times noted that it is common after a failure to delay the next launch. But typically the delays aren’t announced only five days before the launch date.

 

A new launch date has not been set.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

US Plans Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Test on International Day of Peace (by David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation)

Vandenberg Postpones Missile Launch (by Janene Scully, Santa Maria Times)

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Obama Increases Spending for Nuclear Weapons (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)