Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan (Patriot) salutes our Malaysian elder, Dr Ronald McCoy. Patriot is proud that this is the first time a Malaysian is awarded a Nobel prize.

The 2017 Nobel Peace prize will be awarded to International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), an organisation founded by McCoy. When McCoy, among others in ICAN, receives the much-coveted prize in Oslo on Dec 10, 2017, our Jalur Gemilang flag will be planted on the world map of distinguished achievements.

Patriot supports ICAN's call for a total ban on nuclear weapons. The disarmament has to start with the cooperation of the world's superpowers.

Even though it seems impossible now to expect the US and other major countries already armed with nuclear weapons to take the initiative, the people of the world has to continue to build this dream of a peaceful world.

Inspired by the failure of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT), ICAN's role today of campaigning for a total ban of nuclear weapons is to be applauded and given full support. The used of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition during the Gulf wars, and the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are typical examples of NNPT infringement.

Today the use of DU persists in Iraq and Kosovo. Tens of thousands of innocent people are harmed. The effect may not be immediately felt during the time of first exposure to the radioactive particles, but years later.

Thousands of US war veterans ascribe the Gulf war syndrome to DU exposure. The common symptoms and harm caused by DU exposure are DNA damage leading to cancer, lung cancer, renal failure, gastrointestinal damage, infertility, embryonic and metal toxicity, etc.

The concept of deterrence used to hold on to nuclear armament by the superpowers is deficit of sound reasoning. It would be more honest of them to admit that it gives them an advantage and a perpetuation of world political and economic hegemony.

Patriot takes the stand that no superpower, no big nation, should lord over any country. We are anti-violence, peace-loving, and with a strong belief in harmonious co-existence on this mother earth.