A concern that the US will use nuclear weapons against Iran made a group of Friends take action. A letter was drafted that will accompany copies of the book, Hiroshima, to be sent to community leaders and concerned citizens. Friends are encouraged to think of people to whom they might send this letter and book. The books can be purchased for $4.17.
LETTER OF INVITATION
In his documentary account of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, John Hersey recorded, “Mr. Tanimoto found about twenty men and women on the sandspit . . . He reached down and took a woman by the hands, but her skin slipped off in huge, glovelike pieces. He was so sickened by this that he had to sit down for a moment . . . He had to keep consciously repeating to himself, ‘These are human beings’” (page 45).
Today the United States has raised the possibility of using another nuclear weapon, the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP or “bunker buster”), against Iranian nuclear production facilities. The U.S. currently possesses the 400-kiloton B61-11, and plans exist to develop a 1.2-megaton weapon. The 1.2-megaton weapon would have nearly 100 times the magnitude of the “Little Boy” dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. RNEPs cannot penetrate deeply enough into the earth to contain the radiation they release, so that fallout from a blast in Iran would be dispersed over civilian populations in Iran as well as Pakistan, Afganistan, and India.
There are many strategic arguments against the use of such weapons, but even more importantly, we view the use of nuclear weapons as deeply abhorrent to people of faith. Tens of thousands of civilians died from the aftereffects of radiation exposure in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thousands or millions—depending on the strength of the warhead used—would be killed by an attack on Iran. So great was the devastation in 1945, so profound the world’s fear of experiencing such an event again, so intense the ethical debate surrounding the bomb’s use, and so certain the world’s condemnation of future nuclear wars that for sixty-one years even those nations with the capacity to produce nuclear weapons have refrained from using them. As the most powerful nation in the world, and as the only nation to have used nuclear weapons previously against a human population, we believe that the U.S. bears a particular moral charge to do everything in our power to prevent the occurrence of such devastation again. Above all, we cannot oppose the development of Iranian nuclear weapons technology by the deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons.
As people of faith we are committed to seeking lasting solutions to the root causes of political instability and human suffering. Neither peace nor stability can be achieved with weapons that promote widespread human misery or increase the measure of hatred among those with whom we share this earth. Aside from being deeply immoral, such actions are ultimately ineffective. We must use other means to help resolve conflicts in Iran.
Enclosed with this letter is a copy of John Hersey’s Hiroshima, an account of the Hiroshima bombing and its aftermath as experienced by six survivors. It serves as a grim reminder of the human cost of nuclear warfare. We urge you to consider it, and if you feel moved to do so, to pass its message on to others.
Sincerely,
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