Red Cross against nuclear weapons

This 11 February 2019 video from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says about itself:

Let’s decide the future of nuclear weapons before they decide ours.

Help us send a signal to States worldwide – sign the treaty, protect our future: here.

Translated from Sittard-Geleen Nieuws in the Netherlands today:

The Red Cross conducts action against nuclear weapons on a global scale this Monday. The organization wants the Netherlands to, eg, sign the United Nations nuclear weapons ban.

That was adopted in July 2017 by the United Nations with the consent of 122 countries. The Netherlands was the only NATO country to abstain from voting, the other member states voted against. The treaty has now been ratified by seventy countries.

With a penetrating video, the Red Cross wants to raise awareness of the terrible consequences that an attack with nuclear weapons will cause. In the film the question is central: if a nuclear bomb would fall here, would you want to survive that disaster or would you rather die?

A nuclear weapon attack has far-reaching consequences, the Red Cross wants to make clear. The heat, shock waves and radiation can cause many victims, post disaster assistance is virtually impossible and the consequences for the health of the survivors will remain noticeable for generations.

In addition, the aid organization points out the large amounts of soot that will come into the atmosphere as a result of such an attack. This would result in less sunlight on earth, which could lead to falling temperatures, failed harvests and hunger.

The chance of an attack appears to have increased in recent years, partly because both the United States and Russia have withdrawn from the treaty that bans nuclear weapons for medium distances.

Scotland’s bomb: six times more powerful than Hiroshima. The Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament looks forward to 2019 as another year of campaigning to rid our country and our world of the scourge of nuclear weapons, writes ARTHUR WEST.