Sample Letter to Minneapolis City Council from WAMM and Veterans for Peace Chapter 27:
Dear Members of the Minneapolis City Council,
Two days after Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, nations around the world will celebrate the ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). This Treaty makes it illegal under international law for nations that are party to the treaty to “develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.” This treaty was negotiated at the United Nations and has the support of over 120 countries, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movements, the Pope, the Dalai Lama, and millions of ordinary people across the globe.
Nuclear weapons are the most inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created. They violate international law, cause severe environmental damage, undermine national and global security, and divert vast public resources away from meeting human needs.
The passing of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is an historic event and we are asking you, the City Council members of the city of Minneapolis, to pass a resolution supporting the Treaty.
Hundreds of cities, local and regional bodies all around the world have spoken out in support of the TPNW through the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Cities Appeal, including 37 cities in the United States. The states of California, Oregon and New Jersey have also passed resolutions in support of the TPNW.
Let’s add the city of Minneapolis to the list!
Sincerely,
Marie Braun
Women Against Military Weapons Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons
4200 Cedar Avenue, Suite 3
Minneapolis, MN 55407
Steve McKeown
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 27
4200 Cedar Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55407
WHEREAS, since the height of the Cold War, the United States and Russia have dismantled more than 50,000 nuclear warheads, but 15,000 of these weapons still exist and pose an intolerable risk to human survival; and
WHEREAS, 95 percent of these weapons are in the hands of the United State and Russia and the rest are held by seven other countries: China, France, Israel, India, North Korea, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom[1]; and
WHEREAS, the use of even a tiny fraction of these weapons would cause worldwide climate disruption and global famine; to wit, as few as 100 Hiroshima sized bombs, small by modern standards, would put at least 5 million tons of soot into the upper atmosphere and cause climate disruption across the planet, cutting food production and putting 2 billion people at risk of starvation[2]; and
WHEREAS, a large scale nuclear war would kill hundreds of millions of people directly and cause unimaginable environmental damage[3] and catastrophic climate disruption dropping temperatures across the planet to levels not seen since the last ice age; under these conditions the vast majority of the human race would starve and it is possible we would become extinct as a species[4]; and
WHEREAS, despite assurances that these arsenals exist solely to guarantee that they are never used, there have been many occasions when nuclear armed states have prepared to use these weapons, and war has been averted only at the last minute[5]; and
WHEREAS, nuclear weapons do not possess some magical quality that prevents their use; and
WHEREAS, former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara said, speaking about the Cuban Missile Crisis, “It was luck that prevented nuclear war,” yet our nuclear policy cannot be the hope that luck will continue; and
WHEREAS, as the effects of climate change place increased stress on communities around the world and intensify the likelihood of conflict, the danger of nuclear war will grow[6]; and
WHEREAS, the planned expenditure of more than $1 trillion to enhance our nuclear arsenal will not only increase the risk of nuclear disaster but fuel a global arms race and divert crucial resources needed to assure the well-being of the American people and people all over the world[7]; and
WHEREAS, there is an alternative to this march to nuclear war: in July 2017, 122 nations called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons by adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons[8].
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of Minneapolis, Minnesota, calls upon our federal leaders and our nation to embrace the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of our national security policy.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Council of Minneapolis, Minnesota calls upon our federal leaders and our nation to spearhead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by:
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Administrative Assistant to the City Council shall cause a copy of this resolution to be sent to U.S. Congressman James McGovern, U.S. Senator Elizabeth A. Warren, U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey, and President Elect Joe Biden.
Did you know sunflowers are the international symbol for nuclear disarmament? Sunflowers absord pollutions, including radioactive metals. They are planted in toxic nuclear sites, where they absorb the waste from the soil and water. The flowers are then collected and disposed of as nuclear waste. Sunflowers have been used to help clear up waste in places like Cherobyl and former missile silos. So celebrate “flower power” and plant sunflower.
On August 6th, 1945 an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, took off from Tinian Island with as 12-member crew. It was carrying on of the most destructive weapons the world had ever known, an atomic bomb that, when unleashed over Hiroshima, Japan, immediately killed 60,000 – 140,000 people and injured 100,000 more. Three days later, the U.S. dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki; again the immediate aftermath was a nightmare. The decision to use these weapons changed the course of history, and for more than seven decades the world community has lived under the threat of nuclear annihilation.
People the world over have campaigned vigorously to abolish nuclear weapons, but generally to no avail. However, on July 7th, 2017, 122 nations adopted a landmark agreement to ban nuclear weapons, known officially as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (click here to view the treaty). While the nuclear nations are not among the nations who support the treaty, the hope is that this treaty will strengthen the global norm against the possession and use of these weapons; that it will establish a powerful new international legal standard, one that stigmatizes nuclear weapons and compels nations to take steps toward disarmament.
The U.S., which could have used it power to end the peril that nuclear weapons pose to the world, chose instead to boycott the negotiations and worked to persuade approximately 40 countries, including our neighbor Canada and most of the NATO states to join the boycott.
As citizens of this country, the only country that used nuclear weapons, and the country that spends more on its nuclear arsenals than all other countries combined, we have a special responsibility to speak to ensure that these weapons are never again used by our government. The WAMM Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons grew out of this conviction.
Click here to see our WAMM 2020 Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons.
This project is supported by funds from the Jane Addams Peace Association Disarmament Fund.
See the actual treaty here.
