Page 34 - BusinessWest May 16, 2022

freeze campaign of the 1980s, which brought about an end to the Cold War arms race, he said. Except this time, the goal is to get rid of the weap- ons altogether.
Those behind the effort are “organizing around a simple platform, a simple statement of what U.S. nuclear policy ought to be — a key part of which is a call for the United States to begin now to negotiate with the other eight nuclear-armed countries for a verifiable, enforceable, mutual timetable to eliminate nuclear weapons,” he said. “This is not unilateral disarmament, it’s a call
“If the United States and Russia go to war today, it’s not going to be one relatively small bomb used on one or two cities, as was the case in 1945; it’s going to be many bombs used against many cities, and these bombs will be 10 to 50 times more powerful than the one that destroyed Hiroshima.”
for the United States to lead the negotiations to achieve universal disarmament.”
Organizers have brought resolutions embody- ing this platform to cities and towns, civic organi- zations, and faith organizations across the coun-
try, he went on, adding that more than 60 municipalities, including Springfield, Worcester, Boston, and others in Massachusetts have signed the statement, as well as several state legislatures.
The goal is to gain a national consensus on the matter, said Helfand, adding that he senses momentum in the ongoing efforts to ban nuclear weapons and the potential for much more.
“The current war in Ukraine is putting this issue before people again in a way that will lead to a good outcome,” he noted. “This issue is back where it ought to have been all this time — on the table and on the public agenda. We’ve been trying to use this occa- sion to educate people about the danger.”
For this issue, BusinessWest
talked at length with Helfand
about Back from the Brink and
ongoing efforts to prevent a nucle-
ar war by banning such weapons.
He expressed the hope that current events may just provide inspiration to bring change on a truly global scale.
Understanding the Consequences
Helfand, who has published studies on the medical consequences of nuclear war in the New England Journal of Medicine, the British Medi- cal Journal, the World Medical Journal, and other publications, said one challenge to banning
nuclear weapons is a lack of clear understanding among many people about just what a nuclear conflict would be like.
Indeed, he told BusinessWest that many still think in terms of 1945 and the weapons used then when they contemplate nuclear war.
So, he isn’t at all shy about painting what he said is a much more accurate picture, and he did so for BusinessWest.
“If the United States and Russia
Weapons
Continued on page 44
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