 APHA
Resolution Opposition to U.S. Attack on Iran
(Adopted November 6, 2007)
The American Public Health Association,
Recalling policy statements approved by the American Public Health Association (APHA) Governing Council opposing war in the Middle East (1)(2); and
Noting that Iran has continued work on nuclear enrichment programs that raise concerns about its intention to develop nuclear weapons, in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) (3); and,
Observing, that in violation of its own NPT obligations, the U.S. government is developing plans to design and deploy refurbished or replacement warheads for the U.S. nuclear stockpile, and by 2030 to modernize the production complex to be able to produce new generations of weapons with different or modified capabilities, at an estimated cost of hundreds of billions of dollars (4); and,
Noting that recent credible reports indicate the possibility that the United States may launch an attack on alleged Iranian nuclear facilities, including the possible use of nuclear weapons (5)(6); and,
Recognizing that even a conventional military attack on nuclear facilities could lead to significant morbidity and mortality among neighboring civilian populations, while recent reports estimate up to millions of casualties in Iran and neighboring nations if nuclear weapons were used (7)(8); with possible region-wide conflict with potential massive death and destruction; and,
Understanding that the fiscal costs of a war in Iran, coming on top of the present and future costs of the current military conflict in Iraq represent resources that could better be used to address current and future domestic and global public health and environmental health needs (9);
Concerned that the United States in 2003 launched a “pre-emptive” attack on Iraq at a time when United Nations efforts to determine whether Iraq indeed had weapons of mass destruction, and when international diplomatic efforts to prevent an attack on Iraq were continuing;
Therefore, APHA calls on the U.S. government to:
1. Clearly state that it will not launch a preemptive military attack on Iranian facilities and explicitly rule out any possible use of nuclear weapons against Iran; and,
2. Vigorously pursue United Nations-authorized diplomatic initiatives to guarantee Iranian compliance with its NPT obligations not to develop nuclear weapons, while halting current U.S. plans to develop and deploy nuclear weapons; and,
3. Explicitly reaffirm its historical commitment to international treaties aimed at curbing the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction.
References:
1. APHA Policy Statement 2002-11 Opposing War in Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
http://www.apha.org/legislative/policy/policysearch/index.cfm?fuseaction=view&id=287
2. APHA Policy Statement 9923 Opposing War in the Middle East.
http://www.apha.org/legislative/policy/policysearch/index.cfm?fuseaction=view&id=194
3. Sanger DE and Broad WJ. Iran Expanding Nuclear Effort, Agency Reports. New York Times, February 23, 2007.
4. Broad WJ. New Design for Warhead is Awarded to Livermore. New York Times
March 3, 2007; Sterngold J. Need for New U.S. Nuclear Arsenal Disputed. Existing Warheads May Last Longer Than Believed, Experts Say. San Francisco Chronicle, March 21, 2006;
Pincus W. U.S. Plans to Modernize Nuclear Arsenal. Washington Post, March 4, 2006.
5. Hersh SM. The Redirection. The New Yorker, March 3, 2007.
6. Gardiner S. The End of the “Summer of Diplomacy”: Assessing U.S. Military Options on Iran
September 18, 2006.
http://www.tcf.org/publications/internationalaffairs/gardiner_summer_diplomacy.pdf (Accessed November 3, 2006)
7. Sidel VW, Geiger HJ, Abrams HL, Nelson RW and Loretz J. The Threat of Low_Yield Earth_Penetrating Nuclear Weapons to Civilian Populations: Nuclear "Bunker Busters" and Their Medical Consequences. Cambridge, Mass.: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, 2003 (Available at http://www.ippnw.org/NukeEPWs.html (accessed November 3, 2006))
8. Physicians for Social Responsibility. Medical Consequences of a Nuclear Attack on Iran. Washington, D.C.: Physicians for Social Responsibility, May 2006. http://www.psr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=security_main_iranfactsheet. Accessed October 3, 2006.
9. Sachs J. The End of Poverty. Economic Possibilities for Our Time. The Penguin Press, 2005.
10. Resolution WHA 49.5. World Health Assembly, 1996
11. Nuclear Posture Review. Submitted to Congress on 31 December 2001. Available at: http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/librarv/policy/dod/npr.htm. Accessed 2007 July 26.
12. Gordon MR. US nuclear plan sees new targets and new weapons. New York Times, March 10, 2002
13. Stolberg SG. Nuclear-Armed Iran Risks World War, Bush Says. New York Times, October 18, 2007
Submitted by:
Robert M. Gould, MD
rmgould1@yahoo.com
Victor W. Sidel, MD
vsidel@igc.org
For the APHA Peace Caucus
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