The Hiroshima Peace Memorial - Alec.cortez, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
On 6 August 1945, the Japanese city of Hiroshima was destroyed by an atomic bomb dropped by the USA. This was followed on 9 August by another atomic bomb dropped by the USA on the port city of Nagasaki. Neither city was an important target for the war effort. Hundreds of thousands of people died a horrific death as a direct result of the explosions of the two bombs and in the decades that followed as a result of nuclear radiation.
Since 1945, an enormous nuclear arms race has begun and more and more states are in possession of nuclear weapons of destruction. Previous agreements on stockpile reduction and non-proliferation have only had a limited effect. Nuclear weapons are currently being further developed, which further increases their danger.
The USA's intention to install new missile systems in the Federal Republic of Germany, which can also be equipped with nuclear warheads and have a range of over 2,000 kilometres, not only increases the danger of a further arms race, but also the risk of a war waged with nuclear weapons.
After 79 years, the deaths of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remind us of the urgent need to prevent such an arms race. The unique effective remedy can only be the abolition of all nuclear weapons throughout the world, in every country without exception that is in possession of nuclear weapons.
The Communist Party of Luxembourg takes the 79th anniversary of the only use of nuclear weapons to date as an opportunity to call on the government of Luxembourg to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to campaign for other states to follow suit.
Comments