#csce

This December 5th marks the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum—an agreement meant to provide security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for its decision to give up the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal.

As a survey tech/engineering tech in utility companies, highway departments, energy sector work, and construction I have seen the beautiful and marvelous things we can create to better society. I'm writing after reading more and more about the extensive and sophisticated tunneling that has been engineered under Gaza by Hamas. I'm writing to ask if the American Society of Civil Engineers would publicly denounce this perversion of the trade. As someone who takes enormous pride in the capacity to engineer systems to improve life I'd like to see ASCE and sibling organizations publish statements calling out the gross misuse of civil engineering in order to disrupt, terrorize and harm society by Hamas. Engineering and resources that could have helped make Gaza a healthier, more livable place, less conducive to extremist ideologies and doom. Engineering that could have laid water and sewer lines, gas pipes and electrical connections, better roads and walkways. Engineering that would have uplifted the masses of people now displaced or killed in fighting that didn't have to happen.

ASCE code of Ethics, Preamble:

Engineers govern their professional careers on the following fundamental principles:

+ create safe, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure;

+ treat all persons with respect, dignity, and fairness in a manner that fosters equitable participation without regard to personal identity;

+consider the current and anticipated needs of society; and

+ utilize their knowledge and skills to enhance the quality of life for humanity.

President Ford addressed the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in Helsinki, Finland, before signing the Final Act of the conference on August 1, 1975. This declaration, also known as the Helsinki Accords, served as an important stepping stone in easing Cold War tensions. The Act’s human rights provisions also helped Eastern Europeans seeking an end to the communist regimes in their countries. 

“Peace is not a piece of paper,” President Ford stated in his remarks. “But lasting peace is at least possible today because we have learned from the experiences of the last 30 years that peace is a process requiring mutual restraint and practical arrangements.”

Read or listen to President Ford’s full remarks.

Images:  President Ford Addressing Delegates in Finlandia Hall during the Plenary Session of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in Helsinki, Finland, 8/1/1975

President Ford signed the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in Helsinki, Finland, on August 1, 1975. Also known as the Helsinki Accords, this declaration served as an important stepping stone in easing Cold War tensions and the Act’s human rights provisions helped Eastern Europeans seeking an end to the communist regimes in their countries.

Before signing the Final Act, each head of state at the CSCE addressed the gathering. “We are bound together by the most powerful of all ties, our fervent love for freedom and independence, which knows no homeland but the human heart,” President Ford stated in his remarks. “Peace is not a piece of paper. But lasting peace is at least possible today because we have learned from the experiences of the last 30 years that peace is a process requiring mutual restraint and practical arrangements.”

Read or listen to President Ford’s full remarks.