Ethics

Ethically, the Red Cross strives to be politically neutral in most of its efforts -- the American Red Cross stresses personal readiness and preparedness on its website, rather than takes a position on anti-terrorist operations, for example, or bridge inspection. For the International Red Cross, political neutrality is of particular concern, as to safely travel in unsafe areas and solicit donations from multiple sources, the organization cannot appear to be biased in its ideology. Its mission is formulated as thus: "The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance" (International Red Cross Website, 2007). However, inevitably in the eyes of some people, simply by going into volatile areas and helping civilians in war-torn regions the Red Cross may appear...
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