It's been 70 years since the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The decision to do so undoubtedly haunted/haunts those involved. The debate over whether or not it should have been used will perhaps never be solved. But the results are clear, and the fact that it hasn't been used since is telling, I think.
NPR did a great story on that this morning:
http://www.npr.org/2015/08/06/429433621/why-did-the-u-s-choose-hiroshima
The haunting question is the last one posed in the article: in referencing the current and existing nuclear weapons, the question is - where are those targeting today?
I don't believe that there will be (ever) an all-out nuclear war. Partly because I want to believe (perhaps naively) that human beings would never choose to do that to one another (in spite of evidence). I also want to believe that we have sufficient means of neutralizing a threat without having to resort to this scale of destruction - our weapons have become much more precise and accurate.
But if, as the article notes, you want to make a dramatic statement, this is the way to do it. Which may make it attractive for terrorist groups or rogue states to try to accomplish.
And, for the record, I don't believe Iran is one of those (either of those). While Iran is a world away, politically, religiously, and ideologically, I believe that they don't have a death wish - as the production and use of nuclear weapons would surely mean.
The world in the Cold War was probably pretty close to using the bomb. Maybe. We'll never know for sure what was going on in the hearts and minds of the folks back then. But I'm not one to build a bomb shelter. I just can't live like that, whether I'm a target or not.
And, I just don't have the ego to assume I'm a target.
NPR did a great story on that this morning:
http://www.npr.org/2015/08/06/429433621/why-did-the-u-s-choose-hiroshima
The haunting question is the last one posed in the article: in referencing the current and existing nuclear weapons, the question is - where are those targeting today?
I don't believe that there will be (ever) an all-out nuclear war. Partly because I want to believe (perhaps naively) that human beings would never choose to do that to one another (in spite of evidence). I also want to believe that we have sufficient means of neutralizing a threat without having to resort to this scale of destruction - our weapons have become much more precise and accurate.
But if, as the article notes, you want to make a dramatic statement, this is the way to do it. Which may make it attractive for terrorist groups or rogue states to try to accomplish.
And, for the record, I don't believe Iran is one of those (either of those). While Iran is a world away, politically, religiously, and ideologically, I believe that they don't have a death wish - as the production and use of nuclear weapons would surely mean.
The world in the Cold War was probably pretty close to using the bomb. Maybe. We'll never know for sure what was going on in the hearts and minds of the folks back then. But I'm not one to build a bomb shelter. I just can't live like that, whether I'm a target or not.
And, I just don't have the ego to assume I'm a target.
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