"No Nukes For You!" Next!
Well I don't know what happened, but I had The Romans 13 Charade ready to go. It was a beautfiul piece full of great stuff. I go to post it this morning and due to some web error it was deleted so i need to re-type it. I don't have the time right now, so it will come next week. But this does give me the opportunity to discuss something that been in the news the past couple of days.
Yesterday North Korea pulled out of nuclear talks with six other countries. North Korea went a step further and stated that not only was it going to continue its development program, but that they already have nuclear weapons. One the same day Iran stated that it was not going to stop its program in the face of illegitimate threats. The Bush administration remains firm in its stance that both Iran and North Korea must stop their nuclear delvelopment programs. My question is, Why is America the only nation allowed to have nuclear weapons? Why do we become the Soup Nazi and tell other nations, "No Nukes For You!"?
The first question we need to ask is, why do these other nations want nuclear weapons? Is it not to counter the threat imposed by the United States. Is it not possible their pursuit of nuclear weapons is a act of self-defense against a potential aggressor? Maybe the reason we want to deny other nations nuclear weapons is we want to keep our dominance as the sole superpower. As long as we deny other nations the ability to respond in kind with nuclear weapons, then we can continue to dictate how best the world can serve our interests. Imagine if Iraq had nuclear weapons (oh in case you red states didn't hear, they didn't have any), but lets pretend as the administration did. Could we have so easily "kicked in the door" if Iraq actually had nuclear weapons? I think not. Hasty action is never taken against a nation with a nuclear capability. You can't just march in and tell them what to do. This what any administration fears, the possiblity that America will actually have to talk, listen and compromise with other nations.
A second question we need to ask is, what qualifications does a nation need to possess nuclear weapons? Many justify America's sole claim to nuclear weapons becuase you can't have nukes in the hands of a madman like Saddam or a small terrorist group. The problem, however, is we must then ask, Who is the only nation to ever use nuclear weapons against both combatants and its civilians? AMERICA. Not once, but twice against Japan. Maybe now we can understand a little better why Iran and North Korea want nuclear weapons. It comes from a rationale fear that America might choose them to be the next example of US power.
The bottomline is that no nation, America or any other, should have nuclear weapons. You only get one mistake with nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are the worst invention of the 20th century. Under no cirumstance can one justify a nuclear respose. A nuclear bomb isn't like a pipe bomb going off. A nuclear bomb is basically exposing people to the radiation and heat of the sun. People at the epicenter of Hiroshima didn't get cuts and broken bones, they were vaporized into thin air. People's shadows were burnt into the cement. This was 60 yrs ago and today nuclear weapons are hundreds of times more powerful. It time for America to look in the mirror when it comes to nuclear disarmament. It cannot hold on to its stockpile and expect the rest of the world to give up its weapons. All nations together need to deny themselves nuclear weapons. We can no longer ignore the past and the consequences of Hiroshima. In a nuclear world; if you ignore the past, you will not see the future.
CJE
Coming next week: The Romans 13 Charade...Again
