caption: The exact moment of detonation at Nagasaki is captured in this remarkable photograph. Notice the three people in the foreground, as yet unaware that anything has happened.
I've possibly made this point here before, but that doesn't mean that others have read those --
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It's often stated that Nukes are an immoral weapon. Back in 1990, on the 45th anniversary of Hiroshima, SF author Harlan Ellison made a very good point:
Nukes are, in fact, the most moral weapon invented since kings stopped riding to war at the head of their armies.
For the first time, EVER, since that long ago day, the people whose choice it is to go to war using this weapon risk suffering and losing as much, if not more, than those who must prosecute the war (i.e., soldiers and citizens).
Ellison followed this up with noting that, at that time, 45 years (and now more than 60!) have passed without a subsequent use of that weapon !!
This is utterly unprecedented in the history of mankind. For a weapon to be invented and to not be used is just flat-out unheard of.
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As a follow-up to that thought, I would suggest to you that perhaps, though there was great suffering involved, the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, by their very graphic demonstration of what a very primitive version of this weapon could do, scared the bejeezus out of enough of those same people ("Who choose to go to war or not") to prevent them from actually thinking seriously of using them again.
Without that very graphic display, would the Soviets have backed down during the Cuban Missle Crisis?
Would the US have chosen not to use nukes when China counterattacked in Korea (as MacArthur wanted to)?
Maybe that one time use, horrific as it was, has saved us all from nuclear holocaust with much bigger and nastier weapons.
.
Just some thoughts to think about as August 6th rolls around in a couple weeks.
1 comment:
I've possibly made this point here before, but that doesn't mean that others have read those --
=================================
It's often stated that Nukes are an immoral weapon. Back in 1990, on the 45th anniversary of Hiroshima, SF author Harlan Ellison made a very good point:
Nukes are, in fact, the most moral weapon invented since kings stopped riding to war at the head of their armies.
For the first time, EVER, since that long ago day, the people whose choice it is to go to war using this weapon risk suffering and losing as much, if not more, than those who must prosecute the war (i.e., soldiers and citizens).
Ellison followed this up with noting that, at that time, 45 years (and now more than 60!) have passed without a subsequent use of that weapon !!
This is utterly unprecedented in the history of mankind. For a weapon to be invented and to not be used is just flat-out unheard of.
--
As a follow-up to that thought, I would suggest to you that perhaps, though there was great suffering involved, the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, by their very graphic demonstration of what a very primitive version of this weapon could do, scared the bejeezus out of enough of those same people ("Who choose to go to war or not") to prevent them from actually thinking seriously of using them again.
Without that very graphic display, would the Soviets have backed down during the Cuban Missle Crisis?
Would the US have chosen not to use nukes when China counterattacked in Korea (as MacArthur wanted to)?
Maybe that one time use, horrific as it was, has saved us all from nuclear holocaust with much bigger and nastier weapons.
.
Just some thoughts to think about as August 6th rolls around in a couple weeks.
.
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