During the Cold War (from 1940 to 1970) nuclear weapons were necessary to maintain international security because they were considered a means of prevention. Nuclear weapons were a means of deterence.
The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki however left such mass destruction in its wake that post war Japan went on to adopt Three Non-Nuclear Principles, forbidding the nation from nuclear armament. The bombs killed close to 1, 40,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Thousands more lost their lives either from injuries or from illness accredited to exposure to radiation released by the bomb. The end of the Cold War made the principle of mutual Soviet-American deterrence redundant.
However, sixty two years after the fatal bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities in Japan, the threat of nuclear war still looms large. The probability of a third world war in which nuclear weapons might wipe off all traces of human civilization from the face of the earth is a fear shared by all the people of the world.
Image Source: ka240.files.wordpress.com
In 1970 after being witness to the vast destruction caused by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki many nations signed “The Non-Proliferation Treaty?” As per the agreement, nuclear nations committed to work towards disarmament, while non-nuclear nations renounced the pursuit of nuclear weapons.
This pledge was reinforced by 187 nations at the 2000 review conference which also laid thirteen practical steps to disarmament. When the Bush administration issued its Nuclear Posture Review, that claimed that the U.S had the right to use nuclear weapons against non nuclear nations and against nations using biological or chemical weapons and in response to surprising military developments, the world was shocked. Considering that America is the only superpower today a lot of responsibility rests on its shoulders.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
America’s shocking about-face and its subsequent expanding use of bombs and increasing possession of weapons has led other nations to reconsider their nuclear ambitions. Non – nuclear nations are now considering acquiring nuclear weapons for their security.
Nuclear weapons are an infringement of the moral law of every civilization. No other weapon till date has come close to it in its power to destroy hundreds of thousands of human beings in seconds. Nuclear weapons spread radioactive carcinogens that destroy the very genetic code of life and transmit the defects to the children of those who survive.
John F. Kennedy couldn’t have put it more correctly when he said, “The world was not meant to be a prison in which man awaits his execution.”
Our pleasure of life, freedom, and the pursuit of our dreams as we know them are overshadowed by the real and persistent likelihood of nuclear annihilation by terrorists, misunderstanding, false alarms and the chance of human error especially with weapons on high alert.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
A world without nuclear weapons would mean freedom and life without fear. World wide disarmament could be our legacy to our future generations. The consecration of life should be the objective of all nations of the world.
A nuke free world, as difficult as it is to imagine is really possible if all the countries of the world work towards disarmament. If disarmament is achieved then there will be no more fear of nuclear obliteration which in turn will mean that all countries could truly enjoy the fruits of freedom and prosperity.