Nuclear Disarmament And Racism....

By now most of you have seen the commercial (or clips of it) made by Hollywood celebrities about complete, worldwide, nuclear disarmament.  It’s packed full of big name celebrities, each saying how the world needs to destroy their nuclear weapons so we can all live in peace and harmony.  One of them, I believe it’s Robert De Niro, says that it’s obvious if we have nuclear weapons it is our intent one day to use them.  Obviously “Bob”, doesn’t quite understand the purpose of our nuclear arsenal.  It’s about deterrence.

The first two atomic bombs, the only ones ever used, helped end World War II.  The power unleashed was devastating – so much so that Japan surrendered and no other country has ever had to use another one.  In the years following WW II, there was a race between super power nations to build as many nuclear weapons as possible.  Why?  To prevent themselves from ever experiencing what happened to Japan. 

Over the years there have been tense moments concerning nuclear weapons but all nuclear nations today understand that using those weapons could and would most likely bring about the end of the world.  It’s currently a standoff.  One of the reasons we don’t want Iran to attain nuclear weapons is because their leadership cannot be trusted to not use them to be responsible with such power.

The thought of ridding the world of nuclear weapons is a nice fantasy.  In Fantasyland anything is possible.  But in reality – human nature will prevent such a fantasy from coming true.  There will always be people in positions of power throughout the world who want to control others and/or to conquer others.  Look at the Middle East.  Half the Muslim nations in the Middle East would drop a nuclear weapon on Israel today if they thought they could get away with it.  And if Iran gets a nuke, Israel is in serious danger. 

President Obama is already reducing our nuclear arsenal to the point where it is less of a deterrent to other nuclear powers.  And let’s face facts.  Russia isn’t our friend.  Neither is China.  Pakistan is somewhat pulling away because of our fight against Al Qaeda.  (They did harbor Osama Bin Laden for several years.)  Here’s the straight scoop.   If the United States destroys its nuclear arsenal the only countries who will still have nuclear weapons will be….  all the other countries who currently have them.

Nuclear disarmament won't work and the reason is the same as the reason racism will never go away.  No matter how stupid it is to hate someone (or some country) because they are different than you, there will always be those who do just that.  There will always be aggression in the world and, as I said earlier, there will always be those who want to conquer others.  Islam comes to mind.  (The fantasy of socialism won’t work either for the same reason.  The human race will never see total equality among all people – not because of skin color or ethnicity but because of greed.  There will always be those who want more than they have and those who will do whatever is necessary to make it happen.)

Nuclear weapons are here to stay.  Let’s all hope that those in possession of them remain responsible, knowing if they’re used it will most likely destroy whoever used them as much as anyone else.  Oh – and the commercial?  Like other films produced in Hollywood the commercial is a nice fantasy.  But it’s too short for popcorn.