By: Lee Eisler
If the wrong people get their hands on a nuclear bomb the results can be horrible with tons of deaths. Nuclear proliferation is a BIG problem that is ignores by many people. People sell these bombs, capabilities or parts. This is known as Nuclear Proliferation. If someone sells on of these bombs to a country without nuclear capabilities, it now becomes a nuclear terror. They now have the power to start nuclear war. What do you think would happen if terrorists got their hands on a nuclear weapon? What would happen if they decided to bomb us? How would we get them back? We can�t just go and bomb the whole country. What happened on 9/11 will be a tiny scratch in the past.
Nuclear Proliferation is not something to be ignored. It is and will continue happening unless something drastic is done to stop it. The president that was most concerned with this issue was John F Kennedy.
The nuclear bomb is probably the most devastating weapon in any countries arsenal. The nuclear bomb is one of the most destructive weapons ever created. The Nuclear bomb is the most destructive weapon with no boundaries, but is limited by its controller. Through the past and the future we shall see the abilities of this great weapon.
On August 29 1949 the first nuclear bomb explosion was revealed in the former USSR. Despite the first nuclear explosion taking place in the former USSR the U.S. was actually the first country to harness this tremendous power. The creation of the nuclear bomb was around the begging of the Cold War. The U.S. along with Britain were determined to launch these newly created weapons at 200 Soviet cities that they believed were a threat. To help better their chances the Soviet Union also created these nuclear weapons, thus starting the Cold war. Beyond the cold war nuclear weapons have been the ultimate weapon and have allowed many countries to threaten smaller countries and take them over. The threat from nuclear weapons have prevented wars and even started some. But for as long as nuclear weapons have been in use there has been no actual use of these weapons on the field of battle.
Among the countries that possess nuclear weapons is Pakistan. Until May 1998 Pakistan never admitted to having nuclear weapons, but most experts believed that Pakistan had the ability to create nuclear missiles on short notice. On May 28, 1998 in response to one of India�s nuclear tests, Pakistan tested 5 of its own nuclear devices. Two day�s later there was a sixth testing. This test evened out the number with India. Both India and Pakistan have refused to sign treaties. India was also able to produce nuclear weapons fairly quickly.
Also among the countries is Iran. Iran is not yet a nuclear country but experts predict them to have nuclear capabilities by year 2005 although some say it will take at least another decade. Iran began their nuclear program in 1974. Since then it has been interrupted several times.
Among people concerned with nuclear proliferation President John F. Kennedy was the most concerned president considering this topic. He said that the spreading of nuclear weapons would make the world more dangerous and undermine U.S interests giving us less power. He believed that it was his role to control non proliferation.
Today there are seven countries that are acknowledged by the U.N to have nuclear
Weapons. These seven countries are recognized by the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The countries are the U.S, Britain, India, France, Pakistan, Russia and China. Israel is the only unacknowledged country to have nuclear weapons.
Iraq, Iran, and North Korea are seeking the ability to produce and use nuclear weapons. South Africa abandoned their nuclear program, and Belarus, Kazakhstan, and the Ukraine of the former Soviet Union all gave up their nuclear weapons program after the break up of the Soviet Union. There are about 15, 528 acknowledged nuclear missiles. The U.S has the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons with about 7,000. There are about twenty different nuclear silos stretching from the East to the West coast.
In 2003 North Korea entered the chase for a nuclear arsenal. Despite demands by the U.S and U.N North Korea has not abandoned their conquest to be a part of the world�s nuclear supremacy.
Nuclear proliferation is merely a symptom where the real issue is nuclear weapons themselves. The international Atomic Energy Agency has been shouldered aside by the Bush administration. Saddam never actually had an active nuclear program.
Nuclear technology is flying around the black market. The black market is the main source for nuclear weapons. President Bush�s Proliferation Security Initiative provides the right solution, but for the wrong problem. This week on television a scientist confessed to his nuclear weapons deals during the 1990�s. Who will end up giving terrorists a nuclear bomb to explode on the U.S?
Ever since the beginning of time there has been a constant struggle for power. The introduction of nuclear weapons brought even more turmoil to the world. There is now a constant danger and fear of being attacked by nuclear weapons. It causes great devastation when used. They haven�t been used much, but people are threatening to do so. It is not a very pleasing subject matter and many people have different views on it. But when it comes down to it and the day and age we are living in it is necessary that we to have nuclear weapons.
On July 16, 1945, the biggest scientific experiment of the twentieth century occurred. It was the test blast of the atomic bomb. At 5:29 a.m. a brilliant flash of white light spread silently across the desert horizon and a mushroom shaped cloud reached eight miles off the ground. The Nuclear Era essentially began on August 6, 1945, the day that ended World War I, but was actually twenty-five centuries in the making. On that date the United States, with the agreement of its two major allies, Russia and England, dropped the atomic bomb, with a force of fifteen thousand tons of TNT, over Hiroshima, Japan. Then 3 days later we dropped another bomb, with twenty-one thousand tons of TNT, on Nagasaki, Japan. �Ever since the end of the Second World War brought us not the peace we sought so earnestly but an uneasy armistice�� (Kissinger, 1). After a nuclear attack the region becomes inhabitable due to radiation, it can cause cancer and other radiation sicknesses. It destroys the land, animals, and people that live around there. �The devastating effect of the two bombs gave a terrifying hint of what could happen if a nuclear war broke out among nations capable of using similar bombs" (O�Neil, 13). �The bomb made the prospect of future war unendurable�(O�Neil, 13). There are two primary processes in nuclear explosions fusion and fission. Fusion bombs are more powerful then the fission bombs. The first nukes were fission bombs. Splitting atoms of radioactive, heavy metals in an uncontrolled chain reaction would release excess energy in one colossal ka-boom, one million times more powerful than TNT. �We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most were silent.� (O�Neil, 12)
Through the years there have been great minds. These great minds have help bring the creation of the devastating weapons. Albert Einstein and John Dalton were two of the great minds that helped bring about this creation. For the last 30 years, more than 100,000 nuclear weapons have been manufactured in the United States and Soviet Union. During the years there have been moments of real terror. Some incidents were the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and another is the war on Iraq, going on right now.
During this day and age nuclear weapons have been more easily accessible than before. There are more nukes in the world today than ever before and it has become a real danger. Now there is a constant fear of nuclear usage. It is understandable why there is so much fear especially when terrorist organizations are known to have nuclear capabilities and the already know knowledge of the destructive force of these weapons. Right now we are at war with Iraq. It is not the first time we have been at war with Iraq or at war in general, but there are some different reasons than before for why we have gone to war. The main reason we are at war is because Iraq violated resolution 1441 by not disarming and in fact they refused to disarm for the past 12 years, which was a requirement of the peace agreement after the Gulf War, 12 years earlier. Some of the other reasons why we are at war are because of Iraq�s unwillingness to cooperate with UN officials, terrorist ties, liberating the people of Iraq, and speculation of chemical/biological and nuclear weapons. Bush said �Iraq is using its civilians as human shields against the U.S. and are using them to hide military soldiers and weapons.� It was a struggle and a long wait to try to get support for the war, but that came to no avail. To help get support Colin Powell said, �Iraqi troops have been cleaning up buildings and leaving in army trucks minutes before inspectors arrive.� (Kiadidman, 26) He also presented satellite images and audio that further persuaded the president to go to war. There are still many that disagree with our decision to go to war. Even some Americans dislike it. We do have allies in this war, the British and Austrians.
The war began on Wednesday March 19, 2003, when we sent thousands of satellite tomahawk cruise missiles and bunker busters from destroyers, submarines, and B-52 bombers that were located in the surrounding seas and oceans, toward Baghdad. The reason we attacked so abruptly is because Bush�s advisors told him that they had important information about some of Iraq�s leaders and that they should strike right away because that would be the most opportune time. There has been constant bombing of the city of Baghdad and we have sent in the infantry and they are making their way to the city of Baghdad. They are coming in with heavy armor and artillery. We have sent in hundreds of tanks and thousands of troops. The ground forces keep getting closer and closer each day. We have already been in battles and there have been casualties of war, some of them due to friendly fire. Iraq has captured some of our soldiers and executed some too. It is a difficult time but the threat of nuclear warfare has been going on long enough.
There are many different reasons why we have gone to war. Some of the reasons why we have gone to war are because of Iraq�s unwillingness to cooperate with UN officials, terrorist ties, liberating the people of Iraq, and speculation of chemical/biological and nuclear weapons. Some other reasons are because Iraq has repeatedly tried to import sophisticated parts that could be used in a gas centrifuge to produce enriched uranium, has sought �high-specification� aluminum tubes from eleven different countries, and their refusal to disarm. Ever since the beginning of time people have wanted power and that is one of the reasons for having nuclear weapons. Some of the reasons for having nuclear weapons are because of power, pride, glory, fear, distrust, and having different views are all reasons for having nukes. Fear is an important reason why we still have this problem. Everybody knows nuclear weapons are not a good thing and some think that they should be abolished, but the reason that they are kept is because of fear. One reason Iraq will not disarm is because of fear. If they wanted to disarm they wouldn�t because they would be afraid that the other countries wouldn�t disarm. As long as everyone can make their own decisions and have their own thoughts there will always be disagreements. That is why nations have nuclear weapons, because they have disagreements with other nations, the nations that have nuclear weapons. So then they build their nukes just to even the score just in case the other nation decided to use them. But there are some pretty radical thinkers out there, like Saddam, who believe that their way of life should be the only way. They promote hatred against Americans. Nuclear weapons are not just kept for their destructive power, they are kept because they fear the other nations that have these weapons and they don�t want to feel subordinate to them. It is one thing to have nuclear weapons, but another thing when an unstable regime, like Saddam�s, has them.
There have been many attempts to abolish nuclear weapons, or at least limit them, especially this year. We have tried to disarm nations that have nuclear capability, we have used inspectors to check nations for nuclear weapons, we have put regulations and rules for the nation to follow, and we have put restrictions on the nations with nuclear capability. The restrictions restrict certain types of metals and other ingredients used to make bombs. For years the UN has sent in inspectors in Iraq to make sure they were obeying the regulations that we set for them. A couple of days before the war, Bush advised the inspectors to leave Iraq. Bush said, �The game is over,� (Kiaidman, 26) and gave Saddam an ultimatum to either disarm or be disarmed. �The thesis, nuclear war must be prevented, is not universally accepted.� (Goodwin, 6)
Many nations are now coming out and telling the world that they have nuclear capabilities. Like North Korea announced this year that they too have nuclear capabilities. We already know that many different countries have nuclear capabilities. Some of these nations are Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, India, the United States, and others. When North Korea announced they had gone nuclear we sent troops off their coast just in case something happened. In response to our actions North Korea said that if we stepped foot in their country they would fire massive amounts of nukes at us and bring about the end of the world.
This brings about a huge problem, not just for us, but for all of the nations in the world. If we have radical leaders like that who are willing to use such great power, then there is going to be problems. When we dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, we were not fully aware of the destructiveness of the weapons. In return we gave money to Japan to help out their economy. We used them because Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
I think the ultimate outcome is going to either be war and with that quite possibly the end of the world. We have used nukes in the last World War and one of the reasons we have gone to war with Iraq is to disarm them. More and more nations are becoming nuclear nations now and that is a huge threat. In the years to come there will be more wars. I don�t believe that the whole world is ever going to be passive, peaceful, and loving to one another. It is just not going to happen. In the future there is going to be even more nuclear weapons then there is now and I think that these weapons will become more powerful then they already are. By that time I think the world will be in chaos and no one will have any remorse for using nukes in war. Everybody will use them and we will have a huge nuclear war, which will bring the end of the world. �Nuclear weapons serve only one purpose, and that is to prevent any other country from using theirs against us or our friends.� (Goodwin, 6)
There has to be an end of nuclear weapons before something happens that we will regret. Someone has to come up with a solution to end this problem before the problem is taken to a whole new level. Some of the solutions that would help this problem would be to send UN inspectors to every single country or to destroy all knowledge of the atomic bomb and nukes. Another thing is we go in to every nation with nuclear capabilities who are a threat to world peace and go in with heavy artillery and force them to give up all of their nukes and destroy all of their nuclear plants. Something a little more peaceful is that the UN puts the restrictions and limits the amounts of nuclear weapons and there should be a big repercussion for breaking the limit and it has to be one that nations will be afraid of. But I don�t think any of those solutions will work because even if we try by force the country might use them and that would ruin what we are trying to do. If we destroy all of the information about it, I think there will be others that know about it or can figure it out again. Also, if we do that, it wouldn�t help us because we might be able to use that kind of technology when we run out of fossil fuels. Realistically none of this is going to happen soon. What I say is to bomb or nuke them a whole bunch and disarm them and then force them on spending their money on rebuilding their economy rather than using it to build more nukes.
Nuclear weapon is a requirement for living in this day and age. If we don�t we will be smothered and over powered by the other nations. Nukes are not good, but necessary. �Everybody has a right to feel ambivalent about the horror hanging over our heads with nuclear weapons.� (Verrengia, 2) It will be a long time before this problem comes to an end, but lets hope that when it does, the problem doesn�t arise again and it is solved peacefully.
Works Cited
� Goodwin, Peter. Nuclear War: Facts on Survival. New York: The Rutledge Press, 1981.
� Hall, Keji. �World Reacts to U.S. Nuclear Plan Study.� Associated Press 27 February 2003, sec. I,1.
� Kiaidman, Daniel, and Richard Wolffe. �Judging the Case.� Newsweek 17 February 2003.
� Kissinger, Henry A.. Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy. New York: Norton and Company, 1969.
� Krosney, Herbert, and Steve Weissman. The Islamic Bomb. New York: Times Books, 1981.
� O�Neil, Terry. The Nuclear Age. Ed. Scott Barbour. Greenhaven Press. San Diego, California: World History by Era, 2002.
� Verrengia, Joseph B.. �The Atom: From the Theory to Awesome Reality and Explosive Questions.� Associated Press. 16 February1999, sec. � www.csf.colorado.edu/dfax/npn
� www.bullarronsci.org/research/colection/pakistan
� www.cnn.com