I almost spilled my morning coffee reading Steve Chapman’s recent column “The looming nuclear danger,” in which he urges the “annihilation” of Iran and Iraq “should” a nuclear attack take place traceable to them. Instead of hypotheticals and trash talk that only fuel a new nuclear arms race, shouldn’t we think about steps toward global elimination of nuclear weapons, including our own?
We have the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, enough to blow the world up several times over.
The Bush administration advocates nuclear first strike and the development of tactical nuclear weapons to be used in conventional warfare. It has refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
With the invasion and occupation of Iraq and the constant bullying of other countries, it’s no wonder that some feel compelled to develop nuclear weapons.
Didn’t Chapman learn anything from the colossal mistake in Iraq? Does he remember the fear the world lived through during the Cold War arms race? Is he aware of the horror of the “annihilation” of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
A better choice would be a global movement to abolish all weapons of mass destruction, including our own, a pledge for no first use and a moratorium on all testing.
Military might and saber-rattling are getting us nowhere.
