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From: todd@SCIRTP.UUCP (Todd Jones)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Commemorating Hiroshima
Message-ID: <300@SCIRTP.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 12-Aug-85 14:32:41 EDT
Article-I.D.: SCIRTP.300
Posted: Mon Aug 12 14:32:41 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 18-Aug-85 20:43:36 EDT
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> When will I take the various disarmament and anti-nuclear groups seriously?
> When they demonstrate a concern for all atrocities, not just those of the
> United States.

You're missing the point entirely. None of the anti-nuclear groups
I am familiar with think conventional bombing is somehow more
defensible. The point I think needs to be made is that the destructive
power of nuclear weaponry is being grossly underestimated by your
average American. Many Americans seem to think of nuclear war in
the same light as conventional war. As bad as conventional war is,
nuclear war is the only form (to date) capable of causing the mass
extinction of vast numbers of species, including homo sapiens.

Since no living American has experienced an invasion of America,
we cannot expect them to fully comprehend the repercussions of
war in Main Street, USA. While I don't claim to know the extent
of those repercussions, I am sure any attack on America (which
if non-nuclear at first, would quickly turn nuclear) would
destroy the lives of millions.

I don't single America out as an evil world power. I think
the frightening spectre of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings
should serve as miniature-scale reminders of what is possible.
I personally believe that the U.S. could have achieved the
same political end by having a "fireworks display" of a nuke or
two offshore, but I realize that under the circumstances, options
were cloudy at best.

Let's remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It may be the only
hope for avoiding the big-time boom-boom.

-todd jones