Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site SCIRTP.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!harvard!talcott!panda!genrad!decvax!mcnc!rti-sel!SCIRTP!todd 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 References: <438@kontron.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: SCI Systems, Research Triangle Park, NC Lines: 32 > 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