If We Outlaw Nukes...

A few weeks back, I was watching the History Channel (I think) when I saw an episode about the US nuclear bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. The show was atypical in that, while they showed the expected declassified military footage of "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" and nuclear bomb tests complete with mushroom clouds, they were interviewing an older Japanese woman who survived the blast. In 1945, this woman was working in a military bunker and was supposed to have been relieved by a co-worker that morning. The co-worker, who had never before been late to work, had still failed to arrive 15 minutes after her shift was to start.

And then we dropped the bomb.

The woman was taking the interviewer and crew on a tour of the bunker. It turns out this woman was the first to report the blast to the Japanese military high command. Her city had been devastated, her fellow citizens evaporated or certain to die from their injuries or exposure. Her memories were recounted with a matter-of-fact tone, 50 years having doubtlessly softened the impact and seen the resurrection of her city into a large metropolitan center of southwestern Honshu with over 2,000,000 people.

We've all seen the photos and videos of the tremendous power of nuclear blasts and the devastation they cause. Many of us even remember "duck and cover" as a way of protection! We've all heard that the atomic and thermonuclear weapons of today are many times more powerful than Fat Man and Little Boy. And while nuclear bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki tragically killed over 200,000 Japanese, these bombs most likely saved hundreds of thousands more Japanese and American lives that would have been lost in a more protracted Pacific war or US invasion of Japan.

Nevertheless, there are so many reasons why the elimination of nuclear weapons is a great idea. So why I am so concerned that Pres. Obama made that very commitment in Prague this weekend, mere hours after North Korea tested a long-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to Alaska or Hawaii? There are 3 reasons that come to mind.

First, the American military force is the envy of the world in large part because of its strength, which nuclear weapons are a component of. However, it is not the weapons themselves but the threat of their use that gives us a power few nations have and of a magnitude none can match. I suspect that threat--and therefore our strength--has diminished since the end of the Cold War since none of our leaders seem to have the balls to use, or threaten to use them. I'm not suggesting that nukes should be anything be a last response when all else has failed. But even a last resort can be a powerful tool provided it is in the hands of someone who knows how to use it judicially. Pres. Obama's comments indicate to me that he is afraid of the weapons and not just because of the destruction they can cause. He's afraid of the position they'll put him in if he is faced with a dire threat for which there is no other option, because he won't be able to pull the trigger. It's not that he will use them injudiciously. It's that he won't use or threaten to use them at all. Everyone knows that, and that weakens America.

Second, I don't trust the leaders of other nations. It's great that Obama can crack Dmitri Medvedev on the back, and give him the thumbs-up at the G20 like fast friends. But do you really trust Medvedev? In one of his worst foreign policy moments, President Bush said he had looked into Vladimir Putin's soul and saw his goodness. Putin heard that and knew he was home free to do just about whatever he pleased. When the G20 champagne wears off, Medvedev, Putin's protege, will feel the same way. Sure, he'll probably agree to reduce Russian nuclear missile stockpiles...at least the ones he has control over and can account for. That's an easy concession for a leader with warheads to spare. But there are still concerns over possible missing Russian suitcase nukes.

You honestly think the Russian leadership will ever agree to complete elimination of nukes? What in that nation's tragic history suggests they will give up that power? They don't trust us, or the Chinese, or North Korea any more than we do. Do you think Chinese Premiere Hu, or Kim Jong-Il, or whoever will lead Pakistan or India will just give up this technology they spent decades trying to develop or acquire? Will Israel ever feel safe enough to give up theirs? And what about those trying to get it? I don't suspect Ahmadinejad is planning on turning off the centrifuges to help achieve Pres. Obama's goal. The nations of the world that have the technology are not as stable, or as committed to peacefully run democracy, as the US. I am not confident that will ever change.

Third, the technology is already out there for the enemies of freedom, liberty and democracy to exploit. It's not easy to get your hands on the materials...yet. But as Iran moves closer to weaponizing nuclear material, we all move closer to the likelihood that Islamic terrorists will get their hands on the material and a method to deliver it. The amount of fissile material available for nuclear weapons is curently closely monitored because the nations who possess it have agreed to disclosures and monitoring by international bodies. When a rogue nation like Iran gets the material, you think we'll have the same ability to track it? I can't think of anything more dangerous than an Islamic extremist, sworn to jihad, in possession of a deployable nuclear weapon.

It is said that if guns are outlawed, then only outlaws will have guns. If that's true, then what will happen if nukes are "outlawed"? If the sane and semi-sane nations of the world agree to dismantle their nukes and slap high-fives in the name of "peace", the insane, extreme underbelly of civilization will be salivating at their good fortune because they don't want peace unless it comes with your annihilation...or your conversion to their bastardized form of Islam.

I don't like nukes any more than the next guy, but I believe they are here to stay. You can't un-ring the bell. Man has harnessed the power of the atom. If we "eliminate" nuclear weapons, we will only drive them underground and into the hands of evil doers.

Sting sings in "Russians", his anti-nukes, Cold War anthem, "I hope the Russians love their children, too." Fortunately, the Russians did.

Unfortunately, today's Jihadists don't.