Nuclear Independence Day Essay, Research Paper
July 16th, 1945 the first A-bomb was discover until today, unclear weapon are
playing a major part of the 20th century?s most reliable military defense
system. Throughout the past five decades or so, many strong military nations
like United State, Soviet Union (USSR), China, France, England . . . seems very
interesting to invest nuclear weapon than any other military weapon. It seems
like a country without nuclear weapon wills no longer deserves the title of
Great Power! A country is defenseless without nuclear protection. Over the last
50 years, nuclear weapons were developed that dwarfed the 1945 bombs in
destructiveness, and major military powers stocked their arsenals with these
arms. Every year the world spends 3,500 trillion dollars to restock their
nuclear weapon power. Every year the world spends half trillion dollar to
protect the weapon from unnecessarily exploration and stolen . . . From
1992-1996 total of 79 nuclear emergency research was recalled to NEST (Nuclear
Emergency Search Team) for help. Term like ?Broken Arrow?, ?Red Six? and
? Landlord Access Red? are becoming the most common nuclear weapon warning
recall used in NEST and NASA . . . The explosive power of a nuclear weapon comes
from nuclear fission or nuclear fusion, or both–in the case of the HYDROGEN
BOMB. A typical small nuclear weapon has the explosive yield of tens of
thousands of tons (kilotons) of the conventional explosive TNT; a large nuclear
weapon might have the yield of a million tons (megatons) of TNT or more. A
single nuclear weapon can kill hundreds of thousands of people, and when carried
on a ballistic missile, can travel intercontinental distances in less than half
an hour. The deployment of tens of thousands of these weapons, primarily by the
United States and the Soviet Union, has threatened annihilation with little or
no warning. The devastating effects of nuclear weapons, however, may actually
have deterred their use. Strategic (long-range) nuclear weapons include
land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched
ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and the bombs and cruise missiles carried on
long-range bombers. Many strategic ballistic missiles carry multiple warheads,
called MIRVed missiles. Tactical nuclear weapons are shorter-range weapons
allocated for regional use or for use in support of battlefield operations.
France, Great Britain, and China each have small but significant nuclear
arsenals, which include both strategic and tactical nuclear weapons. Israel is
reported to have about 100 nuclear weapons. Other countries–India, South
Africa, and Pakistan– have the capability to make nuclear weapons. Iraq, Iran,
and North Korea reportedly have made efforts to develop nuclear weapons. . .
During the end of World War II, in November 1945 President Harry S. Truman
decided to allow the bombs to be dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki because, he
said, he believed they might save thousands of American lives. For maximum
psychological impact, they were used in quick succession, one over Hiroshima on
August 6, and the other over Nagasaki on August 9. These cities had not
previously been bombed, and thus the bombs’ damage could be accurately assessed.
U.S. estimates put the number killed in Hiroshima at 66,000 to 78,000 and in
Nagasaki at 49,000. Japanese estimates gave a combined total of 240,000. In 1960
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev launched plans to supply Cuba with medium- and
intermediate-range ballistic missiles that would put the eastern United States
within range of nuclear missile attack. Khrushchev mistakenly assumed that the
United States would take no action and when questioned denied that any missiles
were being supplied to Cuba. By the summer of 1962, U.S. spy planes flying over
Cuba had photographed Soviet-managed construction work and spotted the first
ballistic missile on October 14. U.S. president John F. Kennedy consulted
secretly with advisers, discussing options: invasion, air strikes, a blockade,
or diplomacy. On October 22, Kennedy announced a naval blockade to prevent the
arrival of more missiles. He demanded that the USSR dismantle and remove the
weapons and declared a quarantine zone around Cuba, within which U.S. naval
forces would intercept and inspect ships to determine whether they were carrying
weapons. The United States was supported by other members of the Organization of
American States. For several tense days Soviet vessels en route to Cuba avoided
the quarantine zone, and Khrushchev and Kennedy communicated through diplomatic
channels. Khrushchev wavered in his position, sending a message on October 26 in
which he agreed to Kennedy’s demands to remove all missiles, and then the
following day he tried to negotiate other terms. Kennedy responded to the first
communication, and on October 28, Khrushchev agreed to dismantle and remove the
weapons from Cuba and offered the United States on-site inspection in return for
a guarantee not to invade Cuba. Kennedy accepted and halted the blockade. Cuba,
angry at Soviet submission, refused to permit the promised inspection, but U.S.
aerial reconnaissance revealed that the missile bases were being disassembled.
The apparent capitulation of the USSR in the standoff was instrumental in
Khrushchev’s being deposed in 1964. In 1987 the INF (Intermediate Range Nuclear
Forces Treaty) eliminated all U.S. and Soviet land-based missiles with ranges
between 500 and 5,500 km (300 and 3,400 mi.) to prevent another Nuclear World
War. At the beginning of the 1990s the United States and the USSR had a total of
about 50,000 nuclear warheads, about half of them strategic and half-tactical.
The breakup of the Soviet Union, as well as the START (Strategic Arms Reduction
Talks) Treaty and later agreements, are expected to result in a reduction to
about 1500 strategic nuclear warheads each for the U.S. and Russia by the turn
of the century. Comparable reductions in tactical nuclear warheads are also
likely. It?s been a long time since the nuclear limitation started. Yet during
those years, nuclear weapons weren?t used against human targets under any
publications. But, how do we know if the world has learned to live in the shadow
of these powerful weapons? Never the less, our country still have 25,000 nuclear
warhead lining around the global, If the world is living in fear and hoping for
peace, where did our 3,500 trillions taxes money go? What does our military plan
to do with those nuclear weapons, Protection or Injection? What weapon did our
country used in Gulf War, in Vietnam War, or in Korea War. . .? And how do you
know, were you there or you were just listening? Even though high amount of
Nuclear weapons was reduced, our world is still in the hand of danger, by the
end of the 20th century; our global will have enough nuclear warhead to destroy
Earth 30 times. Can our country or any other countries promise worldwide peace
forever or just for now? Put yourself in the position of world leadership in
today?s world, what would you do to become a worldwide domination, use
evil-human force or evil-human weapon? All those question are unanswerable, none
can tell you the truth because none knows the truth. However, one fact still
remained the same, one fact that can no longer be forgotten, one fact that
can?t be erased; is we used nuclear weapons to save thousand of American?s
lives, but killed millions of other people?s lives. One word from the
president caused the death of thousands of indecent upcoming generation. How can
you be so sure that you will not be the next VICTIUM? Can you promise yourself
that there will be no World War III, no nuclear explosion, no nuclear leak or no
nuclear researches? If you can?t tell yourself all the answer is NO. Then you
might need to refresh your brain! What can you do if one day the president of
certain country wake up and he decided to lunch nuclear strike? Probably
nothing! By that time, you certainly will wish that you did something to prevent
this happening, but you didn?t and that might just be the penalty. In less
than another 2 years, the new millennium will come. People from the global will
join another to lunch the largest battlefield of mankind! MANKIND, That word
should have a new meaning for all of us, we can?t be consuming by our petty
litter differences anymore, and we will be united by our common interest. Maybe
its faith that today is The 4th of July and we will once again fighting for our
freedom, for our dilation. We are fighting for our rights to live, to live in
peace. Shouldn?t we win today? The 4th of July should no longer remember as an
America holiday, but it?s the day that the world declare in one voice that we
will not go to quietly into the night, we will not finish without a fight, we
going to live on, we going to survive. Today we celebrate our Independence Day,
we celebrate our freedom from nuclear distraction!