Post by Djevara on Aug 9, 2005 13:37:13 GMT
August 6th 2005 - 60th Anniversary of Hiroshima Nuclear Devastation
Bombing of civilians:
If done by enemies, an act of unspeakable evil and/or terrorism
if done in the name of "Western Civilisation", a legitimate 'necessary evil' of 'total war', applicable across the globe from Dresden to Hiroshima, from South America in the 80s to Iraq now.
So far only one nation, the USA, has made use of the most destructive weapon known to man. 60 years afterwards, the world is again in a terrifying phase as proliferation increases and a new arms race begins as our safety is endangered by the wrangling between hypocritical nuclear states who have no intention of honouring promises to disarm, and would-be nuclear states who realise the reality that nuclear militarism gives them status and power in the world. Be scared. Be very, very scared.
Here are some facts below, according to The Independent's special edition last week:-
- 60 years since the first use of a nuclear weapon in war. 160,000 people died when the bomb was dropped at 8.15am in Hiroshima, with another 77,062 dying later (ie practically the entire population)
- 11,000 active deliverable nuclear weapons in the world in 2005. The US has 6390, Russia 3,242 and Britain 200 (enough to obliterate the planet several times over).
- $27,000,000,000 ($27bn) is spent each year by the US alone on nuclear weapons and related programmes
- 15,654 sq miles, the total land area used by US nuclear weapons bases and facilities
-5 acknowledged nuclear states: China, France, Russia, United Kingdom , United States
-4 other states known or thought to have nuclear weapons: India, Israel, Pakistan, North Korea
- 40 states with the technical abilitiy to make nuclear weapons, including Egypt and South Korea
-1 : the number of islands vaporised by nuclear testing: Elugelab, Micronesia, 1952
-200 is the estimated number of nuclear weapons possessed by Israel
-150 is the estimated number of nuclear weapons possessed by India
-75 is the estimated number of nuclear weapons possessed by Pakistan
-0 is the estimated number of nuclear weapons possessed by all Arab states
-30,000 Kazakh conscripts served at Semipalatinsk, the Soviet test site. There were 456 tests conducted between 1945 and 1991 at the site
-100, the maximum number of those Kazakh conscripts still alive today
-100,000 people were members of the CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) in 1981
-40,000 people are currently members of CND
-900 years is the time it will take for radioactive particles in Prpyat, near Chernobyl, to decay to safe levels following the disaster of 19 years ago
Bombing of civilians:
If done by enemies, an act of unspeakable evil and/or terrorism
if done in the name of "Western Civilisation", a legitimate 'necessary evil' of 'total war', applicable across the globe from Dresden to Hiroshima, from South America in the 80s to Iraq now.
So far only one nation, the USA, has made use of the most destructive weapon known to man. 60 years afterwards, the world is again in a terrifying phase as proliferation increases and a new arms race begins as our safety is endangered by the wrangling between hypocritical nuclear states who have no intention of honouring promises to disarm, and would-be nuclear states who realise the reality that nuclear militarism gives them status and power in the world. Be scared. Be very, very scared.
Here are some facts below, according to The Independent's special edition last week:-
- 60 years since the first use of a nuclear weapon in war. 160,000 people died when the bomb was dropped at 8.15am in Hiroshima, with another 77,062 dying later (ie practically the entire population)
- 11,000 active deliverable nuclear weapons in the world in 2005. The US has 6390, Russia 3,242 and Britain 200 (enough to obliterate the planet several times over).
- $27,000,000,000 ($27bn) is spent each year by the US alone on nuclear weapons and related programmes
- 15,654 sq miles, the total land area used by US nuclear weapons bases and facilities
-5 acknowledged nuclear states: China, France, Russia, United Kingdom , United States
-4 other states known or thought to have nuclear weapons: India, Israel, Pakistan, North Korea
- 40 states with the technical abilitiy to make nuclear weapons, including Egypt and South Korea
-1 : the number of islands vaporised by nuclear testing: Elugelab, Micronesia, 1952
-200 is the estimated number of nuclear weapons possessed by Israel
-150 is the estimated number of nuclear weapons possessed by India
-75 is the estimated number of nuclear weapons possessed by Pakistan
-0 is the estimated number of nuclear weapons possessed by all Arab states
-30,000 Kazakh conscripts served at Semipalatinsk, the Soviet test site. There were 456 tests conducted between 1945 and 1991 at the site
-100, the maximum number of those Kazakh conscripts still alive today
-100,000 people were members of the CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) in 1981
-40,000 people are currently members of CND
-900 years is the time it will take for radioactive particles in Prpyat, near Chernobyl, to decay to safe levels following the disaster of 19 years ago