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!