Opinion

A nuclear-free world: Nuke bombs can never fall again

J Robert Oppenheimer, the “Father of the Atomic Bomb”, claimed to have been moved by a passage in the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, after witnessing the detonation of the first nuclear device in New Mexico in July 1945.

“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

Whether he was correctly interpreting that scripture is debatable, but what isn’t is his realisation of the awesome power of the weapon.

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READ: The atomic agony of Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’

In Japan yesterday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reminded the world of the lives atomic bombs took – 145 000 at Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and 74 000 at Nagasaki three days later.

“Japan, as the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings in war, will continue efforts towards a nuclear-free world,” Kishida said in Hiroshima.

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Not long after those bombs were detonated, the nuclear arms race began as the Soviet Union acquired the technology.

Yet, it was the balance of forces – and the spectre of “Mutually Assured Destruction” – which kept the peace in the Cold War.

Kishida hit out at Russian President Vladimir Putin for his threats to use nuclear weapons if he feels threatened.

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The nuclear weapon genie has been put back in the bottle and must never be allowed back out.

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By Editorial staff
Read more on these topics: JapanNuclear powerRussiaVladimir Putin