Nuclear weapons
(Syed Hassam Ahmed, Karachi)
With intervention in
Afghanistan and Iraq the United States of America has been able to create a
serious threat of instability in the Middle East and Southeast Asia region with
chaotic conditions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. To some extent, the Afghan
intervention is understandable but the seizure of Iraq defies all logical
interpretations. It is almost unpardonable that a power like the USA with
extremely sophisticated electronic spying devices and superbly trained manpower
for espionage and counter espionage activities would commit the mistake of
wrongly assessing the military capability of Baghdad as gravely as it did. But,
might is right, who would question the mightiest on the earth?
If restraint does not come with might it is devastating , therefore uninhibited
demonstration of power may bring the downfall of the mighty as it did
innumerable times in history. The Romans fell, the Muslims at the height of
their might were destroyed by half civilized barbarians, recently the British
Empire disintegrated.
Nuclear states are a threat to civilization. Has the USA used nuclear weapon
judiciously when it unleashed that immense diabolic power on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki or will the atomic states be able to use that power without causing
unforeseen devastation?
It is argued that that power is more a deterrent than an offensive weapon. If
that is such a powerful deterrent as to be able to stop wars then every state
has a right to possess that power.
Since, possession of nuclear power by all the states is a sure passage to
destruction of the humankind, it is an absurd proposition and therefore, the
alternative is to disarm those that possess that power.
The irony is that the United States is not suffering the direct consequences of
its mistakes.