Weapons of Mass Destruction

Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Shane Mullin

The Inner Workings of A Classic Nuclear Bomb

     Throughout history, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) have been a rather heavy and lingering topic.  This being said, WMDs also bring a sense of fear to the table.

     To begin, WMDs, nuclear weapons in particular, were first being developed in the 1930s by the United States, who were collaborating with the United Kingdom and Canada in what was called 'The Manhattan Project'.  This was the allied forces counter to the Nazi Germany Atomic Bomb Project who were rumoured to have begun developing these weapons to.  The States knew that if the Germans were successful in creating the first atomic bomb then they would be able to end WWII.

Trinity Test

     On July 16, 1945 the first nuclear bomb was tested in the desert north of Alamogordo, New Mexico.  The Test was code named Trinity and was a huge success.  The Gadget was dropped and when it exploded,it generated an explosion equivalent to 19 kilotons of TNT.  This was the biggest explosion anybody had ever seen or heard of. At this time, The USA knew they had a way of ending this long war.

     On July 26, 1945 Japan was giving the ultimatum of surrendering or facing utter and absolute destruction.  Japan did not surrender, and finally on August 6, 1945 the first bomb, named 'Little Boy' was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.  Another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later named 'Fat Man'.  This bomb killed roughly one hundred thousand people and wounded tens of thousands more who would later die of the radiation. United States President Truman told Japan if they did not surrender now more would come and their military would be entirely crippled, and on August 15, 1945 Japan finally surrendered.

World War II Ending After Nukes Dropped On Hiroshima and Nagasaki

     During the beginning of the creation of this incredibly deadly gadget, Soviet Russia overheard rumours of the USA's advancement in weaponry.  They wanted to get in on it but the US denied them this.  The Soviets began placing spies in the USA to gain information on this project.  They received detailed information from workers in the Los Alamos development facility for the Manhattan Project.  At this point in the war, the Soviets were to busy to devote resources to something of this amplitude, so they had not begun developing nuclear weapons as well at this time.  This all changed, of course after the Soviets stopped fighting, and the war was over.  The Soviets, then devoted all of their resources and manpower into the development of their own nuclear weapons.  They understood that whoever controlled these weapons, could control the outcome of an entire war.  Finally, on August 19, 1949 all the Soviet's hard work payed off and the detonated their first atomic bomb.  This bomb was designed identical to the American's Fat Man.

     The Americans heard of this occurrence, and the reaction was that of fear and confusion.  How did the Soviets get the knowledge and means to develop such weapons?  This caused the most technologically advanced country in terms of weaponry at the time to be afraid of something.

Headlines in an American Newspaper in Regards to This Threat

     Nuclear weapons were continuously developed and can now be launched from a range away.  They can be dropped out of a plane.  They can be shot from inside a submarine.  And with the increase in knowledge of these weapons, more Countries began developing them.  Currently, the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, and Iran all have or have access to nuclear weapons.

COUNTRY	FIRST TEST	MOST RECENT TEST	TOTAL TESTS	ESTIMATED WARHEADS
United States	1945	1992	1,054	7,650
Russia	1949	1990	715	8,420
United Kingdom	1952	1991	45	225
France	1960	1996	210	300
China	1964	1996	45	240
India	1974	1998	6	80-100
Pakistan	1998	1998	6	90-110
North Korea	2006	2013	3	Fewer than 10
Israel	No confirmed test	No confirmed test	No confirmed test	80
Iran	No confirmed test	No confirmed test	No confirmed test	0

Chart of Current Nuclear Threats (CNN)

     So, now we have covered what has happened in the past with these devastating weapons, and what is currently occurring also.  It is now time to look into the future to consider what could happen with these.  Personally, I theorize that more, and more countries will gain access to these weapons.  These weapons will become something of a normality.  There is no secrecy to these weapons, and there will be even less in the future.

What The World Would Look Like Post Atomic War

     To proceed further into my theory, I must explain a hypothetical example.  To begin, let imagine all Countries have access to nukes.  Now, say that North Korea get together with China.  They begin a Communist plot to take over Russia to increase the Communist power and eventually take over the world.  Russia is a very defensive country, meaning it will not strike first but it will destroy a Country if it attacks them.  China and Korea decide to come in all guns blazing.  Russia comes to the conclusion that it's best option is to drop a nuke on both Korea and in a strategic area of China.  China retaliates by dropping nukes on Russia.  This 'red scare' occurring in the eastern part of the world makes the USA fear the worst is coming.  They begin aiding the Russians, and nuke the Chinese also.  Now that the US is involved, they are free game to have nukes dropped on them also.  Now lets just recall for a second that in WWII the first nukes dropped killed a few hundred thousand people, and also remember the damage caused by these weapons.  So, lets assume that these nukes are bigger and badder than the first primitive nukes.  People will be dyeing all over the place.  There would be radiation in the air at all times, which people would die from in addition.  Eventually, the earth is going to turn into a crippled war zone, much like you see in a movie.  It will be mostly barren land and the vast majority of the human species will be extinct.  This is the end of the world as it has been envisioned in the past, and it is all due to the advancement of Nuclear Weaponry.

    So, back to my hypothesis.  More and more countries will have these weapons, and ultimately, it will be these weapons that could end all of humanity.  It is these weapons, that struck fear into the hearts of the USA when the Soviets first develop their primitive nukes.  These weapons are nothing but trouble, and personally I see them causing more issues than anything else in the world.

     Albert Einstein said, "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."  This quote, from arguably one of the world's smartest men is stating, that once World War III occurs, there will be no resources left to build anything.  It will be back to the beginning of time, with few humans, no technology, and only sticks and stones to fight.

     In summation, as technology progresses into the future as it always has, and always will do, the threat of a nuclear war will become more and more imminent.  With this in mind, all it could take is one malfunctioning computer, that believes there is a missile in the air to spark a third world war.  This would be the war to end all wars.  The use of nuclear weapons would end the world as we all know it.  It would flatten buildings, kill millions, and cause the sun to go into an ice age of sorts from the cloud of dust, debris, and smoke blocking out the sun.  Nuclear weapons do our world no good.  They are very much so an offensive weapon, and when a majority of the countries in the world has access to them, there is likely to be problems associated with this.  These missiles will end up causing a catastrophic event, that could have been preventable, if other weapons were used, and this will be tragic.

Works Cited

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