March 28, 2014
By Annalise Mantz
...The general (click here) also said that the complexity of his job made it especially draining. Petraeus envisioned the military working differently than previous operations. When a soldier asked him if he saw the World War II general Douglas MacArthur as a role model, Petraeus explained that his vision more closely aligned with Rudy Giuliani’s strategy as mayor of New York City....
There is that ambition to satisfy 'the President.'
Gen David Petraeus said his tenure as commanding general in Iraq and director of the CIA included countless sleepless nights, catching a stray bullet in the chest and even a mountain bike race against former President George W. Bush...
For those that see a career in the USA military and aspire to highest levels of leadership, a political component plays into the decisions made by Generals, except those that actually care about the country and it's soldiers such as the Retired Secretary Shinseki.
General Petraeus is a neocon. When the scandal resulted it was well known he was surrounded by those that saw him as President sometime in the future. If he ever made it into office in the USA, war would be a high priority. Damn the non-proliferation treaty.
Why would anyone consider nuclear war, or better yet the Cheney Limited Nuclear engagement, as a go to resolve? Because the impact doesn't effect those in power.
The best example of that extremism was when September 11th occurred. Why would a Vice President state to Senator Feinstein they would not be able to get to the CIA PDB for the next six months when in reality the PDB stated three months? Because there are always nukes to settle an argument.
If there was any exchange of nuclear weapons anywhere in the world the last people effected is the military and political leadership. The people within a country would be left to their own means. There would be complete chaos and anarchy. A nuclear war would bring survival to the forefront of any people of any country.
Those that survive the attack would still have to deal with the radiation and global wind patterns. It would be catastrophic with a warming planet that already has winds dominated by Coriolis. The contamination would rain down for an extended period of time and cause a great deal of damage even when the fires ended. The air would be very acrid. The only deterioration people could hope for is the half life of the radiation which is more than generations of time.
So, let's just stop and realize why the non-proliferation treaty is paramount to the quality of life of people in any country. People like Petraeus are really unwelcome leadership.
...Between the two bombings, (click here) it is estimated that 210,000 people were killed within the months immediately following the bombings (This number is variable based on the source. It is unknown exactly how many people perished in the bombings). [1]
Additionally, numerous other Japanese citizens were exposed to radiation from the bombs but did not die from the acute effects of the exposure. Many of these people went on to have children afterwards. In some cases, the mothers were already pregnant and both they and the fetuses were exposed to the radiation in-utero. In other cases, however, the parents were exposed and years later had children. It is an area of ongoing research to determine what the possible effects were on the children that experiences either of these types of exposure. The bulk of the research concerning these children was conducted in the 40 years immediately after the bombing events (1945 onwards). The main risks that were evaluated in these children were (1) cancer risk, (2) risk of mental retardation, and (3) risk of congenital birth defects....
The attacks on Japan really were not imaginable to any world power other than the USA. There is still today no accurate understanding of what happened in those days of radiation release to defeat the Japanese. I imagine they had no clue to the events until the USA claimed surrender. I can't imagine waking to a world completely foreign without attributing it to some god from some millennia.
But, it stopped the war and to that end the USA stands today. We can't afford a nuclear war anymore. It was an incredibly horrible act of war and countries need to resolve to strengthen and move forward with the Non-Proliferation Treaty. There probably should be an updated conference for the world we live in today. There are stealth bombers that can deliver these heinous weapons within a far shorter period of time than ever before. Then there is Star Wars, the nightmare provided to the USA by Reagan.
The USA has to dedicate itself to end such threats to the world. Anything short of eliminating this nightmare to our children's future is evil.
Just an amendment and not a return to ratification.
August 8, 2015
By William J. Broad
Twenty-nine of the nation’s top scientists (click here) — including Nobel laureates, veteran makers of nuclear arms and former White House science advisers — wrote to President Obama on Saturday to praise the Iran deal, calling it innovative and stringent.
The letter, from some of the world’s most knowledgeable experts in the fields of nuclear weapons and arms control, arrives as Mr. Obama is lobbying Congress, the American public and the nation’s allies to support the agreement.
The two-page letter may give the White House arguments a boost after the blow Mr. Obama suffered on Thursday when Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, a Democrat and among the most influential Jewish voices in Congress, announced he would oppose the deal, which calls for Iran to curb its nuclear program and allow inspections in return for an end to international oil and financial sanctions.
The first signature on the letter is from Richard L. Garwin, a physicist who helped design the world’s first hydrogen bomb and has long advised Washington on nuclear weapons and arms control. He is among the last living physicists who helped usher in the nuclear age....
Why waste the focus the world has right now? Update the NPT. All countries should have the security the NPT actually is needed to achieve a lasting peace without nuclear weapons. The NPT should have it's own world vision.
