The Nuclear Club

Of late much has been in the news about the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran. Even Egypt and Jordan seem to be developing an appetite for a nuclear capability ( for peaceful purposes of course). All seek entry into The Nuclear Club which was founded by the United States on August 6 and 9, 1945 when the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by the ultimate weapon - the atomic bomb! (Justification for the use of the atomic bomb was based on the thousands of American lives it would save by negating an invasion of the Japanese mainland. Thousands of American lives were saved, but the specter of thousands of Japanese civilian lives lost will live on.) Nuclear weapons were touted as a deterrent to future wars and nuclear energy was touted as the solution to dependence on fossil fuels. To date neither of these lofty predictions have come to pass.

But what of The Nuclear Club? The Nuclear Club expanded to include the Soviet Union. The price of admission ? A free pass due to a lapse in security in the United States! The United Kingdom joined - it's entry assured by it's cooperation in the Manhattan Project. Then came France. No outcry - what are allies for? In turn China, India and Pakistan were admitted to the club. The price of admission ? A free pass again as merchants of death discovered that millions were to made by helping these countries develop a nuclear capability. And then there was Israel . Israel did not seek admission - they preferred to keep their nuclear capability secret. So now we have North Korea and Iran. Both desperately want to join the club but the club members apparently think they are unfit to hobnob with such an august group. The price of admission? Capitulation! In the end the price will be lowered under the guise of peaceful use of nuclear energy. In the end The Nuclear Club will not be such an exclusive entity. In the end greed and alliances will foster even more proliferation of nuclear power. Let us pray that it will indeed not be THE END!