Norman Solomon on Current Nuclear Weapons Policies: “Dizzyingly Insane and Immoral”

It’s the 78th anniversary today of the dropping of an atomic bomb by the U.S. on the Japanese city of Hiroshima (above). A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9. The two bombings, which took place in the final days of World War II, killed between 110,000 and 210,000 people, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.

In commemorating those who perished in these terrible bombings, Norman Solomon shared his thoughts today on current nuclear weapons policies of both Russia and the U.S. in an article published on the progressive media platform, Common Dreams. Following is an excerpt.

Today, in some elite circles of Russia and the United States, normalized talk of using “tactical” nuclear weapons has upped the madness ante. It can be shocking to read wildly irresponsible comments coming from top Russian officials about perhaps using nuclear weaponry in the Ukraine war. We might forget that they are giving voice to Russia’s strategic doctrine that is basically the same as ongoing U.S. strategic doctrine – avowedly retaining the option of first use of nuclear weapons if losing too much ground in a military conflict.

Daniel Ellsberg wrote near the close of his vital book The Doomsday Machine: “What is missing – what is foregone – in the typical discussion and analysis of historical or current nuclear policies is the recognition that what is being discussed is dizzyingly insane and immoral: in its almost-incalculable and inconceivable destructiveness and deliberate murderousness, its disproportionality of risked and planned destructiveness to either declared or unacknowledged objectives, the infeasibility of its secretly pursued aims (damage limitation to the United States and allies, ‘victory’ in two-sided nuclear war), its criminality (to a degree that explodes ordinary visions of law, justice, crime), its lack of wisdom or compassion, its sinfulness and evil.”

Dan dedicated the book “to those who struggle for a human future.”

A similar message came from Albert Einstein in 1947 when he wrote about “the release of atomic energy,” warning against “the outmoded concept of narrow nationalisms” and declaring: “For there is no secret and there is no defense; there is no possibility of control except through the aroused understanding and insistence of the peoples of the world.”

To read Norman Solomon’s piece, “The U.S. Government Once Called Hiroshima and Nagasaki ‘Nuclear Tests’”, in its entirety, click here.


Related Off-site Links:
Hiroshima Marks Atomic Bomb Anniversary and Calls Nuclear Deterrence “Folly” – Kiyoshi Takenaka (Reuters, August 6, 2023).
A Unique Hiroshima Art Project Centers the Victims of the First Atomic Bombing – Gregory Kulacki (Common Dreams, August 6, 2023).
Hiroshima’s Anniversary Marks an Injustice Done to Blast Survivors – Arthur Caplan (Scientific America, August 6, 2023).
78th Anniversary of U.S. Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima: In 2023, Socialism or Barbarism – David Walsh (World Socialist Web Site, August 6, 2023).
Fallout Tells the Story of the Journalist Who Exposed the “Hiroshima Cover-Up” – Dave Davies (Fresh Air, August 19, 2020).
The U.S. Should Apologize for Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Olivia Alperstein (Institute for Policy Studies, August 5, 2020).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Prayer of the Week – August 7, 2011
• Summer Round-Up – 2011
• Remembering Dorothy Day’s Response to the U.S. Bombing of Hiroshima
• Christianity and Nagasaki
• Chris Hedges: Quote of the Day – August 6, 2012
• The Challenge of Peace
• A Dangerous State of Mind

Image: In 1945, an Allied war correspondent stands in the ruins of Hiroshima, weeks after an atomic bomb leveled the Japanese city. (Photo: Associated Press)