I don't think the Nuclear Weapon is so bad, it was used to stop a war and save many lives in Japan. I think you're overdoing it actually and don't see the benefits of the good old A-bomb.

"If a nuclear winter is unthinkable etc etc" Dropping 2 bombs on Japan did not lead to Nuclear Winter.

It does not follow that the use of tactical or strategic nukes would lead to that either.

You may be exaggerating the problem, or as some see it, the solution - if the Americans were so bad, which is the undertext here, then why have they actually refrained from using nukes ever since that first time.

No one has used a nuke since WWII, where they were used to dramatic effect to stop a war where the alternative was a land invasion and the possible deaths of millions of Japanese and hundred of thousands of American troops. Thank goodness they had something so powerful it was able to convince the Japanese to surrender, and it took two bombs to do it.

For those troops and their families, it was a godsend.

"There is a very high probability etc etc." Says who? What on earth do you base that on, what is the basis of this "high probability?".

Lots of people were developing a bomb, Adolf Hitler amongst them, the Brits etc - it's not overly difficult once you know the principles.

When they developed the bomb, it was to end a war that they really didn't want to be in, like WWI they were reluctant and late to join in - it took the Pearl Harbor attack to bring them into the Pacific War.

They were/are the world champs, no doubt about it, is that a bad thing?

You clearly don't like Americans, I have met lots of them, they are good people mostly and there are some who are not so nice, just like here in Australia.

You may note the climate, so to speak, has changed now that President Obama is at the controls, the Americans are again the good guys.

Brian,

I doubt if the Menzies government's motivation for allowing atomic testing in Australia was to "share in the glory by being a test site",there is evidence that our government hoped to share in some of the UK's nuclear technology,perhaps they were promised some transfer of information by Britain. However,if this was the case,they were conned by the Poms, as usual, and officially at least, we received nothing.

I agree with 'rpg' the situation was not as clear cut as you suggest.
I'm not sure that Japan could have been starved into submission given the nature of the regime and Japanese culture at the time which rejected the concept of surrender. A blockade of the Japanese archipelago would have been extremely expensive to the war weary allies and would not have necessarily forced the Japanese to surrender. It's easy to make detached moral judgements from the grand perspective of history and the clarity of hindsight.

rpg....I think you missed a key point.
They did *not* drop the nukes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war. That was already done and dusted and only needed a blockade.
They dropped the nukes as a demonstration of power, and have been following up this "respect my authority" act for the next 40 years.
It is not often mentioned, but is clear from the records that many in the US actually had sympathies with Hitler. The US very nearly fought for the other side!
You may see it as Yank bashing, but some of us think the US propaganda machine occasionally needs a reality check. It is kind of a citizens duty to second guess military and political propaganda. Too many of us acting like cattle just encourages the Lord mentality in the powerful.
Just like Iraq was invaded for "WMDs" in the media yet the officials have all but acknowledged that it was about oil after all, WWII has its own share of proaganda. It is not cynical or the desire to bash, it is just a desire not to be a sycophantic sucker.
Those who fail to learn from history...
It was probably inevitable that *someone* would invent nukes and whether the USA has handled it better or worse is really moot at this point. One clear thing is the national arrogance it has given the US is not in it's long term political or economic interests. The sheer chutzpah demonstrated in the last decade in relation to unlimited debt, outsourcing, and wars without end was bound to end badly.

The Wright brothers from the USA were the first to build and fly an aeroplane. If those evil Americans had not done so we would not have had the twin towers knocked down by the Muslims (sorry CIA) for the conspiracy theorist. The USA in some peoples eyes are the cause of every evil on the planet. I would suggest that the benign gutless UN who insist on allowing rogues such as Iran and North Korea nuclear weapons will be far more responsible than Mr Holden and his like blaming their whipping boy for every evil on the planet.

Ozandy, please check your facts. Your rant is as farcical as the original article.

as this is the most recent[still open posted topic]
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/search.asp?cx=partner-pub-0168091956504304%3Ayb7rk7-ta83&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=windows-1252&q=israel&sa=Search#1325
..that mentions israel[usa greatest deadly sin..seeing as how[they gave 400 nukes to israel,and over 1,3 trillion[over 60 percent of usa aid][and in the real reality that israel[or usa]..will attack iran over the self same nuke issue,i submit some background is in order
from
http://republicbroadcasting.org/?p=1833
that has many other links

Secret Israeli database shows full extent of illegal settlements
http://file.sunshinepress.org:54445/israel-settlements-all-en-2009.pdf
May 1, 2009
Summary

In late January,..WikiLeaks released a 186 page secret Israeli Ministry of Defense database,which showed the full extent of illegal Israeli settlements in Gaza and the West Bank.

A version of the document had first been obtained by the well regarded Israeli newspaper Haaretz.The leak made headlines,but its global political impact was limited by its presentation in Hebrew.
http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Secret_Israeli_defense_database_shows_full_extent_of_illegal_settlements%2C_2009

Subsequently the United States commissioned the Central Intelligence Agency’s Open Source Center to translate the leak to English.

The translation was not released by the CIA,but a copy was obtained by Stephen Aftergood,editor of the US based Federation of American Scientist’s Secrecy News and is presented here.

According to Haaretz,“An analysis of the data reveals that,in the vast majority of the settlements-about 75 percent-construction, sometimes on a large scale,has been carried out without the appropriate permits or contrary to the permits that were issued,”,

and “The database also shows that,in more than 30 settlements, extensive construction of buildings and infrastructure(roads, schools, synagogues, yeshivas and even police stations)has been carried out on private lands belonging to Palestinian West Bank residents.”

DOWNLOAD/VIEW FULL FILE FROM
fast site,
http://file.sunshinepress.org:54445/israel-settlements-all-en-2009.pdf
current site,
http://www.wikileaks.org/leak/israel-settlements-all-en-2009.pdf

Context
Israel
http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Category:Israel
Military or intelligence (ruling)
http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Category:Military_or_intelligence_%28ruling%29
Central Intelligence Agency
http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Category:Central_Intelligence_Agency