Eliminate Nuclear Weapons

Face it. The world is not perfect. Never has been, never will be. Then there were nuclear weapons, and it just got worse. The U.S nuclear weapons policy should be to get rid of nuclear weapons entirely because they create tension between countries, they are expensive, and they are way too destructive.

For starters, having nuclear weapons causes tension between countries. In 1962 during the Cold War, President Kennedy found out that nuclear missiles had been placed in Cuba by the Soviet Union and they were pointed towards Florida. This major event is known as the Cuban Missile crisis. Taking immediate action, Kennedy sent his troops over and they surrounded Cuba with nuclear weapons ready to use against the enemy. This tension calmed down and no weapons were fired, but this could have instantly been escalated into something bigger. Also, the NPT was not signed by everyone. The NPT, better known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty, was made to keep the spread of nuclear weapons under control. Some countries that did not sign it were India, Pakistan, and North Korea. This matter scares the U.S because these rogue nations might have had something up their sleeves.

Secondly, nuclear weapons are way too expensive. The Manhattan Project was a project where hundreds of scientists gathered in New Mexico to make and test nuclear bombs. In all, the project costed about 2.7 billion dollars. This put a big chunk in the U. S's money at the time and this measure would not have been taken if they agreed not to have nuclear weapons at all. In the book, it states that the U.S has 14,900 nuclear weapons around the world. But not all are ready for action. Some in storage, some ready for use (2). Even though this is an apparent use for safety, they could have still found a less expensive way to keep the U.S safe.

Finally, nuclear weapons are way too dangerous and destructive. In the text, it says that nuclear weapons are measure in megatons, which means millions of tons, and kilotons, which means thousands of tons of TNT (2). It also says that even today, nuclear weapons are about one megaton of TNT. Facts state that the strongest bomb ever tested was a hydrogen bomb made by the soviets that was about 4,000 more times powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima (2). The Hiroshima bombing is an example of how dangerous these bombs are. In the town of Hiroshima, a bomb struck the ground with a force equivalent to that of 12,500 tons on TNT. It killed people instantaneously and severely injured 100,000 people. The town held 280,000 civilians and 43,000 soldiers (3). This means that almost half of the city was affected. If a single bomb can wipe out half a city, then it should not exist at all. Another highly lethal effect of nuclear weapons is the radiation and damage of the environment that they cause. When the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, it left people with wounds caused from the heat and gamma rays even when they were 2 miles away from the center of the drop. Another nuclear weapon was dropped in the city of Nagasaki. This bomb also had a large impact on the city, leaving the civilians with open wounds from the heat of the bomb and turning people close enough into dust immediately. Adding to that, about 46,000 of the buildings in Hiroshima were destroyed and many others were blown out of proportion. (3). This proves that these weapons are far too dangerous. It is cruel to use any weapon this powerful. It is destroying our earth and it is killing off human beings which makes it even worse. The U.S should have found a better way than to deal with the problem other than taking out half of two whole cities. Nuclear weapons must be dealt with and now.

To conclude, The U.S policy for nuclear weapons should be to eliminate nuclear weapons completely. This should be because nuclear weapons create unnecessary problems, feuds and tensions between countries, they are extremely expensive, and they are immensely dangerous.

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