[Blog] Never again the destruction of humanity 

Destruction through Wars, Genocides, Epidemics, Famines, Natural catastrophes, Technology, Nuclear bombs and, soon, Climate change and Global warming.

We are a small Planet out of billions of others. Our Planet supports life, especially conscious Human Life. How precious! How unique? We can only be grateful for life. All our actions and words can only respect life, protect life, and enjoy life. No place for destruction. 

Has our real concern ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING made us forget the threat of atomic war AND OTHER CAUSES OF DEATH TO HUMAN BEINGS? Having written on numerous occasions on the nuclear safety issue in the past as well as being the author of the Nuclear Rectangle theory (a major nuclear war world could modify the orbit of planet Earth around the sun), I urge readers to join the world wide campaign of the seventies to BAN THE BOMB, to fight for nuclear safety. It is more than ever necessary today in 2024.

At present NINE countries out of 193 countries on Planet Earth possess nuclear weapons (atomic or hydrogen bombs), namely:
•    Russia, 6,850 nuclear warheads
•    USA 6,550 warheads
•    France, 300 warheads 
•    China, 280 warheads
•    UK 215 warheads
•    Pakistan, 145 warheads
•    India, 135 warheads 
•    Israel, 80 warheads
•    North Korea, 15 warheads

With North Korea expanding its nuclear arsenal, other countries are trying to get the bomb (Iran for example?). 

On the positive side 4 countries including  South Africa, that formerly possessed nuclear weapons gave them up. One of the greatest fears today is that a terrorist organisation gets its hands on a nuclear device, some of which are small enough to get into a large lorry. 
Radiation is the greatest enemy of life, of all organic living things on Planet Earth. Remember the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima, where radioactive material was released and affected people, animal and plants.

In this nuclear world, what is the meaning of 'safe'?

Are we re-assured knowing who in these countries has his finger (or her finger!) on the nuclear trigger? Joe and Vladimir? Narendra and Shehbaz Sharif?  Benjamin and Kim Jong-un? Emmanuel and Rishi? Xi Jinping? Can we trust them?

ONLY ONE COUNTRY: The United States detonated two ATOMIC BOMBS, on people, in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (on 6th August) and Nagasaki (on 9th August) in 1945. How many people were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

The two bombs killed an estimated 130,000 and 225,000 people respectively, most of whom were civilians. The USA remains the ONLY country to have used nuclear weapons TO DESTROY cities and structures AND INFLICT DEATH, admittedly in an armed conflict, the Second World War. Therefore, a pertinent question for us: ARE NUCLEAR MISSILES AND BOMBS stockpiled by the USA in the CHAGOS?

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NEVER AGAIN: TO THE DEADLY DESTRUCTION OF HUMANITY, for example through WARS (e.g. during the 30 or so wars of the 20th century, 2 of them World Wars, 100 million people were killed ); GENOCIDES (that of the Nazis on Jews which eliminated 5 million people, that in Rwanda which saw 850,000 people murdered); EPIDEMICS (e.g. such as the Black Death  in the middle ages, or the Spanish flu which saw  500 million people, one-third of the world's population, infected with this virus, leading to at least 50 million deaths, the Covid19 epidemic, with 19 million infected and 2 million deaths; FAMINES such as the Irish famine of 1845-52, the blockade of Biafra by the Nigerian federal government during the  Civil War (1967–1970) resulted in a famine that  cost at least a million lives; as we write a real genocide in under way through famine and destruction,  imposed by Israel on the 2 million Palestinians of Gaza; NATURAL CATASTROPHIES such as earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, floods and fires;  TECHNOLOGY (e.g. the 1.35 million people who die each year as a result of road traffic crashes; the 250,000 gun deaths worldwide; collectively, substance abuse, namely smoking, alcohol and illicit drug use, which kills 11 million people each year.); NUCLEAR BOMBS  (e.g. the 355,000 people who died in 1945 when an atomic bomb was dropped on them).

We must pray for the world to control this madness of making and stockpiling nuclear weapons which if used can ONLY BRING death and destruction to the Living Environment, making some parts of the planet inhabitable, (like the BIKINI ATOLL in the PACIFIC on which the USA detonated its first hydrogen bomb, after its inhabitants were moved elsewhere (like the Chagossians), never to return. With the UN, all 192 countries assembled, must watch and indeed control any national leader (such as Putin, such as Netanyahu, such as Biden who if Russia uses nuclear weapons will find it necessary to retaliate, Kim out of unpredictability) who is possibly tempted to use a nuclear device on a nation perceived as an enemy.
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Dr Michael ATCHIA 
(Former United Nations Programme Director)
(For Democracy Watch Mauritius)