"Never Again..."

Tomorrow (August 5) I’ll go to downtown Portland to witness, if not participate in, an undertaking called "The Shadow Project." This is a yearly memorial of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that, for all intents and purposes, ended World War II. And destroyed, at the same time, the last vestiges of mankind’s innocence. Go here to listen to an excellent Oregon Public Radio piece on Portland’s participation in the Project.
The words "Never Again" have become the all-encompassing post-script to World War II. These days, we use them as an excuse to inflict more war and violence on the planet, under the pretense of keeping the world from spawning "another Hitler"—in Yugoslavia (Slobodan Milosevic), in Panama (Manuel Noriega) in Iraq (Sadaam Hussein) and on and on ad infinitum. It matters little that these smaller, weaker versions of evil incarnate bear little true resemblance to the huge malignancy that was Adolph Hitler. It suits us at given times to paint them with the same brush.
Have we ever applied those words "Never Again," to the World War II phenomenon to which they SHOULD most apply? To the use of mankind’s most heinous weapons? We don’t, as a nation, talk about that too much. When it comes to discussion of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we put on solemn faces and declare that it was a terrible thing to have to do, but it was the only way to end the war. And that Japan or Germany would have had no qualms about dropping The Bomb on us if they had developed it first. I don’t propose to dispute the veracity of those statements. The arguments have all been made, and will probably be debated until the end of time. What bothers me is the belief that, since it was the United States of America that first used the ultimate WMD, it is somehow okay. That we were then, have always been, and always will be, the guys in the white hats. I would argue that the mere possession of that kind of power changes the color of your hat, over time…
It’s been sixty years since the U.S. perpetrated that hideous carnage upon two cities in Japan. Sixty years during which wehave, inexplicably, managed to keep from using similar weapons again. (This may the only concrete proof of the existence of a Supreme Being…) But, unfortunately, we did not stop perfecting, refining, and enlarging the weapons of ultimate death that we have.
Doesn’t it frighten anybody anymore, that in the bowels of our country, we hold the capability to destroy this planet many times over? Is it that all of us baby boomers grew up with that dark cloud over our heads, and we’ve just become desensitized to it? Is it that, since the demise of the Soviet Union, we think we can rest easy because the capacity for ultimate destruction is "in the right hands?" Is it that we think we don’t have to worry about it right now, since our current enemy doesn’t possess nuclear weapons? And how long can we hope that will be the case? Imagine a nuclear bomb in the hands of terrorists who have no respect for human life, not even their own. It’s certainly only a matter of time.
For all of the war-hawks out there who believe that we need to run all over the globe inflicting our values and way of life on the rest of mankind… For anyone who believes mankind could wage a "limited" nuclear war, and that would somehow be okay, as long as we don’t totally destroy the planet… For anyone who believes that we are going to root out and kill all of the terrorists before they get their hands on the technology with which we believe WE control the world… Think about what it will be like to be vaporized in your own home. To be reduced to a "shadow" on a wall or a floor. Or, worse, to become one of the living dead, wandering through hell with your clothes in shreds, your hair on fire, and your flesh falling in chunks from your bones. If you think you are safe, if you think only folks in desert lands halfway across the world should be sweating that fate, go to "Ground Zero." Reflect upon the place where two tall buildings once rose above the New York skyline. Do the words, "Never Again" hold a little more meaning for you now?