A conclusive analysis of the evolution of perceived U.s. nuclear rights
timeline
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Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard working on their letter to President Roosevelt, left to right.
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“Einstein letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt" not only suggested development of a U.S. nuclear weapon, but provided precedence: the
German nuclear program. “In the course of the last four months it has been made probable -- through the work of Joliot in France as well as Fermi and Szilard in America -- that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium... In view of this situation you may think it desirable to have some permanent contact maintained between the Administration and the group of physicists working on chain reactions in America. One possible way of achieving this might be for you to entrust with this task a person who has your confidence and who could perhaps serve in an unofficial capacity."
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The thirteenth clause of “The Potsdam Declaration" made it clear that the right to “prompt and utter destruction" was justified if Japan did not surrender. Atomic use was just another war strategy for the U.S. “We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction."
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The mushroom cloud from Nagasaki.
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Operation Castle Romeo, a hydrogen thermonuclear weaponry test, March 1, 1954
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The U.S. had to be “able to defend itself against any possible aggressor," through every means possible, thus justifying the arms race. Development of nuclear weaponry was another defense mechanism, and was perceived to be a given right. “It is part of my responsibility as Commander in Chief of the Armed forces to see to it that our country is able to defend itself against any possible aggressor." -President Harry Truman on the H-Bomb. |
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Eisenhower's “Atoms for Peace Speech" marked a paradigmatic shift regarding the use of nuclear weaponry. It was the first time the right to militaristic atomic use was seriously condemned.
“We shall carry into these private or diplomatic talks a new conception. The United States would seek more than the mere reduction or elimination of atomic materials for military purposes. It is not enough to take this weapon out of the hands of the soldiers. It must be put into the hands of those who will know how to strip its military casing and adapt it to the arts of peace." -President Dwight Eisenhower |
The Atoms for Peace symbol mounted during the 1955 International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, often called the Atoms for Peace conference.
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A Soviet nuclear R-12 missile in Moscow during the Crisis.
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Although the I.A.E.A. was proposed, the use of nuclear weapons seemed the only option during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The U.S. justified the right to this event by fear of loss against the Soviets.
“The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art.... If you try to run away from it, if you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost.... We walked to the brink and we looked it in the face." -John Foster Dulles, U.S. Secretary of State |
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Acting hypocritically to its stated policies, the U.S. continued not only to utilize nuclear weaponry against the Soviets, but also proliferated to its western allies, France and Britain. The right to this was given because:
“If we join forces, the raging bull that is the USSR has a chance to be defeated. Sir, the only way the Soviets are to be mitigated is if we take at this together - we can end this ridiculous competition." -John F. Kennedy, declassified meeting with Prime Minister Harold Macmillian during the Nassau Agreement |
President John F. Kennedy and Prime Minister Harold Macmillian at Nassau Point, December 19, 1962
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Although the arms race was not over, The Limited Test Ban Treaty limited the right to nuclear testing and initiated a movement to limit atomic military use. Both superpowers realized the militaristic use of their nuclear arsenals was not a right.
President John Kennedy signing the Limited Test Ban treaty on October 7, 1963.
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“The Governments of the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, hereinafter referred to as the “Original Parties,"
Proclaiming as their principal aim the speediest possible achievement of an agreement on general and complete disarmament under strict international control in accordance with the objectives of the United Nations which would put an end to the armaments race and eliminate the incentive to the production and testing of all kinds of weapons, including nuclear weapons, Seeking to achieve the discontinuance of all test explosions of nuclear weapons for all time, determined to continue negotiations to this end, and desiring to put an end to the contamination of mans environment by radioactive substances..." -Preamble |