Former UN weapons inspector and forceful antiwar activist Scott Ritter wrote an article for the Aug. 6 Consortium News on the significance of the 81st anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Ritter began:
“By allowing the U.S. nuclear posture to shift away from deterrence toward warfighting, all we guarantee is that eventually there will be a warfighting scenario that uses nuclear weapons. And then we all die… The United States is currently in the process of redesigning its nuclear posture to make the employment of tactical nuclear weapons during the early stages of conflict official doctrine. This is a bad idea. Today is the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic attack on Hiroshima. Let Hiroshima be the reminder of just how bad of an idea this is.”
He reminds readers that, two years ago, he had written: “By allowing the U.S. nuclear posture to shift away from deterrence toward warfighting, all we guarantee is that eventually there will be a warfighting scenario where the U.S. will end up using nuclear weapons. And then we all die. We are, literally, on a ‘Highway to Hell.’”
He then adds: “We have seemed to embrace the utility of nuclear war, without honestly acknowledging the consequences of such. Let Hiroshima be the reminder…
“The era of American conventional military dominance is over. The failed war with Iran has driven this point home… Faced with the inevitability of conventional military defeat in either of these scenarios, the administration of President Donald Trump has undertaken a review of U.S. nuclear posture with an eye toward making it easier for the United States to employ tactical nuclear weapons in the early phases of any future war with either Russia or China. This is, of course, the exact opposite direction one should be taking under the current conditions. Let Hiroshima be the reminder…
“Because there will be no victors in a nuclear war. The destination that the Highway to Hell arrives at will result in global catastrophe. Let Hiroshima remind us.”
