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US and Japan Seek Nuclear Reduction

Jonathan Formby — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:30:59 +0000

On Friday Obama and the Japanese Prime Minister met to discuss a plan for global denuclearization. The statement was called the US – Japan joint initiative for a nuclear free world. The first step in this plan is to take action and develop key treaties which support arms reduction. These treaties will be enacted and they will continually call for less and less nuclear weapons. However I see one major problem in this equation – what will happen when Obama is out of office. The truth is that Obama has one of the worst approval ratings of any President in the past fifty years. If things don’t change, history tells us that when the nation is dissatisfied with one President, they tend to vote for the opposing party the next year. That is why Obama won this election, because everyone was tired of Republican leadership and President Bush. In my opinion it is likely that Obama will not receive a second term. If this is the case, a Republican will probably be in office. Whatever Obama accomplishes here with nuclear reduction will likely be undone by a Republican leader who wants to stockpile weapons to ensure that we maintain powerful and the global leader. I am not even offering a commentary on this, I am just stating that I think it will play out as listed above.

I suppose every visionary was rejected and the spectacle of doubt in his or her day. Perhaps Obama sees something that I don’t see. However in my opinion the world is composed of power hungry nations that will do anything for power. Giving up the greatest weapons ever developed in pursuit of global equality does not fit in with the pattern of history.

Russia and US Nuclear Discussions

Jonathan Formby — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:28:51 +0000

The race is on to develop and sign a new nuclear treaty between Russia and the United States. The START or Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty is set to expire next month and is currently without a signed successor. The treaty was beneficial for the US and Russia as it ordained that both parties would not utilize nuclear weapons. A treaty of this accord is vital to ensure that Nuclear weapons are not utilized and more importantly that clear terms for the weapons are spelled out and adhered to. Obviously it is unlikely that either party will use a nuclear weapon. However a treaty of this accord mandates the necessary provisions for both parties.

The START treaty was originally signed in 1991 and was an important ending point for the Cold War with Russia. I think it’s safe to say that we all want to avoid anything like that again.

I am pleased to report that Russia and US relations seem to be improving based on actions taken by President Obama. I’ll shoot strait with you, I’m not an Obama fan. However I was happy to read the comments by the President of Russia which stated that he believes relations between the US and Russia are improving. Sometimes a change of scenery can be a good thing. While I don’t support everything that Obama stands for, I think he is doing a satisfactory job in dealing with Russia. His dealings with Russia are part of his overall goal for denuclearization. I for one don’t think it is possible but it is a great thought.

North Korea Runs Mouth Again

Jonathan Formby — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:43:11 +0000

North Korea stated that South Korea will be in trouble because of the naval issues that South Korea is responsible for. On Tuesday there was a naval exchange of fire between North and South Korea around the Yellow Sea border. The Yellow Sea border is a commonly disputed area where tensions run high. As usual North Korea made threatening statements about South Korea stating, “The South Korean forces will be forced to pay dearly for the grave armed provocation perpetrated by them.” Additionally, Rodong Sinmun of North Korea stated, “The artillery pieces of the KPA (Korean People’s Army), convinced of justice and afire with hatred, are now leveled at the provokers.” Rodong went on to state that this dispute between South Korea and North was purposeful and not accidental. Furthermore he stated that it was premeditated on the part of South Korea.

Conversely we look at the statements from South Korea which state that North Korea was out of line as they crossed over the border into South Korean territory and then fired on a South Korean ship.

Both North and South Korea are now demanding that the other side apologize for their actions.

It seems as though North Korea is always the subject of some sort of problem. The government and military has a way of complicating issues and creating problems instead of solving them. North Korea is notorious for being unreasonable in negations. That is why the US and North Korea are still in a stalemate over their nuclear program.

Civilian Casualties of War – Acceptable?

Jonathan Formby — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:05:23 +0000

The US prides itself on our humanitarian efforts with regard to global issues and war. However we don’t have a perfect rap sheet with civilian casualties. I think that it comes to a point where an army, air force, ect could never get much done if no civilian casualties were acceptable. Look at the current battles in the Middle East. There were several times where a group of militants and Taliban member were killed along with a few innocent bystanders. One time several months ago we bombed an area which had insurgents hiding. After the bombing we found that about 70 dangerous / nefarious individuals were killed while 2 innocent civilians died in the process. Is this acceptable? By what moral reasoning do you say yes or no?

To me it is acceptable so long as the military did not know that they were going to kill 2 people. If there was a possibility but not a knowledge that two innocents would die, I find that still acceptable. However if it was a case was that the military knew that they would kill at least a few innocents, I don’t know if I can agree that this would be acceptable. Grey areas are always difficult.

One way that people like to look at this is a life to life comparison. For example those 70 nefarious individuals who were killed likely would have taken the lives of at least 10 people before all of them died. Many of them also would have helped continue drug businesses and other horrible ventures. So the fact that they would have done so much evil and many would have died by their influence and hands, could justify the death of the two innocents during that attack. I am not sure that I subscribe to this argument but it is rather convincing. The only problem is when you start to place a value on each persons life.

Moral Dilemma – Atomic Weapons

Jonathan Formby — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:04:27 +0000

Should the United States or anyone else be trusted with nuclear weapons? Lets face it, as we look at history we can see that man is basically evil. Throughout history man has never failed to attack his neighbor in search of more power. This leads me to believe that it is a scary concept that so many countries have nuclear weapons. There is however a treaty in place between these countries which states that none of them will use the nuclear weapons. However a treaty is only good if members abide by that treaty. I am not fearful for any sane person to have nuclear weapons because a chemically and mentally sane person would never utilize a nuclear weapon because it would be suicide. The use of one modern nuclear weapon which is thousands of times more powerful than the atomic weapons used on Japan would be the end of the world as we know it. It would ignite a chain reaction of nuclear war. Therefore I am not fearful of Russia having nuclear weapons. However countries like North Korea and Iran make me fearful because they are unstable and extreme. Can anyone argue in favor of Kim Jong Ils mental sanity? I’ve never heard it done before. How does that make you feel to think about Kim Jong Il with nuclear capabilities. As I said, this would not be a problem if he was sane, but he is not. I suppose in the end the best thing to do is to trust that nuclear war will not come.

Critics of the US and Atomic Weapons

Jonathan Formby — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:03:45 +0000

So I have a question for you. Can the United States be trusted with atomic weapons? I have heard this argument before many times, even on this blog I have received posts stating that the US can’t be trusted with atomic weapons. Basically the argument is that the US spends so much time patrolling the weapons development of the world when we are the only ones that have utilized atomic weapons to attack our enemies. Is there really any defense against these accusations? I have heard before that WWII may not have ended had the US not utilized the atomic bomb to attack Japan. Do you believe that commentary to be true? I know that the war would have ended in some way or another but what I don’t know is if the US still would have suppressed the Japanese had we not utilized the atomic bomb. I find that this is one of the most difficult moral dilemmas for people of all walks of life. Should we have used the atomic bomb? Thousands of innocents were killed. These were people who had no influence on their government or the actions taken by Japan against the US. Basically they were innocent by standards. However the argument also goes that US citizens would have likely suffered both economically and many more would have been killed had the war gone on. I don’t know if anyone can say conclusively. My only hope is that we will not use an atomic bomb again in the future. Hopefully we will be able to find a better way. Who knows.

Russia and US Nuke Treaty

Jonathan Formby — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:35:27 +0000

On Thursday Russia stated that they would like to discuss a nuclear disarmament treaty with the United States, something that Obama has been trying to accomplish since his term began. The new treaty would be aimed at replacing or extending the current treaty between the US and Russia which is set to expire within the next month. The treaty that is set to expire is the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or START. Russia stated, “we hope the constructive proposal that US National Security Adviser James Jones made in Moscow last week will let us bring our positions together and arrive at a balanced document.” From these comments we can gather that Russia is optimistically seeking to renew the treaty with new clauses and purposes.

The benefits of such a treaty with Russia are too many to count. Chief among these benefits is an agreement which will help to discourage any repeat of the Cold War. At the very least, the START treaty has been an integral deterrent for nuclear war or an arms race between the US and Russia. Arms races are expensive and scary so the avoidance of these is paramount.

Formerly the US and Russia tried to renew the START treaty with amendments while President Bush was still in command. However there was never any headway made because of the US plan for a missile shield which Russia opposed. However since the US has agreed to forgo the shield, Russia has become much more cooperative.

Pakistan Troops make Progress

Jonathan Formby — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:44:07 +0000

On Wednesday troops in Pakistan were fighting with taliban members in an effort to move further into Taliban territory. Reports indicate that the army took the town of Sararogha and in the process killed 30 militants who were believed to be associated with or part of the Taliban. The Pakistan troops are seeking to destroy Tehreek-e-Taliban in South Waziristan. South Waziristan is one of the most dangerous places in the Middle East because of the high population of members of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

You may have heard of Sararogha in the past, as it was the location where one Taliban warlord was killed by a US drone. It is times like that that I am so happy we spend so much money developing advanced robotics for war.

Troops from Pakistan started their air and ground attacks on October 17^th. All told there are 30,000 troops combined with air support. The death toll so far is as follows: 45 troops died while 390 militants and Taliban members have been killed.

While the information about the events of Wednesday has not yet been confirmed, it is believed to be reliable as it came strait from the army. It is pleasing to me to see how successful Pakistan is with their attempts to alleviate militants from the region. I wish them the best of luck and continued prosperity.

North Korea Admits Plutonium for Atomic Weapons

Jonathan Formby — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:27:57 +0000

North Korea has admitted that their plutonium efforts are to develop weapons grade plutonium for atomic weapons. Their comments have come just in time to pressure the United States into one on one talks about the nuclear program. For months now North Korea has insisted that the US speak to North Korea about their nuclear program without any other countries present.

The Korean news reported, “Noticeable successes have been made in turning the extracted plutonium into weapon-grade for the purpose of bolstering up the nuclear deterrent.”

The most recent atomic test was conducted in May by North Korea. Experts have reason to believe that another test could be coming up. Historically North Korea has tested their weapons at strategic times to try to communicate messages of strength and power to the United States.

So I have a question – should we be scared that North Korea is developing atomic weapons? What does it say about our government that we have yet to resolve this issue? How probable is it that North Korea will try to use their weapons against the United States or one of our allies?

The longer that we wait to resolve this issue, the more dangerous that North Korea will become. Each day that we wait is another day for North Korea to advance their program and become more powerful, dangerous, and threatening to the rest of the world.

Military Advancement

Jonathan Formby — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:34:21 +0000

I talk a lot about China and the threat that they pose to the United States. I am very much interested in economics so I realize that China is an integral component of the US economy. I have never wanted to suggest that we should stop doing business with China. Rather my caution has always been about advancements from China. Each year they seem to develop more and more advanced systems which will allow them to move up on the international military ladder. Normally this scares me but I thought I would look at it from a different perspective today.

One good thing that comes out of healthy competition between two militaries for development is the development of new innovative products. NASA has been an integral component in the development of our economy because it forged the path for satellites and communications systems in outer space. Not to mention all of the household developments which have come from NASA.

NASA innovations include:

memory foam
Speedo’s LZR Racer swimsuits
Space blankets
Freeze dried food
Cell phones (developed the mechanisms to allow for cell phones)
many others in virtually every field

The point of the above list is to try to take a positive approach to the healthy competition which will ensue between the US, China, and other global powers. Competition is what the American economy is built on. When you have competition, some great innovations are produced and the people’s quality of life is often improved.

There you have it – a positive spin on the ensuing military and space competition from China.