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原爆が残したもの
日本では毎年、広島と長崎に原爆が投下された8月6日と9日に、犠牲者への祈りが捧げられ、反核運動家が世界の平和を呼びかける。しかし、核兵器撤廃にこだわるあまり、ほかの重要なことが軽視されているのではないか…。
The A-Bomb's Legacy
By SCOTT T. HARDS
It's an annual ritual here in Japan. On August 6 and 9, the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki pray for the victims of the atomic bombs, which destroyed those cities in 1945. And every year, those cities' mayors give speeches urging the banning of nuclear weapons in the name of world peace. And every year the mass media dutifully record these events. You don't need to look at the evening paper on August 6 to know what's on the front page.
While I am as much a proponent of world peace as anybody, I cannot help but think that the efforts of these anti-nuclear activists might not be misplaced if world peace is truly the goal they hope to achieve. Why? I don't believe that nuclear weapons are a serious threat to mankind.
Consider the following:
(1) No nuclear weapon has been used in anger in 52 years. Since the bombing of Nagasaki, not a single person has been killed by a nuclear weapon in wartime.
(2) The possibility of global nuclear war is so small as to be insignificant. The United States and the Soviet Union built their arsenals to use against one another. Even during the height of the Cold War, and during the war in Vietnam, neither side used them because they each knew the repercussions would be far too horrible (thanks to the lessons learned at Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Now, with the USSR having collapsed, those two nations effectively have nobody against whom to use their weapons.
(3) Nuclear weapons in the hands of responsible nations provide an effective deterrent against "rogue" nations like North Korea, Libya or Iraq, which have sought to acquire nuclear weapons on their own for offensive purposes. While the total elimination of nuclear weapons is a noble goal, I believe it would be dangerous for the major powers to destroy their entire arsenals while such governments continue to exist.
At the same time that these peace movements overestimate the danger from nuclear weapons, they underestimate the horror of conventional weapons by ignoring them. On the night of March 9, 1945, 300 American B-29 bombers dropped 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo. The resulting fires killed anywhere from 85,000 to 100,000 people ― nearly as many people as died at Hiroshima and more than were killed in Nagasaki. Yet the anniversary of this event passes each year with hardly any mention by the media. Similar bombings killed tens of thousands of people in the German cities of Hamburg, Dresden and Kassel.
While most uses of conventional weapons don't produce this kind of horrible catastrophe, in the 52 years since the atomic bombs took their last victim, millions and millions of people have been killed around the world by these less spectacular weapons. While I applaud the work of anti-nuclear activists, I believe they should expand their efforts to include all forms of weapons if they truly want to make the world a safer place.
It's an annual ritual here in Japan. On August 6 and 9, the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki pray for the victims of the atomic bombs, which destroyed those cities in 1945. And every year, those cities' mayors give speeches urging the banning of nuclear weapons in the name of world peace. And every year the mass media dutifully record these events. You don't need to look at the evening paper on August 6 to know what's on the front page.
While I am as much a proponent of world peace as anybody, I cannot help but think that the efforts of these anti-nuclear activists might not be misplaced if world peace is truly the goal they hope to achieve. Why? I don't believe that nuclear weapons are a serious threat to mankind.
Consider the following:
(1) No nuclear weapon has been used in anger in 52 years. Since the bombing of Nagasaki, not a single person has been killed by a nuclear weapon in wartime.
(2) The possibility of global nuclear war is so small as to be insignificant. The United States and the Soviet Union built their arsenals to use against one another. Even during the height of the Cold War, and during the war in Vietnam, neither side used them because they each knew the repercussions would be far too horrible (thanks to the lessons learned at Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Now, with the USSR having collapsed, those two nations effectively have nobody against whom to use their weapons.
(3) Nuclear weapons in the hands of responsible nations provide an effective deterrent against "rogue" nations like North Korea, Libya or Iraq, which have sought to acquire nuclear weapons on their own for offensive purposes. While the total elimination of nuclear weapons is a noble goal, I believe it would be dangerous for the major powers to destroy their entire arsenals while such governments continue to exist.
At the same time that these peace movements overestimate the danger from nuclear weapons, they underestimate the horror of conventional weapons by ignoring them. On the night of March 9, 1945, 300 American B-29 bombers dropped 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo. The resulting fires killed anywhere from 85,000 to 100,000 people ― nearly as many people as died at Hiroshima and more than were killed in Nagasaki. Yet the anniversary of this event passes each year with hardly any mention by the media. Similar bombings killed tens of thousands of people in the German cities of Hamburg, Dresden and Kassel.
While most uses of conventional weapons don't produce this kind of horrible catastrophe, in the 52 years since the atomic bombs took their last victim, millions and millions of people have been killed around the world by these less spectacular weapons. While I applaud the work of anti-nuclear activists, I believe they should expand their efforts to include all forms of weapons if they truly want to make the world a safer place.
Shukan ST: Aug. 29, 1997
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- annual ritual
- 毎年恒例の儀式
- citizens
- 市民
- pray
- 祈る
- victims
- 犠牲者
- mayors
- 市長
- urging the banning of 〜
- 〜 の禁止を呼びかける
- nuclear weapons
- 核兵器
- in the name of 〜
- 〜 の名のもとに
- dutifully
- うやうやしく
- record
- 報道する
- as much 〜 as anybody
- 誰にも負けないくらい 〜 である
- proponent of 〜
- 〜 支持者
- I cannot help but 〜
- 〜 することを禁じえない
- anti-nuclear activists
- 反核主義者
- might not be misplaced
- 間違ったところに注がれているかもしれない
- serious threat
- 深刻な脅威
- mankind
- 人類
- in anger
- 怒りにまかせて
- bombing of 〜
- 〜 の爆撃
- wartime
- 戦時
- global nuclear war
- 世界的な核戦争
- is so small as to be insignificant
- とても小さく、微々たるものといえるほどだ
- built their arsenals
- 兵器を蓄えた
- height of 〜
- 〜 の最中
- Cold War
- 冷戦
- repercussions
- 影響
- thanks to 〜
- 〜 のおかげで
- lessons learned at 〜
- 〜 で学んだ教訓
- with 〜 having collapesed
- 〜 が崩壊して
- effectively
- 事実上
- deterrent against 〜
- 〜 に対する抑止力
- "rogue"
- 「手に負えない」
- have sought to acquire 〜
- 〜 を入手しようとしてきた
- for offensive purposes
- 攻撃を目的に
- total elimination
- 撤廃
- noble
- 立派な
- major powers
- 最強国(アメリカとロシア)
- overestimate 〜
- 〜 を過大評価している
- underestimate 〜
- 〜 を過小評価している
- conventional weapons
- 通常兵器(非核兵器)
- by ignoring 〜
- 〜 を無視することで
- March 9
- 東京大空襲の日。1945年3月10日未明、東京下町地区を中心としたB-29約300機による空襲で、焼夷弾絨緞(じゅうたん)爆撃により死者約10万人を出した
- B-29 bombers
- 第二次世界対戦に用いられた四発長距離爆撃機
- incendiary bombs
- 焼夷弾
- resulting fires
- それが原因で起こった火事
- nearly as many people as died at Hiroshima and more than were killed in Nagasaki
- 広島での死者数に近く、長崎での死者数よりも多い(広島での死者数は約14万人、長崎での死者数は8万人といわれている。その後も後遺症で多数が亡くなっている)
- anniversary
- 記念日
- with hardly any mention by the media
- ほとんど報道されずに
- catastrophe
- 大惨事
- less spectacular
- 核兵器ほど注目を引かない
- applaud
- 称賛する