Is Our Interest In The Hiroshima Anniversary And Our Fear Of Nuclear Weapons Fading? -- A Commentary

Bizarrely, Our Fear Of Nuclear Weapons Has Faded, And Our Interest In The Hiroshima Anniversary Has Dwindled Accordingly -- Daniel Hannan, The Telegraph

While the 70th anniversaries of Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain have been reported in intimate detail, the 65th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs is passing largely unremarked.

Agonising about the rights and wrongs of the world’s first atomic attack used to be a handy way of filling the August news pages. This year, though – despite the promising peg of formal representation from the Allied governments at the commemoration – coverage has been sparse.

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My Comment: My interest in the Hiroshima bombing anniversary probably started to decline right after 9/11. Why focus on another country's recognition of a terrible event when we have our own to be more concerned about. Continuous wars in Afghanistan and elsewhere, the threat of nuclear terrorism from groups like Al Qaeda and their allies .... yup .... I would have to say that we have more on our plate to be interested in than Hiroshima's anniversary.

As to our fear of nuclear weapons fading .... I will have to say yes and no. The tensions that marked the cold war are no longer there, and our fear of a global nuclear conflict has dissipated with the end of the Soviet Union. Instead .... our fears are now at a lower level .... from nuclear terrorism associated with groups like Al Qaeda to small countries with limited nuclear stockpiles (Pakistan and India) going to war against each other.

So .... should we still be concerned about nuclear war .... yes. Should we be as concerned about nuclear war and weapons as we used to be .... probably not.

Update: I posted this story three years ago .... and it is still applicable today.