Nuclear Suffering

I was very disappointed to hear about Tony Blair's plans to spend £20,000,000 on upgrading Britain's nuclear arsenal (despite cutting the stock by 20%). However I was somewhat buoyed by the Archbishop of Canterbury's response.

I have already shared my own responses to the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, however I would like to amend that I think that ANY leader making ANY decision regarding the funding or improvement of a nuclear program should be made to walk through said museum and consider the real, practical implications of not just using, but owning nuclear weapons. I understand the whole deterrence argument (which I'm not even sure I agree with), but in this specific case, Britain already has the deterrent -- Blair just wants to pump money into making sure they work properly in case Kim Jong-Il (or some other nutjob) goes off the deep-end. However, Kim Jong-Il has clearly proved that he doesn't care about his people, so he probably wouldn't care if a few hundred-thousand died a slow, painful death. Hell, it is likely that they already are at this very moment! In my mind it is so, SO hypocritical for developed nations to decry terrorism while simultaneously owning a weapon which kills civilians indiscriminantly. But enough preaching from me, the real purpose of this entry was to share pictures that I couldn't upload before.

Diorama of city immediately before bombing

Diorama of city immediately after bombing

I just found out that you can take a virtual tour of the museum here. It doesn't have nearly the same impact as seeing it in person, but it'll give you an idea. Here are some of the more powerful images from their site:


Sculptures of children with melting skin



Actual uniform of a female student who lived for the rest of the day then died that evening


The steps of a bank where someone was sitting when the bomb exploded. All that's left is their shadow.




I am loathe to do this because I think some people might not watch, however I really believe these are important images to see....but anyway, the next slideshow contains really graphic pictures. Now that you've been warned, please don't take the easy way out.



That about says it all.