Nuclear Weapons - Gulf and WWII

GULF WAR (6)

Pro

• 8/1990-2/1991 (Also known as the Persian Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm, and First Gulf War). The war was a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the U.S. against Iraq in response to Iraq’s invasion and annexation of Kuwait.
• There were several public justifications for the involvement, the most prominent being the Iraqi violation of Kuwaiti territorial integrity.
• The majority of military forces in the coalition were from the U.S. with Saudi Arabia, UK, and Egypt as leading contributors, in that order.
• This was a decisive victory for the coalition forces that liberated Kuwait and advanced into Iraq territory.
• The UN spent billions on the infrastructure of Iraq by rebuilding hospitals, schools, and water purification acilities throughout the country.

Con

• 1991 Since the end of the Gulf War, 5000 of the over 500,000 U.S troops remain in Saudi Arabia of the stated motivations behind the September ll attacks in the U.S., as well as others.
• The cost of the war was $61.l billion with $36 billion paid by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf; $16 billion came from Germany and Japan (who did not send combat forces due to their constitution).
• U.S. combat deaths were 294 with 188 from the other countries in the coalition.
• Iraqi estimated combat deaths were 3500 from bombings and some 100,000 from other effects of the war.
• Depleted uranium (10) was contained in weapons and many have cited its use as a contributing factor to health issues in both veterans and civilian populations. This has been labeled as the Gulf War Syndrome or Gulf War Illness. (5)

WWII, HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI (7)

Pro

• August 6, 1945. After its 4th year in the war, the U.S. dropped its first Atomic Bomb (Little Boy) on Hiroshima and a second Atomic Bomb (Fat Man) on Nagasaki on August 9.
• The goal of the weapons was to convince Japan to unconditionally surrender. Two aspects of this are 1) obtaining the greatest psychological effect against Japan and 2) to be internationally recognized by the military industry.
• July 26 Prior to the bombings, the Allied leaders issued the Potsdam Declaration outlining terms of surrender. It was presented as an ultimatum.
• July 28 Japan rejected the plan. The Atomic Bomb was not mentioned in the terms.
• The decision to drop the bombs is officially recorded as a decision of the Combined Policy Committee. After the Hiroshima bombing, President Truman stated “We may be grateful to Providence that the German Atomic Bomb Project had failed and that the U.S. and its Allies had spent two billion dollars on the greatest gamble in history—and won”.

Con

• August 6 Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima.
• U.S. estimates that 4.7 miles of the city was affected by Little Boy with Japanese officials saying that 69% of the buildings were destroyed with another 6-7% damaged. Some 70,000 to 80,000 people (30% of population) were killed by the blast and another 70,000 injured within two to four months of the bombing. Little Boy dropped off course due to crosswinds and exploded over the Shima Clinic, instead of its projected target. Over 90% of the doctors and 93% of the nurses were killed or injured.
• August 9 Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki with immediate deaths ranging from 40,000 to 75,000 and by the end of 1945, it had risen to 80,000.
• The medical effects of a nuclear blast upon humans can be put in four categories: Initial (1-9 weeks), 90% of deaths are due to blast effects and 10% super-lethal radiation exposure; 10-12 weeks, deaths are from ionization radiation; 13-20 weeks, survivors may show some improvement; 20+weeks, numerous complications can occur such as infertility, sub-infertility, blood disorders caused by radiation; ionizing radiation from fall-out can cause genetic effects, birth defects, cancer, cataracts and other effects in organs and tissue.(4)
• The World Health Organization (WHO) and Nagasaki University have studied Atomic Bomb health effects for the past 60 years.(9)

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Sources: 5) Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons Lingers as Health Concerns, www.Seattlepi.com, 8-3-03; 6) Gulf War, Wikipedia.org, 9-4-12; 7) Atomic Bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Wikipedia.org, 8-12-12; 8) Hiroshima and Nagasaki Health Effects Linger, www.newsbbc.uk/2hu/asia-pacific/4745stim; 9) Late Health Effects From Radiation: Knowledge Gained From 60 Years’ Experience in Japan , 9-9-05 Geneva Conf., WHO and Nagasaki University 21st COE Program; 10) Depleted Uranium, Wikipedia.org, 7-15-12.