No more nukes?

Today marks the 64th anniversary of one of the great travesties in modern history. Harnessing the powers of science, mankind developed the atomic bomb. On August 6th 1945, with the Japanese on the ropes, the order came from Washington to drop the uranium 235 gun-type bomb, named Little Boy on the city of Hiroshima.

On August 9th, 1945 a second bomb was dropped on the Japanese. This time a plutonium implosion bomb named Fat man was dropped on the city of Nagasaki.

As many as 140,000 were killed in Hiroshima, and up to 80,000 in Hiroshima. On August 15th, the Japanese surrendered and peace finally came. But was it really peace? The bombings were the ultimate show of force by the United States, but was it an act of defense or simply a warning to their new rival, the Soviet Union (Russia). History shows a story that led to the ultimate show down with the Soviet Union and United States shaping world history for the next 50 odd years through the cold war. The race to accumulate nuclear warheads almost brought the world to Armageddon. Fortunately that did not happen, but the effects of this rivalry are evident.

Nuclear weapons are a menace to our existence. Several, but not many possess them. Rogue nations like Iran and North Korea have been in the news for attempting to join the "club" posing a threat to world "peace" due to their unpredictable leadership. The United States and Russia still have nuclear war heads, and talks to reduce them are ongoing. It seems the elimination of nukes is our best chance to a future without the threat of extinction. But how realistic is their elimination?