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In Remembrance of Wars Past (And Wars Yet to Come?)
D-Day remembrances are tinged with dark foreboding this year.
The anniversary of the historic Allied landing on the beaches of Normandy is a good time to remember the sacrifices of heroes from a dozen nations who died liberating concentration camps, defending liberty, preserving the world from madness, and freeing much of Europe during World War II.
It is also a perfect time to reflect on the true cost of war. As Russian nuclear submarines cruise to Cuba for a routine training exercise (we hope) and U.S. weapons are approved for use against Russia by Ukrainian forces, some journalists and foreign policy experts argue that we are already in the midst of World War III.
It is a war humanity can’t afford to fight.
That was the calculation as the world entered the age of nuclear weapons 80 years ago; it should be the calculation now and for the same reasons: The weapons of modern-day warfare are too terrible to contemplate, let alone risk.
With good reason, we don’t celebrate the anniversary of Little Man and Big Boy; we don’t mark the Enola Gay with the same reverence as D-Day. It isn’t anything to celebrate.
80 years later, chemical weapons, biological terrors, seismic weapons, chemical weapons, and other weapons of mass destruction…