Evening star., 1946-02-03

doctors have assured Gen. Groves
that to be fatally radioactivated is
"a very pleasant way to die"
That other powers, whether or
not we tell them how to do it, will
be able to manufacture atomic
energy in the relatively near future.
That all past strategical, tao
tical and organizational concepts of
armies and navies must undergo
revolutionary revision.
Attacks Can Be Sudden.
That there appears to be little
likelihood of perfecting an effective
defense against atomic attacks be-
cause these attacks (bombs plus
gases-plus, incidentally, fearsome
new meteorological weapons quite
as destructive as the bombs and
gases) can be delivered with devas-
tating suddenness in a fantastic but
terribly real age of jet-propulsion,
radar, guided missiles, pilotless
planes, transoceanic rockets of un-
believable speed, and possibly even
space ships" streaking through the
ionosphere
That 20 or 30 years from now
the United States, for example,
could be laid waste in a single day
or night by an attack mot to be
overlooked is the possibility of super
saboteurs smuggling in the weapons)
destroying no fewer than 40 cities
and 10000, 900 Americans.
That such an attack, assuming
that we had enough strength left
to retaliate, might pose nice moral
problem for us. Thus, suppose the
attack came in the form of rockets
from Country B, but that Country B
was innocent of the deed, having just
been seized by Country A to serve as
! a launching site. Would we then
be justified in striking back at B to
stop AS onslaught, even though it
meant wiping out millions of BIS
unoffending inhabitants?
Finally, that DR.. Bush's dictum
in view of these and similar factors,
is lncontrovertible: Namely, that
the development of systems for
the control and utilization of atomic
energy is the most important task
ever faced by the governments of
the world"
Something Must Be Done.
But it is clear from even a cursory
consideration of the task that it is
full of tremendous difficulties and
uncertainties. Through the new
control commission created by the
United Nations, for instance, we car
look forward to the Establishment OF
an international inspection system
and possibly the outlawry of the
bomb. Yet, in the best of circum-
stances, inspection cannot be made
| lfoolproof, and because fashionable
materials for industrial purposes car
be readily converted into the dread
weapon, bans against it can have
little force if some criminal aggres-
sor decides to ignore them.
Still, as DR.. Irving Langmuir has
sensibly warned, The worst thing
that could possibly happen is to dc
nothing, SO, therefore, let us de
something and let us make it good.
The start must be made with the
UNO commission, and all peoples
and governments must come tc
comprehend the immense urgency
of progressing from there, always
remembering, of course, that the
only absolute and unbreakable guar
antee against the horror of ar
atomic war can be an absolute and
unbreakable determination on the
part of every nation to make this
peace permanent.
/ There is only one alternative, anc
it is awful in the ghastliest sense oi
that word. If the next 10 or Il
years prove the world to be incapable
OF maintaining peace, if there is tc
be an atomic and bacteriologica
armaments race, then-taking thu
American viewpoint-let us give
prompt thought to the decentraliza
ton of all our cities, which, accord.
ing to some authorities who have
already seriously advocated it, woult
cost about 100000, 100000. Let IL
give thought, too, to the advisabilit,
OF amending the Constitution t
permit the President, without con
sulting Congress, to strike doWr
potential enemies without warning
because in the age ahead, assuming
the collapse of international reason
the only defense against attack viii
be to attack first.
Could Wipe Out World.
Last July, when the atomic bomt
was tested in the New Mexican deser
as prelude to Hiroshima, Dr.
George B. Kistiakowsky, one of tn,
nuclear scientists on the scene, wa
profoundly moved and gave voice t,
words that bear repeating. Il an
sure" he said to his colleagues, "tha
at the end of the world-in the las
milli-second of the earth's existenc
the last man will see what w
saw" What he was conscious O
was that here the human race ha,
at last taken hold of the basic fore
of creation and that this force
which had heretofore been God
alone-was at the same time tn
thing capable of annihilating al
life on our planet.
The thought is a somber one
particularly because of the theoret
ical possibility-an extremely remot
one, but a possibility nonetheleSs-
that some day in the future, hi
genius having gone berserk and witt
the madness of war upon him, mai
with some new fashionable materia
will set off an atmospheric chail
reaction that Will make our earth
bright new star in the heavens un
til at length, the fire having ex
pended itself, it will hang in spac
as forlornly dead as the moon.
Some scientiSts-like Einstein-
comfort us with the thought tha
, such an end, though conceivable, i
highly unlikely, but they do gran
that another war-an atomic war
could wipe out two-thirds of tn
human race in swift nightmar
of destruction. This is fitting las
point to be made in any summin,
up Of the first six months of tn
atomic age. What happened a
Hiroshima, if it does not chang,
his heart for the better. ought a
least to blackmail man into last
iiyor +r;+