Evening star., 1953-01-09
Man, War and the H-Bonb

Man, War and the H-Bomb
President Truman, in his message on the
state of the Union, has not specifically declared
that the United States now possesses the hy-
drogen bomb. But he has left virtually no room
for doubt that the recent "thermonuclear tests"
at Eniwetok have placed this most terrible of
all weapons within close reach of our Nation
Indeed, judging from the eloquently solemn
tone of his language, there is good reason to
believe that it is already part of our arsenal
available for use if need be.
Here, surely, is development whose SPINE
chilling portentouSneSs def1es exaggeration. For
the H-bomb-as the President has declared
without naming it-means that the world is
moving into "a new era Of destructive power
so fearsome, so preternatural, so literally hell
ish so outside the ken Of human experience,
that the earth-bound imagination Is hardly
equipped to visualize or comprehend it. The
ordinary" atomic weapon-which today is
much deadlier than the deadly type that laid
waste Hiroshima and Nagasaki-constitutes in
itself a tremendous revolutionary advance
over conventional explosives Yet, horrendous
though it is, it is mild compared to the hy
drogen destroyer-a thing that can be at least
1000 times as devastating, blowing up with
force equivalent to 20 million tons of INT.
It Is with this ghastly weapon in mind-a
weapon capable of wiping out the biggest of
cities at single blow-that the President has
directly addressed Prime Minister Stain with
the following words: "You claim belief in
Lenin's prophecy that one stage in the develop
ment of Communist society would be war be-
tween your world and ours. But Lenin was
preatomic man who viewed society and history
with preatomic eyes. Something profound has
happened since he wrote. War has changed its
49, IT, - L.
stage in the development of anything save
ruin for your regime and your homeland"
Certainly, although the men of the Kremlin
may rant against him for his warning-a peace
promoting warning, not belligerent threat
Mr.. Truman has thus spoken the simple truth,
appealing to them to recognize it and ernpha-
sizing Americas eagernesS to reach agreements
with them to protect mankind from the awful
danger 1t faces in this age of A-bombs H
bombs and kindred instruments of mass de-
struction.
Actually, far from threatening anybody,
our outgoing President has stressed the view
that the United States-even though it may be
well ahead in the atomic field and even though
it may now be the sole possessor of the dread
H-bomb-must in its own interests keep on
striving for such agreements as long as there
is the slightest possibility of working them out
advance we make is unattainable by Others
that no advantage in this race can be more
than temporary" and that an all-out armed
conflict between the Soviet Empire and the
free nations might dig the grave not only of
our Stalinist opponents, but of our own society.
our world as well as theirs" In short, although
we must spare no effort to maintain and in
crease our lead in nuclear ornaments until
effective international control is established, 1t
is imperative that we do our best at the same
time to bring that control into being.
Up to now, all efforts to that end have
begged down in futility because of the lone
wolf veto of the Kremlin. Yet, as the President
has said, war in these times-war with A
weapons and H-bombs-"is not possible policy
for rational men," It is a policy that can be
viewed with equanimity only by twisted minds
Indifferent to the prospect Of oblterating civil
lization and annihiating practically the whole
of humanity. This is a prospect that even
Stain and his co-conspirators-if they are sane
must shrink away from. If they look at it
long enough, and if they weigh well such words
as Mr.. Truman's, the world may yet see the
atom harnessed for good peace instead of
being unleashed in universal nightmare of
indescribable horrors.