An announcement came over the intercom in our classroom — it was time again for our semi-annual drill that would protect us from an impending nuclear attack. We were high school freshmen, and the drill had us dropping to the floor and “hiding” under our desks. At least one bordered on the ludicrous; David, at six-foot seven and built like a tank, trying to squeeze his considerable bulk under a desk built for junior high kids was a sight to behold.
We did not question the wisdom of this exercise, for in the 1950s most students felt that in this situation, our elders knew what was best. Looking back on the drills, we now realize it was futile if an attack had actually come. But on the bright side, living in North Central Missouri, in a small town of about 600, not close to a major population center or military base, the chances of being targeted by the hated Commies was close to nil. Of course, just a little miscalculation by the Russians, if they were targeting Kansas City, might make it a little dicey for us. But we survived.
Why were we subjected to such an exercise? The Cold War had begun immediately after the end of World War 2 (although the parameters of that conflict had been seen before the War ended). From 1945 on, only the United States had nuclear weapons, the kind we used against Japan in the waning days of the War. But our now sworn enemy, the Soviet Union, acquired the bomb in 1949, and the reality of nuclear holocaust became clear.
That threat became more real in my second year in high school, 1957. Sputnik, the first satellite, was tossed into space, and it now seemed that the USSR had the capability to send an ICBM across the ocean to hit anyplace in the United States. Our drills took on a more ominous tone after that.
But life went on. Great Britain obtained their own version of nuclear weapons in 1952, but they were our ally. We could count on them in any conflict with the Russians. Our own sense of security was enhanced in 1960 when the French exploded their bomb, making the nuclear club three to one in our favor. In addition, we were assured that our political leadership would stand firm against our foes. President John Kennedy made that vow in his inaugural address on 20 January 1961: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
Most Americans saw the status quo between the two sides in the Cold War continuing since no threat against each other was overtly made. But that ended in October of 1962 with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Only later did we learn just how close we came to a nuclear winter. But a compromise was made and we all breathed a little easier because the political leadership of both nations pulled back from confrontation.
But in 1964, the Communist regime in China detonated a nuclear device, and we were thrust into a much more dangerous situation, as now two socialist regimes, our avowed enemies, possessed the bomb. Our only salvation here was that the Chinese did not have the delivery capability necessary to attack us, although that would come by the 1970s.
China’s threat to the United States was somewhat lessened when, in 1971, President Richard Nixon’s National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, opened secret talks with officials from that nation. The next year, Nixon himself visited the Great Wall and had substantive talks with the Chinese, and the ensuing trade eased tensions between the two nuclear powers.
With two superpowers having nuclear capability, and three nations just a notch below them having that also, it appeared that a policy of MAD (mutually assured destruction) was going to be the policy for the forseeable future. In addition, talks were being held about SALT (Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty) which would cut back the number of nuclear warheads possessed by each major power.
During all this, most Americans, myself included, just continued living our lives, building a career, and not really worrying about the mushroom cloud coming to our little corner of the world. There were some worrisome indications that the threat was still out there, that someone would lose all sanity and begin throwing atom bombs around. President Lyndon Johnson, when running to remain in office in 1964 against Barry Goldwater, had a campaign ad that featured a little girl picking flowers while that cloud appeared behind her, obviously indicating that he thought Goldwater would be a dangerous man who might use our nuclear arsenal. That ad was quickly retired. In the 1950s President Eisenhower suggested (hopefully with tongue in cheek) that some one should use nuclear weapons in Vietnam, which idea was floated again when the U. S. was involved in that war in the 1960s. And moviegoers were entertained with Dr. Strangelove and Failsafe.
Serious students of world events were troubled by another entrant into the nuclear club, India. In 1974, that nation tested what they called a “peaceful nuclear explosive”, what became known as the “Smiling Buddha”. This was against the express wishes of the other nuclear powers, since no one knew what politician might decide when faced with a threat to Indian independence. In 1998, India tested a more powerful bomb, a thermonuclear one. But, again, most of us paid little attention to that development.
Matters got a lot more serious when, also in 1998, it was confirmed that Pakistan had achieved nuclear status. Suspicions had abounded for a couple of decades that the Pakistanis had been pursuing atomic weapons, but the revelation of this made for some very nervous world statesmen. The reason for this was very real; Pakistan’s neighbor, India, had the bomb, and the two nations had for many years been bitter enemies. Even today, there are areas, notably Kashmir, that are in dispute between them and occasional clashes between their armed forces occur. When will one or the other decide that tactical nuclear weapons are the final answer to their territorial disputes?
Yet, once again, most Americans just continued on with their lives. And events in the late ’80s and early ’90s seemed to justify our sense of security. In November of 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and Communism began to fall apart. With the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the dismantling of nuclear arsenals under its control, the threat of a nuclear confrontation was diminished in most people’s minds.
One world stage that might possibly be the most dangerous is the Middle East. It has long been assumed, but never confirmed officially by their government, that Israel possessed nuclear weapons. For Israel, it is called “strategic ambiguity”, but most observers of the area do believe they do have the bomb. Estimates vary from 80 upwards to about 200 such devices that are under the control of the Israeli Defense Forces. Jane and I went to Israel in 2011, and our guide told us that at one time during the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when the situation was critical, with Syria attacking from the north and Egypt from the south, that the Israelis were seriously considering using their nuclear weapons in order to survive. But their forces held on the Golan Heights and they were not needed. Although Iran does not now possess nuclear capability on the battlefield, if they achieve such status most believe the mullahs who run that nation will not use such against Israel. Why? Because they do not have a death wish; Israel would retaliate with massive force.
One other nation has a confirmed nuclear arsenal. North Korea had been trying to develop such a weapon, and world leaders had been pushing back on their program. In 1994, led by then President Bill Clinton, an “agreed framework” was put in place to limit North Korea’s nuclear possibilities to peaceful means, such as energy production. By 2003, they had violated that agreement and in 2006 the Hermit Kingdom detonated their first atomic device. Again, an American administration, under George W. Bush, tried negotiation to control what North Korea would do with this, and through talks and sanctions tried to bring this rogue regime to heel, but with little success. Their nuclear program continued, with a claim, disputed, that a hydrogen bomb was successfully tested in early 2016. By this year, a confirmed such test was conducted. President Barack Obama continued the effort at diplomacy and sanctions, but that only left the problem for his successors to deal with.
Now, complacency in the face of nuclear intimidation is no longer a luxury. We have seen in the past threats from communist regimes with atomic capability. Nikita Khrushchev famously claimed, “We will bury you”, and it is know that Fidel Castro wanted the Soviets to allow him to fire missiles with nuclear warheads into the U. S. during the Cuban Missile Crisis. But the current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, has taken a far more belligerent stance with his nuclear stockpile. Since Donald Trump assumed the Presidency in January, Kim Jong Un has made repeated threats to use his atom bombs against us. There have been well publicized tests by North Korea of missiles, with increasing ranges, which reportedly now can reach the American possession of Guam, Alaska and even the mainland of the United States, with San Francisco and even Chicago in their crosshairs.
Kim Jong Un is the heir of his father and grandfather, and it is regularly taught that they are descended from the gods. None of the Kims have shown any restraint in their rule, and the present ruler has had relatives and top military officials assassinated when he felt threatened. Reports out of North Korea show an autocratic dictatorship that brooks no dissent.
President Trump and top Congressional leaders recognize this as the most serious threat to world peace in recent history. An unstable tinpot dictator could unleash a nuclear winter across the globe. The President has repeatedly sought help from China to stop Kim, but the threats continue. Japan had an ICBM shot over its homeland just two weeks ago, and South Korean forces continue to be on high alert. These, allies of the United States, are “protected” by our agreements with them from attack by North Korea, and by extension, China. China has, according to reliable reports, tried to influence Kim, and announced neutrality in any confrontation between the U. S. and the North Koreans, and the United Nations, in a rare unanimous vote by the Security Council, denounced the regime in North Korea, and put in place the most severe economic and political sanctions ever levied against Kim’s regime.
After coexistence with a nuclear armed Soviet Union, and after seeing seven other nations acquire atomic power, with only one serious crisis about nuclear war, are we now seeing what might be the ultimate use of this fearsome weapon? When will threats from Pyongyang become reality as Kim loses control and fires one of his weapons at our territory or at one of our allies?
Armageddon is the Biblical (Revelation 16:16) battle at the end of the world, where the forces of evil confront the forces of God. It is set in the Megiddo valley of Israel, the site of epic battles in the pre-Christian era and a part of the trade route from the Middle Eastern states to Egypt. At the end of the conflict, Christ will make His Second Coming. Many Christians look at the world and see that mankind is ripe for this event.
But could Kim’s aggressive approach bring on the climactic struggle between the forces of good and evil? Could nuclear war, begun by an unstable man already seen to be capable of unspeakable atrocities, be the Armageddon awaited by the faithful?
T. S. Eliot, in The Hollow Men, wrote ‘This is the way the worldends Not with a bang but a whimper.’ .
But beware. One malignant man, with an order to his military, could end our civilization with a nuclear “bang”.