An American Hiroshima

An American Hiroshima
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
"If a 10-kiloton nuclear weapon, a midget even smaller than the one that destroyed Hiroshima, exploded in Times Square, the fireball would reach tens of millions of degrees Fahrenheit.

It would vaporize or destroy the theater district, Madison Square Garden, the Empire State Building, Grand Central Terminal and Carnegie Hall (along with me and my building). The blast would partly destroy a much larger area, including the United Nations. On a weekday some 500,000 people would be killed.

Could this happen?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/11/opinion/11kris.html

P.S. I'll let you comment before I give me two cents.

in WW1? That is what would happen to us, if an atomic bomb went off in the US. It would be the end of the war on terrorism, and possibly the world, considering the effect that the instability would have on global politics and domestic security.

We have too many such weapons to imagine that none of them would escape in time of chaos. Yet our current administration is a cheerleader for chaos, as post war Iraq clearly shows.

The lyrics of a song come to mind...

We'll meet again
Don't know where, don't know when
But I know we'll meet again
Some sunny day...

well said.

By the Time They Nuke DC, by David Rovics

Download the mp3 from this page: http://www.soundclick.com/pro/?BandID=111310

I want to write this song
Because it should be written now
And these thoughts should be between us
As far ahead as time will allow
For once the suitcase has exploded
In this country some call free
Thoughts like these might not be tolerated
By the time they nuke DC

By the time they nuke DC
Will it be too late to wonder
If there might have been another path
Than that of rape and plunder
When the mushroom cloud is rising
And it's all revenge and unity
Who will ask these questions
By the time they nuke DC

By the time they nuke DC
And there are millions lying dead
From the radioactive wasteland
Will more angry words be said
Who will recall the empire
The years of global tyranny
The millions slaughtered by our bombers
By the time they nuke DC

By the time they nuke DC
Will it be too late
To stop this vicious cycle
And turn around the planet's fate
If this eye for an eye continues
Will we have security
And will anyone believe that
By the time they nuke DC

By the time they nuke DC
Will the rulers think again
Before they push the button
To kill a billion women and men
Must we wait to find out
Or might we change history
Will we stop the madness
Before they nuke DC

When you attend a funeral,
It is sad to think that sooner or'l
Later those you love will do the same for you.
And you may have thought it tragic,
Not to mention other adjec-
Tives, to think of all the weeping they will do.
(But don't you worry.)

No more ashes, no more sackcloth,
And an arm band made of black cloth
Will some day nevermore adorn a sleeve.
For if the bomb that drops on you
Gets your friends and neighbors too,
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve.

And we will all go together when we go.
What a comforting fact that is to know.
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement,
Yes, we will all go together when we go.

We will all go together when we go.
All suffused with an incandescent glow.
No one will have the endurance
To collect on his insurance,
Lloyd's of London will be loaded when they go.

Oh we will all fry together when we fry.
We'll be french fried potatoes by and by.
There will be no more misery
When the world is our rotisserie,
Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.

Down by the old maelstrom,
There'll be a storm before the calm.

And we will all bake together when we bake.
There'll be nobody present at the wake.
With complete participation
In that grand incineration,
Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.

Oh we will all char together when we char.
And let there be no moaning of the bar.
Just sing out a Te Deum
When you see that I.C.B.M.,*
And the party will be come-as-you-are.

Oh, we will all burn together when we burn.
There'll be no need to stand and wait your turn.
When it's time for the fallout
And Saint Peter calls us all out,
We'll just drop our agendas and adjourn.

You will all go directly to your respective Valhallas.
Go directly, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollahs.

And we will all go together when we go.
Every Hottentot and every Eskimo.
When the air becomes uranious,
We will all go simultaneous.
Yes, we all will go together
When we all go together,
Yes we all will go together when we go.

Too bad he didn't keep moonlighting with the satire, though.

http://currents.ucsc.edu/03-04/08-04/news.html

As much as I like your lyrics I'd also like your written opinions (in non-lyrical form)! But again, great lyrics!

That would have happened under any president. Heck, I don't think they'd have any choice.

We would also nuke someone in retaliation. Not sure who. Iran would be unsurprising. Saudis a bit nicer.

I'm actually a bit more worried about what happens when the bomb goes off. There is a quote which fits what you said well. You're like a man looking off a cliff at boulder filled rapids thinking you better not jump because there is a chance you might drown. It's the fall that's going to kill you.