Dear Future President,

Throughout history, there have been many problems when it comes to nuclear weapons, and it is about time that something is done about it. According to Ploughshares Fund, it only takes a mere 100 nuclear explosions to destroy the world, but, for some reason, the world decides that it needs over 16,000 nuclear weapons on the planet. Ploughshares says, “more than 25 years after the end of the Cold War, the world’s combined stockpiles of nuclear weapons remains at unacceptably high levels” This makes no sense and the only solution that I see is total nuclear disarmament. There is no need for nuclear weapons on this world. It is clear that people know about the weapons and the destructive capabilities of them.They are just seen as a source of power and what happens when someone wants to show that power? Millions of people would die. The only solution to the overproduction and harboring of nuclear weapons is total disarmament of all nuclear weapons.

Many tragic events have come the result of nuclear material and nuclear weapons. For example, one major event from the result of two nuclear explosions are Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These two places are both located in Japan and were both hit with nuclear bombs. The death toll from these tragic events is in the millions and innocent civilians were killed from the explosion and millions more from the radiation. The effects from these explosions can take hours or years, and most of the time lead to death or excruciating pain/suffering. According to The New York Times, “Seventy years ago, the city was incinerated by an atomic bomb, its population halved by the new and terrifying American weapon nicknamed Little Boy.” These weapons should be deemed inhumane and not be allowed to be used in any time throughout our future. These weapons don’t even have to be used and they can cause mass hysteria. During the Cold War, many Americans feared for their lives because of the thought that we would go to war with the Soviet Union and nuclear war would commence. People were building bomb shelters, and even the schools would have drills that brought the children down into shelters. The threat of a nuclear attack can also cause a lot of pain and suffering. We should ban, or drastically decrease, the amount of nuclear weapons in the world. At the moment, there are nine countries that are allowed to have nuclear weapons, and I am sure that other countries have some that we are not even aware of. As of March 2016, the United States and Russia had a total of 14,700 nukes. It only takes 100 to completely destroy the world, so why do we need that many? There is simply no need for it and I believe that most, if not all, of them should be destroyed. That is only two of the countries with nukes there is still North Korea, Great Britain, and China that have nukes. Not to mention all the nukes that countries have hidden that we are not aware of and the planning of where and when they will be used. Eventually our luck is going to run out and a nuclear war is going to happen. If we do not change our actions soon, the world could end at any moment. There needs to be a drastic change in the world's nuclear arsenal.

Too many people have a lust for power and will do whatever it takes to get it. Many countries in the world want nuclear weapons and will fight for them. For example, Iran made illegal purchases of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. People want power and when they see that they are not the most powerful, it starts a race of sorts to see who can make the most destructive weapon. This eventually leads to a peaceful solution or all out war. There was a close call with another nuclear war with Russia during the Cuban missile crisis when Russia was supplying Cuba with nuclear weapons to launch against the United States. It even shows on history.com that these weapons don’t need to be used, just the fact of having them gives people power. It says that “However, disaster was avoided when the U.S. agreed to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s (1894-1971) offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey.” This goes to show that war can happen at anytime and nuclear war is always possible unless we get rid of nuclear weapons. These weapons of mass destruction are used as bargaining chips and to see who is stronger with them. There are too many problems when it comes to nuclear weapons and it is time for a big change and hopefully soon.

I understand why people think there is a need for nuclear arms, but, in the end, there is not. Nuclear weapons can be used to end wars quickly and save lives for one nation like in World War 2. Yes, they saved American soldiers, but it killed millions of Japanese civilians and innocent human beings. Any way you look at it, nuclear weapons have thee potential to take a massive amount of lives when there is no need for it. I believe that there needs to be a law that makes nuclear weapons illegal in times of war. There are simply too many nuclear warheads in the world that could destroy the world 150 times over. There are plenty of weapons that are deemed inhumane and are not allowed to be used in war. For example mustard gas, flamethrowers, and bio-weapons are all deemed inhumane and not allowed for use. Why can’t nuclear weapons be added to that list? We clearly don’t need them to win wars. We won the Iraq war without the use of nuclear weapons, and this proves that we do not need them, or least not in the amount that we have now. Something needs to change or one little spark can set off World War 3 and maybe the end of humanity as we know it.

Nuclear weapons are too dangerous and need to be banned before something catastrophic happens. I believe that the possession of a single nuclear weapon to be a huge danger let alone thousands of nuclear warheads throughout the world. We have seen the effects of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and they have even become more powerful than the ones used back then. If we now how dangerous and detrimental they are to the world and everyone on it, why do we still have them? We, as a planet, should pass a law prohibiting the production and use of all nuclear weapons of mass destruction. We do not want another nuclear catastrophe on our hands now it would be worse. Considering it only takes around 100 nukes to be launched off to completely destroy the world, one would think that we would make this law a reality. The world is always on the brink of war and it is only a matter of time before something sets off World War 3. Something needs to be done to stop another nuclear catastrophe from happening. We all saw the detrimental effect from Hiroshima and we do not want another event like that. As a planet, we need to get rid of all nuclear weapons, and we need to do it soon before something really bad happens.

Sincerely, 

Robert