Starchild,
You seem to neglect the fact the only entity having used nuclear weapons as a vehicle for mass murder has been the criminal U.S. Govt, not "terrorists or authoritarian fundamentalist regimes that sponsor them."
I'll forgive you for this egregious oversight if you bring me some "Don't 'We' Me!" buttons on Sat.
Warm regards, Michael
Michael,
I would say that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki essentially *were* acts of terrorism, even if neither the aggressors nor the victims saw them that way at the time. However, you seem to neglect the fact that the U.S. government today is a different entity than the U.S. government during the Truman administration when those bombs were dropped.
Using an argument like the one implied by your comment below, I could assert that monkeys have never used nuclear weapons -- humans have been the only species to do so. By this logic, the world would clearly be safer if monkeys had their fingers (paws?) on the nuclear buttons, instead of human beings!
Ironically, the current leaders of the U.S. government would probably endorse your notion that they are institutionally the same as the U.S. government that existed during the Truman era. This view gives them a sort of immortality -- the names may change, the old leaders die and be replaced by the new, but the government goes on, a timeless embodiment of the nation. Surely nationalism demands no less!
In fact it occurs to me that when speaking of previous administrations, instead of saying "the U.S. government", it would be more accurate and clarifying to say "a U.S. government" -- e.g. "A U.S. government was the first to use nuclear weapons." "Which one?" "The one that existed at the time Harry Truman was president." Same goes for past governments and regimes in other countries, of course.
No promises on the buttons, but I'll see what I can do. Even though my time would arguably be better spent working on materials for my School Board race.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Starchild,
At the risk of you making a monkey out of me, I'll not attempt a response.
Warm regards, Michael