Weapons of mass destruction may not be an idealistic vision but the way of the world is such that the measure of a super power is governed by its powers of destruction and nuclear ability and America too is proud of its ability to defend itself “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” When Albert Einstein signed a letter written by Leo Szilard that the Nazis were working on a super weapon which they most probably would use on cities like London and Moscow, The US got cracking. Robert Oppenheimer and Enrico Fermi worked 6 years on Nuclear physics which led to one of the first destructive weapons of unfathomable power and destruction.
It was the Atom Bomb and Harry Truman decided to use it in 1945 on Japan. Although it was a controversial decision to use the bomb o a civilian population, it did its job by putting an end to the worst war in history, WWII. Fat man and little boy changed the warring mindset of the Japanese in 4 days and they too have never been the same.
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The USA may have abolished slavery in 1861 but a slur on human history remained in the likes of segregation and racism widely practiced in America till the sixties and early seventies. Racial segregation was one of the worst periods of American history when almost every way of life was divided among the white and colored population.
Although the courts ruled that desegregation in schools was unconstitutional, the country wasn’t ready to accept it. Through the mammoth contribution of social activists like Martin Luther King, the civil rights movement in the US ultimately put an end to an era of discrimination. Although sporadic incidents do take place Now and then, The USA, by and large, is one big society free from racism and communalism.
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The Vietnam War can well be said to be the result of bad politics. The global spreads of communism were feared by western countries like the USA who felt it had to be stopped. Communism was a threat to American interests in Southeast Asia namely democratic South Vietnam and it felt it needed to interfere to protect the country from it.
Americans didn’t really want the war in Vietnam as it never had an actual villain. This time nuclear bombs was not an option as that would have complicated things with Russia and China. The Vietnam War was more like a face-saver for the USA where it needed to remove a much of its influence people and militarily away from the country. It incurred a terrible loss by way of resources and men but in a way, the Vietnam War consolidated the American public into one out pouring of solidarity for peace. Thousands of citizens took to the streets in peace rallies clamoring for an end to the war and to bring the boys home. The rallies worked and plans of re-invasion were scrapped. America had enough of seeing body bags of GIs, little girls napalmed in gruesome pictures and massacres without any purpose. BY the time the war was over, 58,000 Americans died for stupid reasons.
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