Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Ground Zero & Einstein

Ground Zero- the point on the Earth's surface where an explosion occurs.

There has been a simmering controversy in the U.S. over a Muslim's group decision to build a Mosque(actually a community center) near the former World Trade Center's buildings, which is called 'ground zero' because it was the location of the Sept. 11th, 2001 attacks on the U.S. by a small radical Muslim group.
While many have defended the right of the group to build the center as a basic First Amendment issue, which of course it is, I have been wondering what Albert Einstein, considered one of the most intelligent human beings ever born, would have thought on this issue. Einstein's greatest regret was his encouragement to the U.S. during WWII to build an atomic bomb which were later used on two Japanese cities.
The original 'ground zero' can be visited today in the city of Hiroshima. From this spot the heat & fire from a nuclear blast radiated outward, instantly killing between 90,000 & 166,000 people (mostly women & children) & tens of thousands more in the days, weeks, & years to follow by radiation poisoning. A few days later another 'ground zero' blast was created in the city of Nagasaki, killing between 60,000 to 80,000 people instantly.
So, in a historical context the Sept 11th attacks with a death toll of about 3,000(almost all adults) pale in comparison to original 'ground zero' atomic bombings. But since 'ground zero' only means 'the point on an earth's surface where an explosion occurs' why should only cities (Japanese or U.S.) have memorials for explosions/bombs? The United States during the Vietnam 'Conflict' dropped more bombs & poison (napalm & agent orange) on that small country than were dropped during the entire WWII. There are tens of thousands of 'ground zero's' in Vietnam & unexploded U.S. bombs are still killing rural farmers & children in Vietnam & Laos.
In the past nine years since the Sept 11th attack the powerful U.S. Air Force has dropped thousands of bombs in Afghanistan & Iraq creating countless 'ground zero's' whose 'collateral damage' has killed thousands of innocent men, women, & children. The U.S. is even creating new 'ground zero's' in Pakistan with our dozens of air strikes from pilot-less drones(operated by an Air Force Officer sitting behind a desk somewhere) & of course the 'collateral damage' of bad guys to civilian deaths is quite high.
What would Albert Einstein think of all this? Of course, we don't know since he is long gone but perhaps one of his famous quotes would give a hint. Einstein, who lived through two World Wars, said "Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind." He probably would have spoken out against the horrific violence of suicide bombers & just as strongly against the politically calculated invasions & state-sponsored violence the U.S. waged against Iraq & Afghanistan the past nine years. Violence creates violence. Terror is terror, whether one experiences it from a fanatical suicide bomber on a city bus or a N.A.T.O. bombing 'mistake' on another Afghan wedding party.
Ground Zero. Which one would that be? When are we going to stop creating more 'ground zero's'?...

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