Aug 30, 2017 2 min read

Believe it or not, the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks is approaching. Because of the catastrophic damage and immense human suffering by Hurricane Harvey, it may not get as much coverage as in past years.

As viscerally painful as these two American tragedies are, there is something that would make either pale in comparison. And that something is a nuclear war.

As tensions with North Korea escalate, there is widespread agreement that there is no easy solution. It’s unsettling, however, that a nuclear option always seems to be near the top of the list, which should be no surprise considering that we have a president who has wondered aloud why we have nuclear weapons if we don’t use them.

There has never been a nuclear war, but the general consensus of what would happen in the event of one is a searing scenario that is worse than 20 Harveys and 20 Sept. 11 attacks strung together in a tapestry of terror. Consider that millions of Americans would perish within hours, and thousands more would be sickened for years from radioactive fallout. In an all-out exchange, the sun would be blotted out, temperatures would drop and crops would not be able to grow. We would literally starve in the darkness of nuclear winter.

The attacks on 9/11 were spawned by evil from abroad. Hurricane Harvey was a wicked force of brute nature. Both were beyond our control.

But our leaders must stop talking about nuclear war as it if it is a viable solution to a foreign crisis, or if there is such a thing as a winnable one. Unless you consider it a win if civilization as we know it would be over by the time you finish reading this newspaper.

Vin Morabito

Scranton