Nuclear brinkmanship
Dear Sir,
North Korea is once again rattling its nuclear sabre and in the process is exercising nuclear brinkmanship. Any miscalculation could lead to an atomic holocaust in the Korean peninsula.
Today, nuclear powers use their weapons as an instrument for leverage in foreign policy. If nuclear powers play a risky game, it is only a matter of time before a global crisis will arise. If neither side is willing to compromise and the bluff is called, the destruction of civilisation as we know it will follow.
The 21st century has witnessed an exponential growth in technology and this growth was the most dramatic in military technology. North Korea has successfully tested and developed nuclear weapons. It has also already miniaturised nuclear weapons for ballistic missiles and has armed missiles with nuclear warheads in 2011.
In 2004, Russian generals warned the US that electromagnetic pulse weapons secrets were leaked to the North Koreans to create a super (EMP) warhead. Such a weapon once activated could destroy the South Korean electronic infrastructure with catastrophic consequences.
Farouk Araie, [email protected]
Safeguard ancient sites
Dear Sir,
Reports about damages to the Syria’s Palmyra heritage site, also called the “Pearl of the desert”, have been shocking.
The ancient city of Palmyra, which is a Unesco World Heritage site, is famed for its well-preserved Graeco-Roman ruins. The Baalshamin temple, built nearly 2,000 years ago, is one of the ancient city’s best-known buildings.
With the destruction of the priceless ancient structures in Palymra, our world has become culturally poorer. It is highly disappointing that international organisations could not help safeguard the place.
A number of similar sites in Iraq and elsewhere have also been extensively damaged during the recent years of conflict.
The fate of the Palmyra heritage site, which the Unesco says has “outstanding universal value”, should not fall on similar sites in the region and they need to be safeguarded at any cost.
Ramachandran Nair, PO Box 740, Ruwi 112, Oman
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