World War III, Circa 1983

I missed this last week--revelations about speech drawn up for Queen Elizabeth in 1983 in the event of World War III sparked by then-hot (largely secret) nuclear crisis with the Soviets.   Marc Ambinder has links to that and long analysis of how close we came.  I was editing the U.S. leading antinuclear magazine at the times, Nuclear Times.   This week, as every year in early August (and in three books), I have focused here (see many posts yesterday) on the atomic bombings of Japan, the aftermath, cover-up and lessons, partly motivated by this very issue:  The U.S. set a precedent for using the bomb, and the media, political figures, and most Americans still defend that use today, easing the way for further use.  A line against using nuclear weapons against people has been drawn...in the sand...and the U.S. still has a first-use policy.