Readers React: Building new nukes while shrinking the U.S. diplomatic corps is a recipe for disaster

To the editor: President Trump’s call for more nuclear weapons, smaller in size but much greater in power than those that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is chilling. (“Trump strategy review calls for building smaller nuclear weapons and adding scenarios for their use,” Feb. 2)

The president is demonstrating his single-minded commitment to a ham-fisted “my bomb is bigger” approach to conflict.

If the aim is to incinerate the planet, Trump is on the right track. If it is to avoid nuclear war, we should be diligently seeking out diplomatic options, however limited, and pursuing them relentlessly. Instead, the diplomatic corps has shrunk to such an extent that the U.S. does not even have an ambassador to many countries, South Korea included.

Trump should bear in mind that “fire and fury like the world has never seen” cannot be limited to one part of this planet, but would rain down on the people of this country as well as on innocent civilians elsewhere.

Betty Guthrie, Irvine

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To the editor: So far we are the only nation that has used nuclear weapons, and that was more than 70 years ago.

Other nations have had them for some time, but to date they appear to understand that further use could turn the whole world into hell in a hurry. So far, it’s been, “Don’t use yours on us or we will use ours on you.”

Trump appears to be expanding potential reasons to carry out a nuclear strike, including as a response to cyberattacks. In some cases, it may not be possible to determine who carried out a cyberattack; however, an impetuous leader might blame any enemy that he wants to put down.

I can only hope we will not abandon the wisdom the world has heeded for the past 70 years.

Ken Hense, El Segundo

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To the editor: Why wasn’t this article on the front page of the Feb. 3 print edition instead of Page A-10?

I take seriously the problem of the state Capitol’s decades of sexual harassment, but the article on the back page is shockingly scary. It warranted screaming headlines.

Julie Allan, Los Angeles

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