War museum and nuclear weapons

Great for the museum to stick to its history when it gets it right as it did on strategic bombing of Germany, but when should it correct the story when it gets it wrong? In Nov 2005 I stopped by the museum and took the this photo of a display that tried to “explain” the nuclear arms race as some big misunderstanding.

War museum nuclear weapons panel

Here is what the display said, as it appears in the attached photo:

“Did you know? The Cold War arms race produced ‘overkill,’ enough nuclear weapons to kill every person on earth several times over. This was in part the result of decades of military and scientific miscalculation about the effects of nuclear explosions, including the deadly firestorms they would have caused.”

I wonder what our Pugwash friends have to say about this interpretation of history?

Best,

Steve

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