George, it's "New-Clear"...

On my way to work, Subaru Kazoo and I spotted a bumper sticker that gave us pause. If you’re a stickler for details, than technically it was one of those back windshield stickers. It was faded from exposure to the sun, but you could still make out the words:
"Proud to be The Greatest of the Seven Atomic Nations.

There was some kind of logo there, but it was too faded to read. I thought I saw some swirling atoms though. I was a little frightened at the extreme patriotism of the message, but Zubie was laughing his ass off. So strange though. I mean, "The Greatest" of the atomic nations? The greatest of nations living in fear? That’s a pretty lofty claim really. Considering Pakistan has approximately 40 nuclear bombs as opposed to the US with around 10, 000.

I realized I wasn’t exactly sure which 7 nations made the list. So I looked it up, and you know, the cause and effect of the list is quite interesting. It’s like a chain. The US developed the bomb because they were afraid of Germany. Russia started churning them out because they were scared of the USA. China split some atoms to keep the Russians at bay. France and England put together programs to maintain a European balance in the Russian – American standoff. India supposedly created the "Peace Bomb" out of fears of China. And of course Pakistan panicked about India and then spent the next two decades building their own bomb and leaking more secrets than a drunken cheerleader at the highschool dance. Then of course, you have Isreal, who isn’t on the list, but I mean, come on, as if they don’t have nuclear weapons. They won’t sign the proliferation treaty (neither will the other seven) and whenever they’re asked about it you get, "What is this talk of bombs? We don’t have bombs. Or maybe we do. Who can say?"

I think generally, many Pakistanis are proud of the nuclear arms program. It’s not that I agree with them, but I can definitely see where they’re coming from. You’ve got a huge neighbour with a population of a billion with whom you are in near constant conflict. They’ve got a much bigger army, air force and navy. Add in the idea that you used to be all one big country that was split amidst horrible bloodshed and the largest forced migration of peoples in modern history, and you can see maybe why it’s nice to have an equalizer.

But still. A bumper sticker?