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The mayor of Hiroshima has demanded that the US renounce nuclear armament in the past, most recently in an letter to the editor in the WSJ in January 2007.

A week later, my response to the mayor's letter was published in the WSJ. Here is the text of my letter:

Why Are We Still Free? Because We're Vigilant and Nuclear-Equipped

With all due respect to Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba ("With 20/20 Foresight, Mayors Around the World Join to End Nuclear War," Letters, Jan. 23), nuclear deterrence has protected U.S. soil from conventional attack, keeping our country inviolate since a few years after Imperial Japanese forces landed in the Aleutian Islands in June of 1942. For more than 60 years, the U.S. nuclear triad (aircraft, naval vessels and ICBMs) has provided the guarantee of massive retaliation in response to an attack by a rogue state, a deterrent unmatched by any other means of defense.

Prior to the development of nuclear weapons, the security of nations rested on conventional forces. These forces, while strong, were not infallible and could be bested by a dastardly surprise attack, as evidenced by the terrible events of Dec. 7, 1941. With no fear of instantaneous obliteration by way of an irresistible retaliatory nuclear strike, a nation, even in the 21st century, might feel emboldened to launch a bold strike against a fellow nation.

While the events of Sept. 11, 2001, prove that the U.S. faces a new enemy of a stateless nature, the remnants of 20th century rogue states, like Iran and North Korea, remain a threatening reality in the new millennium.

Mayor Akiba refers to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as the victims of nuclear attack. I'd ask him to consider those cities as the victims of Imperial Japanese national arrogance and temporary insanity, from a sad period in history when Japan was a rogue nation, perpetrating brutalities upon the peace-loving peoples of several countries. Until the propensity to launch ruthless surprise attacks is somehow removed from the human psyche, I must respectfully disagree with Mayor Akiba and call for the retention of U.S. nuclear retaliatory capabilities.

As an American, I sleep soundly knowing that Trident-equipped U.S. naval submarines lurk deep beneath the waves, Minuteman III missiles wait silently in their silos on the Great Plains and Air Force bombers are ready to deploy, should any nation attempt some desperate gambit and attack our country. The U.S. has the stated position of using nuclear weapons only in retaliation to an attack on our country. Until we abrogate that commitment, I support our remaining vigilant, resolute and nuclear-equipped.

I'm still awaiting a response from the Mayor. Funny, he hasn't responded.....