ABSTRACT
The precise status of nuclear weapons is a matter of considerable legal debate and the possession and use of such weapons continue to pose ethical dilemmas.102 Such weapons derive from the Second World War when the United States Manhattan Project conducted at the Los Alamos Science Laboratory103 succeeded in the production of an atomic bomb.104 In August 1945, President Truman authorised the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki105 with the express intention of bringing the conflict with Japan to an early conclusion. The arguments for and against that decision have been debated ever since.106 Thereafter, Western powers justified the possession of such weapons on the basis of resisting the numerical superiority of Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union forces in Europe and deterring aggression. Since 1945, nuclear weapons have not been used in conflict but their use was contemplated in the Korean War and the issue was raised in the Gulf War in 1991, when it appeared that chemical and biological weapons might be employed by Iraq.
