August 05, 2016

On the Anniversary of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

"The top military commanders concurred that the decision to use the atomic bomb was political, not military," writes H. Patricia Hynes

On the Anniversary of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Hiroshima after the bombing, now a peace monument

Portside, August 3, 2016

"August 6 and August 9 mark the dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, an act that launched the perilous era of nuclear weapons and nuclear power.  After the first atomic blast, which killed 100,000 residents of Hiroshima immediately, the grievous radiation sickness of survivors was not anticipated, nor was it believed when reported. Without any reconsideration, the United States dropped a second bomb - this one plutonium - on Nagasaki, killing 70,000 citizens outright. The American military censored all documentation and photo images of the two bombs' unparalleled human devastation, sheltering Americans from the horrors of what our government perpetrated on Japanese civilians: women, men, and children instantly reduced to ash. Likewise, the post-war U.S. occupying authority forbade Japanese citizens, under penalty of law, to own pictures of the atomic bomb destruction of both cities.

American military leaders from all branches of the armed forces, among them Generals Eisenhower, Arnold, Marshall and MacArthur; and Admirals Leahy, Nimitz, and Halsey strongly dissented from the decision to use the bombs - some prior to August 1945, some in retrospect - for both military and moral reasons. Japan was already defeated and in peace negotiations with the Soviet Union; surrender was imminent. Moreover, the Soviet Union was willing to enter the war against Japan, if necessary. Bombing dense human settlements was barbarous and would shock world opinion; and a demonstration bombing away from residential areas (also suggested by many atomic bomb scientists) could be used instead to force immediate surrender. The top military commanders concurred that the decision to use the atomic bomb was political, not military."...
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Pat Hynes is a retired Professor of Environmental Health from Boston University School of Public Health. She directs the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice in western Massachusetts and is a member of Nuclear Free Future of Western Massachusetts.

MORE: In an op-ed piece in their local newspaper, Pat Hynes and longtime peace activist Frances Crowe wrote: ..."Over the next 30 years, the United States plans to spend $1 trillion to modernize the existing arsenal of nuclear bombs and warheads... no other long-term public expenditure approaches this immense sum..."

See our report: Hiroshima, Nagasaki: never again!

Peace Declaration by the Mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsu, August 6, 2016
Excerpt:
..."Is it not time to honor the spirit of Hiroshima and clear the path toward a world free from that “absolute evil,” that ultimate inhumanity? Is it not time to unify and manifest our passion in action? This year, for the first time ever, the G7 foreign ministers gathered in Hiroshima. Transcending the differences between countries with and without nuclear weapons, their declaration called for political leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and fulfillment of the obligation to negotiate nuclear disarmament mandated by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This declaration was unquestionably a step toward unity.

We need to fill our policymakers with the passion to solidify this unity and create a security system based on trust and dialogue. To that end, I once again urge the leaders of all nations to visit the A-bombed cities. As President Obama confirmed in Hiroshima, such visits will surely etch the reality of the atomic bombings in each heart. Along with conveying the pain and suffering of the hibakusha, I am convinced they will elicit manifestations of determination."...

Schedule of the 2016 World Conference against A & H Bombs: A Nuclear Weapon-Free, Peaceful and Just World.  August 1-10, 2016