Reaping what we sow
Today is the 59th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan. Of course, three days ago was the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, which has historically overshadowed the second bombing. Lest we forget this atrocity, we should remember that at least 75,000 innocent people were killed instantly. Many, many more died slower, more painful deaths due to residual effects of the bombing.
This was terrorism, not by a bunch of radical religious fundamentalists, but by the United States of America, Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. Harry Truman's chief of staff Admiral William D. Leahy wrote in his book I Was There "[using the] barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons." He lamented that the U.S. government "had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages" and that he "was not taught to make war in that fashion." In 1963 Dwight Eisenhower told Newsweek "the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing." Although many Americans revere Harry Truman and think he made the right decision, that was not the universal opinion among the top brass. (For more famous dissenting opinions, click here.)
The uranium bomb dropped on Hiroshima literally obliterated the city. There was no communication into or out of the city. Japan's government had no way of knowing precisely what had happened. Yet, the United States gave Japan only three days to respond to the demand for an unconditional surrender.
Three days later, the U.S. dropped a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki in what amounted to a science experiment. Fortunately, the United States didn't have any additional nuclear weapons ready, or Truman might have authorized their use as well.
Many have questioned Truman's motivation for dropping these bombs. It is possible that Truman was telling the truth when he later said he honestly thought dropping the bombs would result in the least loss of lives. More probable is that Truman dropped the bombs to send a message to the rest of the world, especially Stalin and the USSR, of the power possessed by the United States, and that the U.S. would not hesitate to use that power.
Dropping those bombs ushered in a new era of warfare. Terrorism and targeting civilians became an acceptable strategy. The Soviets reacted by accelerating their production of weapons of mass destruction. It consolidated power in the executive branch of the Federal Government by providing the President with the power to destroy massive numbers of lives with the push of a button. It launched civilization toward the ultimate form of collectivism, whereby civilian lives become expendable fodder for the sufficiently empowered governments of the world.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be remembered with solemn and thoughtful reflection as atrocities that left us with the legacy we have today.
Instead of making excuses for past U.S. war crimes, we need to remember them for the great evils that they indeed were. We cannot undo history, but with determination, we might possibly prevent such horrendous crimes from ever again being done in our name. The worst way to guarantee a brighter future is to look at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and draw the lesson that sometimes the government needs to kill hundreds of thousands of civilians for the sake of humanity. Indeed, it is that conventional lesson that has helped solidify the United States in a state of perpetual war since the end of World War II, and that dangerously faulty lesson might still one day be invoked to facilitate such terror and atrocity that we can now hardly imagine.
This was terrorism, not by a bunch of radical religious fundamentalists, but by the United States of America, Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. Harry Truman's chief of staff Admiral William D. Leahy wrote in his book I Was There "[using the] barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons." He lamented that the U.S. government "had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages" and that he "was not taught to make war in that fashion." In 1963 Dwight Eisenhower told Newsweek "the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing." Although many Americans revere Harry Truman and think he made the right decision, that was not the universal opinion among the top brass. (For more famous dissenting opinions, click here.)
The uranium bomb dropped on Hiroshima literally obliterated the city. There was no communication into or out of the city. Japan's government had no way of knowing precisely what had happened. Yet, the United States gave Japan only three days to respond to the demand for an unconditional surrender.
Three days later, the U.S. dropped a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki in what amounted to a science experiment. Fortunately, the United States didn't have any additional nuclear weapons ready, or Truman might have authorized their use as well.
Many have questioned Truman's motivation for dropping these bombs. It is possible that Truman was telling the truth when he later said he honestly thought dropping the bombs would result in the least loss of lives. More probable is that Truman dropped the bombs to send a message to the rest of the world, especially Stalin and the USSR, of the power possessed by the United States, and that the U.S. would not hesitate to use that power.
Dropping those bombs ushered in a new era of warfare. Terrorism and targeting civilians became an acceptable strategy. The Soviets reacted by accelerating their production of weapons of mass destruction. It consolidated power in the executive branch of the Federal Government by providing the President with the power to destroy massive numbers of lives with the push of a button. It launched civilization toward the ultimate form of collectivism, whereby civilian lives become expendable fodder for the sufficiently empowered governments of the world.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be remembered with solemn and thoughtful reflection as atrocities that left us with the legacy we have today.
Instead of making excuses for past U.S. war crimes, we need to remember them for the great evils that they indeed were. We cannot undo history, but with determination, we might possibly prevent such horrendous crimes from ever again being done in our name. The worst way to guarantee a brighter future is to look at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and draw the lesson that sometimes the government needs to kill hundreds of thousands of civilians for the sake of humanity. Indeed, it is that conventional lesson that has helped solidify the United States in a state of perpetual war since the end of World War II, and that dangerously faulty lesson might still one day be invoked to facilitate such terror and atrocity that we can now hardly imagine.
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