Today it is 65 years ago that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, followed 3 days later by another a-bomb on Nagasaki. Till the day of today people are still suffering from the consequences of radiation exposure, making the use of those two bombs one of the most heinous war crimes of the 20th century.
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Hiroshima and Nagasaki are just faint memories for most of the world. How many people in America even paused to think about what happened 65 years ago?
Unfortunately you are right. The worst is that humanity never seems to learn.
You certainly deserve a round of applause for your post and more specifically, your blog in general. Very high quality material.
I don’t think the plus/minus 1 million Americans who were saved from the assault on the Japanese mainland would agree with your classification of the use of the atom bomb as a war crime!
I think you forget that the Japanese started the conflict with America, and that great nation chose to end it by demonstrating to the Japanese Government that they could destroy them all, if surrender was not forthcoming.
Where is the crime in that?
I do understand your point. The problem with history is that it is written by the winners of conflicts, not by those who lost the war.
One could argue that the conflict between Japan and the USA started in 1853, when Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay and forced Japan to open up to the West at gunpoint.
By the time the bombs were used, Japan was already bombed to rubble. But the bombs were made and ready to use, and had to be ‘tested’, because the next conflict, with Stalinist Russia was already in the making.
The sad thing is that only handfull of men made the decision to go to war, millions of innocent lives were lost (on both sides). I’m australian, we lost lives in all conflicts as allies in fights that wernt even ours. Cheers
You are right. People don’t make war, politicians do.
The contribution of Australia and New Zealand on allied side in many wars around the world is remarkable. I visited the ANZAC memorial monument in Sydney, which was very impressive.
The war memorial in Canberra is fantastic, you need a good day to get around it and it’s a humbling experience. I recently watched the new movie Beneath Hill 60. http://www.beneathhill60.com.au/intro.htm , great movie.
Cheers
Grant
Once you hear the details of victory, it is hard to distinguish it from a defeat.
Jean-Paul Sartre
Yes you are right. Fear of the past effects not only our present but our future also.