69 years and Counting: Looking Back At Hiroshima and Nagasaki

By Fareed Khan

 

August 6th and August 9th marked the 69th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs by the United States on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The days came and went this year with little political or public commentary on two of the most horrific events in the history of war.

 

 

Conservative estimates of the death toll in the days and weeks after the bombing are approximately 150,000 dead in Hiroshima and 75,000 dead in Nagasaki.  However, in the years that followed survivors of the bombings began to die as a result of various cancers, bomb-related diseases and injuries resulting from radiation exposure and physical trauma. It is estimated that by 1950, 200,000 more people from the two cities had died.  And of those survivors who did not die, many became victims of various types of cancers as they aged.

While the U.S. justified its use of atomic weapons by claiming it was the only way to end the war with Japan without sustaining many thousands more American casualties  Many experts, politicians,and scientists came forward before and after the bombings to state that the war could have been ended quickly without the use of the atomic bombs and that Japan was on the cusp of surrendering at the time the decision was made to use the weapons.

Among the critics of the decision were: Admiral William Leahy, chief military advisor to Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman; General Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe; General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific; General Curtis LeMay, future head of the U.S. Air Force; Navy Secretary James Forrestal; former President Herbert Hoover; Albert Einstein; as well as a number of the lead scientists of the Manhattan Project.

DWIGHT EISENHOWER

Supreme Allied Commander in Europe

"Japan was already defeated and dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary . . . I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'.”

ADMIRAL WILLIAM D. LEAHY

Chief of Staff to Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman

"It is my opinion that the use of this 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."

HERBERT HOOVER

Former President of the United States

On May 28, 1945, Hoover visited President Truman and suggested a way to end the Pacific war quickly: "I am convinced that if you, as President, will make a shortwave broadcast to the people of Japan - tell them they can have their Emperor if they surrender, that it will not mean unconditional surrender except for the militarists - you'll get a peace in Japan - you'll have both wars over."

GENERAL DOUGLAS MacARTHUR

Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific

MacArthur biographer William Manchester has described MacArthur's reaction to the issuance by the Allies of the Potsdam Proclamation to Japan: "...the Potsdam declaration in July, demand[ed] that Japan surrender unconditionally or face 'prompt and utter destruction.' MacArthur was appalled. He knew that the Japanese would never renounce their emperor, and that without him an orderly transition to peace would be impossible . . . Ironically, when the surrender did come, it was conditional, and the condition was a continuation of the imperial reign. Had the General's advice been followed, the resort to atomic weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki might have been unnecessary."

Today, almost seven decades later, it's difficult to imagine why a country would justify unleashing the horror of such weapons on anyone.  And while no nation other than the United States has used nuclear weapons against an adversary, the nine nuclear nations of the world combined sit on a stockpile of nuclear weapons many times more powerful than those dropped on Japan.  If even a fraction of these weapons were ever used they would render the Earth uninhabitable to almost all life on this planet. In total the nuclear nations of the world possess 17,300 nuclear warheads among them with Russia (8,500 warheads) and the United States (7,700 warheads) accounting for 92% of that number.

As this anniversary passes and the 70th anniversary of the bombings approaches next year let us hope that the campaign initiated in 2007 to declare nuclear weapons illegal under international law gains momentum and reaches a point where that goal can be achieved.

“Nuclear abolition is the democratic wish of the world's people, and has been our goal almost since the dawn of the atomic age. Together, we have the power to decide whether the nuclear era ends in a bang or worldwide celebration.”

~ Archbishop Desmond Tutu 

Related:
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* August 6th – A Date Which Will (Not) Live in Infamy

* The Living Myths About Nuclear Murder: Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki

* CIA: No Evidence of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program

* Israeli Asher Karni & Nuclear Terrorism Network

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* China, India, Pakistan boost nuclear arsenals

* Is The U.S. Planning A Horrific Global Nuclear War?

* The Dangers of a Middle East Nuclear War

* Nuclear Hero's 'Crime' Was Making Us Safer

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© Fareed Khan.  All Rights Reserved.