A glimpse of nuclear terror and horror on a day that Japan will never forget

By Fareed Khan

On August 6th and August 9th, 1945 the United States committed the single worst act of terrorism in history when it dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While it was justified as an act of war, the overwhelming majority of victims were civilians – men, women, children who were not involved in any way in the Japanese military.

This clip from the 1983 Japanese animated movie “Barefoot Gen” about the Hiroshima attack gives a glimpse into the horror and terror that the civilian population of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were subjected to when the U.S. dropped its atomic bombs on Japan.

The US 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 U.S. politicians, scientists and military experts came forward before the nuclear attack to state that the war could have been ended quickly without the use of the atomic bombs. They included:

• 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; and
• Some of the lead scientists of the Manhattan Project.

In a personal visit to President Truman a couple of weeks before the bombing, General Dwight D. Eisenhower urged him not to use the atomic bombs. Eisenhower said (in a 1963 interview in Newsweek):

“It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing . . . to use the atomic bomb, to kill and terrorize civilians, without even attempting [negotiations], was a double crime.”

The death toll in the days, weeks and months after those nuclear attacks resulted in a conservatively estimated 150,000 dead in Hiroshima and 75,000 dead in Nagasaki. In the decades following the attacks, tens of thousands of the survivors died from various cancers as a result of exposure to radiation.

War is state terrorism on an epic scale but the perpetrators rarely if ever see the inside of a court or are convicted for their crimes. World War 2 was an act of terrorism instigated by Germany but involving most of the nations of the world. The decisions by both the Allies and the Axis powers to target civilians in their military strategy were criminal acts of terrorism, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of the 1899 and 1907 Hague Conventions, and the 1925 Geneva Conventions.  America's decision to target Hiroshima and Nagasaki with their atomic bombs, where the majority of victims were civilians, were acts of terrorism and unspeakable evil.

History is written by the victors in that the most egregious and criminal acts of the victor nation are rarely if ever brought to light or prosecuted.  The US and its World War 2 allies wrote the history of the atomic attacks on Japan to put the US and the Allies in the most positive light. However, anyone who seeks the truth will discover that nations that create empires build those empires on foundations of evil and the bodies of the innocent.

The reality is that US President Harry Truman, who had the final say on going ahead with the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is a war criminal and should be remembered as such. And the United States is a terrorist state not just for what they did at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also for their actions in the 70+ years following World War 2 where they have (directly and indirectly) attacked any nation that dared to oppose their foreign policy, challenged their economic hegemony, or stood in the way of their global ambitions.

Of all the nations on Earth, the US is the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the world. On the one hand it holds itself up as the shining light of democracy, human rights and freedom, and on the other hand it undermines democracy, violently violates human rights, and destroys the freedom of people in other nations whose governments dare to stand up to the US. For modern examples all you have to do is look at Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and Venezuela.

It seems that if you are not an ally or friend of the US, the only way to keep them from interfering in your nation's business or violating your sovereignty is to do like North Korea and build your own nuclear weapons – the very weapons that made the U.S. a terrorist state in the first place.

To date the US is the only nation that has used nuclear weapons against an adversary. As the world marks the 74th anniversary of the 1945 attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, let us hope and pray that no other nation ever becomes the second.

© 2019 Fareed Khan.  All rights reserved.

Quebec court’s refusal to grant injunction against “secularism” law during constitutional challenge shows systematic prejudice towards racialized religious minorities in Quebec’s justice system

By Fareed Khan

 
The refusal by a Quebec Superior Court judge to suspend application of certain sections of the Quebec government's "secularism" law (Bill 21), while a constitutional challenge works its way through the courts, shows how ingrained and pervasive the stereotypes at the heart of this issue truly are, and that the judge doesn’t accept the negative impact of the bill on those most affected.  It also shows how deeply rooted the biases against racialized religious minorities are not just in Quebec society broadly, but also within Quebec's justice system, which is supposed to protect the rights of minority communities.  What else would explain the decision to allow the continued enforcement of a law that violates the fundamental Charter guaranteed rights and civil liberties of Quebec's religious minorities, while there are legal challenges to the law underway?

 

 

A Superior Court judge in Montreal announced the decision to refuse the request for a stay of the law made by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) on July 18th.  In addition, the CCLA and NCCM had sought an injunction to freeze the two most controversial sections of the law, which included measures to ban the wearing of religious symbols and clothing by public school teachers and other public authority figures in the workplace.

It has been common practice, since the Charter of Rights became law, for laws that may be unconstitutional to be temporarily suspended as the legal challenges worked their way through the justice system and a final decision is rendered, usually by the Supreme Court.  Such actions are generally taken to prevent the application of a law that could be deemed unconstitutional from violating the rights of Canadians during the legal process.  The fact that the judge refused to impose the requested injunction, despite numerous legal precedents across Canada where such action has been taken in previous constitutional challenges, raises the question as to whether Quebec's legal system has been infected by the ideology of what can be termed “radical secularism”.

This refusal by the Quebec courts to impose the requested injunction sends a message that inequality, intolerance, exclusion, segregation and isolation of those who visibly practice their faith in Quebec are completely acceptable.  This is the sort of law that one expects to see under a fascist regime, because it is about targeting, isolating, demonizing and punishing visibly religious minority communities and stripping them of their rights.  The fact that this is happening in Canada is unbelievable.

There have been incidents in Quebec courts in the past where members of religious minorities have been told by judges to remove head coverings worn as an article of faith.  The most recent example involved Quebec court Judge Eliana Marengo who refused to allow a Muslim woman to appear in her court wearing a hijab.  Marengo's case is currently before Quebec's judicial council where a request has been made to remove her from the bench for her alleged misconduct.

While those opposed to Bill 21 may have lost this first skirmish the battle won't stop here, and an appeal of the Quebec court's decision is guaranteed, as is the fact that this will end up at the Supreme Court.  The diversity of Quebec communities that are opposed to this violation of fundamental rights by the Quebec government are determined in their conviction that this unjust law must be withdrawn.  Of course, the fly in the ointment is that while this law works its way up to the Supreme Court there are thousands of Quebecers whose rights will be violated and livelihoods threatened under this legislation.

The CCLA and NCCM are expected to lay out their next steps in response to the Quebec Superior Court's decision in the coming days and weeks before the Quebec Court of Appeal.  As rights activists wait for this there is growing moral support coming from provincial and municipal governments from outside Quebec, as well as from ordinary Canadians.  This is an indication about how much Canadians value defending the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that the Quebec government stands alone in its bigoted attitude towards how Canadians practice their faith.

© 2019 The View From Here.  © 2019 Fareed Khan.  All rights reserved.