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Title: Don’t Whitewash the Hiroshima Bombing
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URL Source: https://www.theamericanconservative ... itewash-the-hiroshima-bombing/
Published: Aug 6, 2019
Author: Peter Van Buren
Post Date: 2019-08-06 05:04:12 by Ada
Keywords: None
Views: 1265
Comments: 55
It reveals a dangerous strain of vengeance in U.S. foreign policy. August 6 usually doesn’t make headlines in America. But mark the day by what absence demonstrates: On the 72nd anniversary of the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and some 140,000 non-combatants, there is no call for reflection in the United States. In an era when pundits routinely worry about America’s loss of moral standing because of an offish, ill-mannered president, the only nation in history to employ a weapon of mass destruction on an epic scale, against an undefended civilian population, otherwise shrugs off the significance of an act of immorality. But it is August 6, and so let us talk about Hiroshima. Beyond the destruction lies the myth of the atomic bombings, the post-war creation of a mass memory of things that did not happen. This myth has become the underpinning of American war policy ever since, and carries forward the horrors of Hiroshima as generations of the August 6 anniversary pass. The myth, the one kneaded into public consciousness, is that the bombs were dropped out of grudging military necessity, to hasten the end of the war, to avoid a land invasion of Japan, maybe to give the Soviets a good pre-Cold War scare. Nasty work, but such is war. As a result, the attacks need not provoke anything akin to introspection or national reflection. The possibility, however remote, that the bombs were tools of revenge or malice, immoral acts, was defined away. They were merely necessary. That is the evolved myth, but it was not the way the atomic bombings were first presented to the American people. Harry Truman, in his 1945 announcement of the bomb, focused on vengeance, and on the new power to destroy at a button push—“We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city,” said Mr. Truman. The plan put into play on August 6—to force the Japanese government to surrender by making it watch mass casualties of innocents—speaks to a scale of cruelty previously unseen. It was fair; they’d started it after all, and they deserved the pain. The need to replace the justification to one of grudging military necessity, a tool for saving lives, grew out of John Hersey’s account of the human suffering in Hiroshima, first published in 1946 in the New Yorker. Owing to wartime censorship, Americans knew little of the ground truth of atomic war, and Hersey’s piece was shocking enough to the public that it required a formal response. Americans’ imagined belief that they’re a decent people needed to be reconciled with what had been done. With the Cold War getting underway, and with American leadership fully expecting to obliterate a few Russian cities in the near future, some nuclear philosophical groundwork needed to be laid. And so the idea that the bombing of Hiroshima was a “necessity” appeared in a 1947 article, signed by former Secretary of War Henry Stimson, though actually drafted by McGeorge Bundy (later an architect of the Vietnam War) and James Conant (a scientist who helped build the original bomb). Dr. Conant described the article’s purpose as countering Hersey’s account at the beginning of the Cold War as, “You have to get the past straight before you do much to prepare people for the future.” The Stimson article was the moment of formal creation of the Hiroshima myth. A historically challengeable argument was recast as unquestionable—drop the bombs or kill off tens of thousands, or maybe it would be millions (the U.S. regularly revised casualty estimates upwards), of American boys in a land invasion of Japan. It became gospel that the Japanese would never have surrendered owing to their code of honor, though of course surrender is in fact exactly what happened. Nonetheless, such lies were created to buttress a national belief that no moral wrong was committed, and thus there was no need for reflection and introspection by the United States. Full speed ahead into the nuclear age. No later opportunity to bypass reflection was missed. American presidents from Truman to Bush chose not to visit Hiroshima. The 50th anniversary of the bombing saw a moderately reflective planned exhibit at the Smithsonian turned into a patriotic orgy that only reinforced the “we had no choice” narrative. When Barack Obama became the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima in 2016, his spokespeople went out of their way to make it clear he would be looking only forward, the mushroom cloud safely out of sight. American foreign policy thus proceeded under a grim calculus that parses acts of violence to conclude some are morally justified simply based on who holds the knife, with much of the history of the next 70 some years a series of immoral acts allegedly servicing, albeit destructively and imperfectly, the moral imperative of saving lives by killing. America’s decisions on war, torture, rendition, and indefinite detention could be explained in character as the distasteful but necessary actions of fundamentally good people against fundamentally evil ones. Hiroshima set in motion a sweeping, national generalization that if we do it, it is right. And with that, boom! The steps away from August 6 and the shock-and-awe horrors inside the rubble of Mosul are merely a matter of degree. The drone deaths of children at a wedding party are unfortunate collateral damage in service to the goal of defeating global terrorism. Same as the 3,100 civilians killed from the air since the U.S. launched its coalition war against the Islamic State, along with 3,674 civilians destroyed by drone strikes in other parts of the world. We are, in fact, able to think we are practically doing the people of Afghanistan (Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia…) a favor by killing some of them, as we believe we did for tens of thousands of Japanese that might have been lost in a land invasion of their home islands had Hiroshima not be killed for their prospective sins. There is little discussion because debate is largely unnecessary; the myth of Hiroshima says expediency wipes away concerns over morality. And with that neatly tucked away in our conscience, all that is left is pondering where to righteously strike next. America’s deliberate targeting of civilians, and its post-facto justifications, are clearly not unique, either in World War II, or in the wars before or since. Other nations, including Japan itself, added their own horror to the books, mostly without remorse. But history’s only use of nuclear weapons holds a significant place in infamy, especially on this August 6. America’s lack of introspection over one of the single most destructive days in the history of human warfare continues, with 21st-century consequences. Peter Van Buren is the author of Hooper’s War: A Novel of WWII Japan, which examines moral injury in the context of Hiroshima.
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#15. To: Cynicom (#14)
The atomic bombs dropped on Japan weighed about 9000-10,000 pounds. The V-2 payload capacity was about 1/4 of that, so they would have needed not only the bomb development but, assuming their bomb would have been about the same weight, also a much bigger rocket. Also that ignores the size/space requirements to fit the bomb on a rocket. But yes, had they succeeded in making them, certainly England would have had to capitulate.
I have loaded 9600lb Fatman a few times. We had to pretend that we had no armaments men and no hydraulics. We had to winch the damn thing up into the bomb bay by four men turning two handle cranks as fast as possible. High temps and humidity, we could only last ten minutes at a time. Fatman size and weight was determined by desired effect and weight, not necessity of character of being atomic. For instance an A bomb at 2500 lbs would yield effect 1.5 million tons of TNT. Thus an atomic UNIT would have been downsized for Von Braun. I do not recall what6 weight Von Brauns were capable of at first. Recall also Von Braun was way ahead in missiles. Ours would kill 300,000 civilians in three minutes. Japan and Germany would have used them on the US.
The U.S. was selling Japan all of its scrap steel in the 1930s. This is how they were able to build the fleet of ships they used to attack Pearl Harbor and the Philippines simultaneously. The Japanese war against China started much earlier than 1941. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
This is why we had the Saturn V and went to the moon. The Soviets were using 20 or 30 smaller boosters and it did not have the same effect as the larger boosters on Saturn V. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
Von Bran did the obvious. He strapped five missiles together for first stage to get Saturn off the ground.
Since NASA has done away with the space shuttle and other rocket launches, we now must buy a seat on Soyuz to get our astronauts to the space station. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
The V-2 rocket program was a precursor to a German ICBM with the explicit intent to hit Jew York City.
“With the exception of Whites, the rule among the peoples of the world, whether residing in their homelands or settled in Western democracies, is ethnocentrism and moral particularism: they stick together and good means what is good for their ethnic group." This is true, a buried detail that died with the end of the Japanese Empire. “With the exception of Whites, the rule among the peoples of the world, whether residing in their homelands or settled in Western democracies, is ethnocentrism and moral particularism: they stick together and good means what is good for their ethnic group." The bottom line: it took TWO nuclear punches to get the Japanese to unconditionally surrender. We wanted the war to end and they kept dragging their feet, trying to negotiate terms. We told Japan "No, surrender unconditionally, now". They didn't and we did it to them. The second one proved that the first one was not a fluke and that we had more than one. The Japanese scientists who made it to Hiroshima knew the jig was up, but they were not in a position to surrender Japan.
“With the exception of Whites, the rule among the peoples of the world, whether residing in their homelands or settled in Western democracies, is ethnocentrism and moral particularism: they stick together and good means what is good for their ethnic group." The German atomic program never got very far
After surrender, the Japanese got the condition they wanted--the Emperor's safety.
We did that after they surrendered unconditionally. We did a lot of things for Japan AFTER they surrendered unconditionally. The victor dictates everything, I'd say Japan did pretty good after we took them off of their rampage for war in the Pacific. “With the exception of Whites, the rule among the peoples of the world, whether residing in their homelands or settled in Western democracies, is ethnocentrism and moral particularism: they stick together and good means what is good for their ethnic group." If an A bomb was not ready the Germans wanted to load the rocket with radio-active sand and unleash it over New York City. It was their theory that would kill many more people than a conventional warhead. As for the Japanese, at end of war they resorted to cannibalism. They were eating POWS and conscripted laborers. Such may be uncomfortable for some readers here. All they have to do is a little research on their own. History background of many here is very lacking.
Specifically, the Japs were eating the livers of POWs. George H.W. Bush was a torpedo plane pilot and was shot down. He was on a life raft and other U.S. planes kept the Japs away from him. He was rescued by the USS Fishback, a sub. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
Japs were cannibalizing POW's earlier in the war: Australians/New Zealanders.
“With the exception of Whites, the rule among the peoples of the world, whether residing in their homelands or settled in Western democracies, is ethnocentrism and moral particularism: they stick together and good means what is good for their ethnic group." The reason for having two bombs was that they wanted to test two different designs to see which one was more effective. “Little Boy” the Hiroshima bomb used a gun to fire one piece of uranium into another. “Fat Man” the Nagasaki bomb used explosive charges to create an implosion of Plutonium. It was a more sophisticated design than the uranium bomb.
Could you honestly blame Germany for wanting to do so? The UK's and US's conduct in the war was vile. wikid. sez the V-2 was developed "to attack Allied cities as retaliation for the Allied bombings against German cities" -- IOW not for purposes of a worldwide Nazi Reich, bla bla bla. If it would have prevented the monstrous war crime of firebombing Dresden, definitely worth it. If y'all are working from a 1940s-type "Over There" view of the war you're IMHO a tad out of date. _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
Well now that was really smart of us after the Russo-Japanese War and the Sino-Japanese WarS, wasn't it :-D
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
In view of everything else we know about these glorious United States Government monsters, I don't. And that's merely more conjecture and theory added to the pile. _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
Any kind of nuke activity within the USA is ameriKa's deep and lasting shame. This country was born between to oceans and the whole point of it was to leave the old world's problems behind us. Any trouble we've ever had from the old world was our own perverse doing with the possible exception of the War of 1812.
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
It seems we beat them to the punch. Germany also sent them plans for the Me-282 jet fighter. They were working on it in a cave in the mountains and the U.S. discovered it after the surrender. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
Patton's tanks were east of the Elbe River and were forced to withdraw because of the agreements made in Tehran. This set the stage for the Cold War. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
Just lovely. WW2 didn't really end till the Berlin Wall came down -- but with lots of ppl it's still raging. The Nazis are coming, the Nazis are coming, eek and oy vay!
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
Japan was treat much more gently than Germany, perhaps because MacArthur had sole control and wouldn't let the USSR have a piece of the action.
We still have occupation troops in Germany.
Being stationed in Germany, or anywhere in Europe, is like one big government funded vacation for the troops. Bring'em home and put'em on the southern border.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
True dat.
Exactly -- thank you! And in how many other countries? The awful truth is the world is ameriKa's empire. _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
But what is it for all those countries where 'our' troops are happily sunning themselves :-s _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
Not in reality nor intent. In military strategy they are often called a "trigger contingent". If Sweden decides to capture Germany they would have to kill American soldiers and there would be an automatic "state of war". Akin to a tripwire effect. Under Obama, we by agreement with Australia now station small contingent of Marines in northwest Australia. What earthly reason for???? Same rfeason, if say India invades Australia, they kill Marines, India is now at war with the US.
A sick situation, isn't it. Who are we, everybody's daddy? It still amounts to occupation as the mere presence of these troops means the leaching of ameriKan "values" into cultures that really don't need it. _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
On the surface true....however in case of war they will be first to die. War strategy dictates such.
"""U.S. and Australian officials vowed Tuesday to raise the number of Marines rotating through Australia to 2,500 as soon as possible during the Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations, or AUSMIN, hosted by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution in Palo Alto, California. The current size of Marine Rotation Force Darwin is 1,587 U.S. Marines, with an additional eight MV-22 Ospreys and six M777 howitzers. It is currently the largest rotation to Australia for the Corps, which is now in it’s seventh rotation since kicking off deployments in 2012. The Marine deployments to Darwin are part of the Force Posture Initiatives started under then-President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2011. The first few rotations to Darwin consisted of roughly 200-250 Marines. The intent of the initiative between the two countries has always been to grow the Marine presence in Australia to 2,500.""" Marines are NOT stationed in southeast of Australia as Aussies do not worry about New Zealand. We fought battle of Coral Sea to keep Japs out of Australia. In that battle Australia had only one ship. The US did the the heft of the fighting and dying. The Australians know why we are in their homeland.
The troops are a definite boon to the local economies since most kids of that age are not heavily committed to saving for the future. (I certainly wasn't.)
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
True. Price example being South Korea. They are of no use except to die if NK comes over the border.
Many of them never go outside the base for some reason. At least that's what my brother reported from his beer and schnitzel vacation in Germany during the Vietnam War.
In case of a real war garrison troops will be the first to die.
This vid is from 2017 but is still valid. Far-right party enters German parliament for first time since World War II German Chancellor Angela Merkel has won a fourth term in office but her party's share of the vote has fallen, and she is calling on other parties to share responsibility in securing a stable coalition. That is because the mainstream parties have lost at the expense of the far-right AfD, which finished a strong third. It is the first time a far-right force has made it to parliament since the Nazi era. "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
Germany elected the bitch again?????? I don't believe it! I DON'T, after all the stuff we've heard that she was losing support in different German regions etc. They're just stealing elections over there like they do here. Germans do NOT want another million invaders -- nobody does. The most important woman politician in the world? She should be the most hated. The worshipful, wheedling tone of this narrator is absolutely sickening. _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
You must consider the sheer mass of those that vote for some kind of status quo in what we laughlingly call a "liberal democracy" in the West. Remember what unmentionable person won the popular vote for president in 2016. The Oval Office and the Football as well as top dog say so over executive policy was just inches away from her grasping little hands. I have my bad moments with the current office holder, but I sometimes wake up in a cold sweat thinking about what might have been. We have a huge number of really stupid voters in this country, and we are not as far removed from the situation in western Europe as we often affect to think.
We're getting there fast. "Liberal democracy" = rule by "liberal" Dummacrats. OH they don't want to hear that word anymore. _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
Von Braun was light years ahead of the rest of the world in missiles and rockets etc. The allies were scared to death he would be able to marry his rocket to an atomic weapon of some size. Had that happened the Allies would have had to sue for peace. England would have been gone.
#16. To: Pinguinite (#15)
The atomic bombs dropped on Japan weighed about 9000-10,000 pounds. The V-2 payload capacity was about 1/4 of that, so they would have needed not only the bomb development but, assuming their bomb would have been about the same weight, also a much bigger rocket. Also that ignores the size/space requirements to fit the bomb on a rocket.
#17. To: NeoconsNailed (#9)
(Edited)
http//mises.org/library/how-us-economic-warfare-provoked-japans- attack-pearl- harbor
#18. To: Cynicom (#16)
(Edited)
Recall also Von Braun was way ahead in missiles.
#19. To: BTP Holdings (#18)
#20. To: Cynicom (#19)
He strapped five missiles together for first stage to get Saturn off the ground.
#21. To: NeoconsNailed (#6)
-Alex Kurtagic 
#22. To: Cynicom (#1)
JAPAN WAS ALSO WORKING ON ANY ATOMIC DEVICE TO USE ON THE UNITED STATES.
-Alex Kurtagic
#23. To: Ada (#0)
-Alex Kurtagic
#24. To: Cynicom (#1)
#25. To: X-15 (#23)
We wanted the war to end and they kept dragging their feet, trying to negotiate terms. We told Japan "No, surrender unconditionally, now". They didn't and we did it to them.
#26. To: Ada (#25)
(Edited)
-Alex Kurtagic
#27. To: X-15, All (#21)
The V-2 rocket program was a precursor to a German ICBM with the explicit intent to hit Jew York City.
#28. To: Cynicom (#27)
They were eating POWS and conscripted laborers.
#29. To: Cynicom (#27)
-Alex Kurtagic
#30. To: X-15 (#23)
#31. To: X-15 (#21)
#32. To: BTP Holdings (#17)
#33. To: Pinguinite (#12)
I think it's hard to look back and say using the a-bomb was wrong.
#34. To: randge (#10)
#35. To: X-15 (#22)
This is true, a buried detail that died with the end of the Japanese Empire.
#36. To: NeoconsNailed (#31)
If it would have prevented the monstrous war crime of firebombing Dresden, definitely worth it.
#37. To: BTP Holdings (#36)
#38. To: X-15 (#26)
I'd say Japan did pretty good after we took them off of their rampage for war in the Pacific.
#39. To: NeoconsNailed (#37)
WW2 didn't really end till the Berlin Wall came down
#40. To: Ada (#39)
#41. To: Lod (#40)
Being stationed in Germany, or anywhere in Europe, is like one big government funded vacation for the troops.
#42. To: Ada (#39)
#43. To: Lod (#40)
Being stationed in Germany, or anywhere in Europe, is like one big government funded vacation for the troops.
#44. To: Ada (#39)
We still have occupation troops in Germany.
#45. To: Cynicom (#44)
#46. To: Ada (#41)
Being stationed in Germany, or anywhere in Europe, is like one big government funded vacation for the troops.
#47. To: Ada (#41)
#48. To: NeoconsNailed (#43)
#49. To: Cynicom (#46)
On the surface true....however in case of war they will be first to die.
#50. To: Lod (#48)
#51. To: Cynicom (#44)
#52. To: NeoconsNailed (#37)
The Nazis are coming, the Nazis are coming, eek and oy vay!
#53. To: BTP Holdings (#52)
#54. To: NeoconsNailed (#53)
Germany elected the bitch again?????? I don't believe it! I DON'T
#55. To: randge (#54)
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