by Drew Burrage

Created on: February 03, 2009   Last Updated: February 21, 2009

"A warm wind began to blow. Here and there in the distance I saw many small fires, like elf-fires, smoldering. Nagasaki had been completely destroyed." Yosuke Yamahata, photographer.

On August 6th, 1945, the bombing of Hiroshima took place by the order of President Harry S. Truman, who later that day informed the nation of the bomb which would end the war. Untold numbers died instantly in the attack

Two days later, August 8th, the United States Air Force showered Japan with leaflets, which stated: "We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2,000 of our giant B-29s can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate. We have just begun to to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city." The next day, August 9th, 1945 a second bomb was dropped.

Once again, tens of thousands died instantly, in the "Nagasaki Nightmare," and even more had been injured. While some might say it was a means to an end; a senseless action to end senseless killings. I say, wasn't one enough. Truman had been forewarned of the devastation that was occurring during the tests. His decision may have saved the lives of one million American soldiers, who may have perished in the siege and occupation plans that had been previously considered. Thankfully, instead only a few hundred thousand Japanese had to die.

In 1948, the U.N. War Crimes Commission in London published a report as to which of Hitler's men had been found and tried. Criminals such Herman Goring and Rudolf Hess, were tried in front of the International Military Tribunal, in Nuremberg the Nazi war criminals were tried for human rights violations. Why was Hitler and his men held to different standards then Truman and his? I ask you, is a presidential dictator of one country different then the president of another? "Holocaust" is a Greek word for meaning sacrifice by fire; yet we seem to understand the word as a mass murder, i.e. genocide. The national socialist party was held accountable for its involvement in murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent Jews, over the period of their reign in Europe; yet when tens of thousands of lifes are taken within a couple minutes: not including the generations that suffered from early

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