"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 onset cancer, malformed newborns, and other various illnesses due to the radiation; we call it a military decision, a final blow The truth is that the people who write history are those who win the wars.
Many might say that Truman had a hard decision, and had to learn to live with the fact that he killed many, innocent and non-innocent alike. If this were true, then why did Truman publicly declare to further the development of the hydrogen bomb, in a testing series named Operation Ivy. "It is part of my responsibility as Commander in Chief of the Armed forces to see to it that our country is able to defend itself against any possible aggressor. Accordingly, I have directed the AEC (Atomic Energy Commission) to continue its work on all forms of atomic weapons, including the so-called hydrogen or Super bomb."President Harry S. Truman, January 31, 1950.
The truth is that the threat was us, not our one time allies of World War II, the soviet union; because in this writers' opinion, Truman feared that the atrocity he committed would end up having some karmic blowback.
In 2003, many Iraqi war criminals; Uday, Qusay, and Saddam Hussein, were found guilty for the same reasons. Saddams sons were killed by coalition forces in northern Iraq, while saddam was found guilty by trial.
As we seek to find more war criminals in that far off land, I ask you when will the American war criminals be placed on trial?
I stated these facts, instead of attacking President Bush who, like Charles Manson, sent his soldiers to commit murderous crimes against the innocent; innocent till proven guilty, (or does war justify Napoleonic Law). When is it that we forget what we are supposed to uphold as right and wrong, when does the finger of tyranny quit pointing at others and end up pointing at us.
http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/warcrimnur.htm
http:/ /www.exploratorium.edu/nagasaki/mainn.html
http://www .theabsurdreport.com/2007/1945-invasion-of-japan-pla ns/
http://www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/nagasaki.ht m
http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Ivy.html