Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

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Albert Einstein[1]
Never again.
The atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima, quickly followed by the bombing of Nagasaki (on August 6 and August 9, 1945 respectively) established that the Greek myth of "opening Pandora's box" had real-life consequences.[2]

With a combined death toll of at least 200,000,[3] the attacks marked the end of World War II with the total surrender of the Axis powers, the culmination of the Manhattan Project, and doomed human civilization to over 40 60 years of threatening apocalypse for diplomatic gain.

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[edit] But why?

The ethical justifications of nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain in considerable debate. Proponents maintain it was a necessary measure to prevent a costly invasion of Japan, with casualties expected to go into the millions,[4] while opponents consider it state terrorism (or genocidal) and question its military necessity as Soviet forces were already cornering Manchuria from the west.

Arguments about the necessity of the bombing occasionally come across as being slightly racist. Americans viewed the Japanese as bloodthirsty and servile, and more fanatical than citizens of the European Axis powers that didn't need to have the morale nuked out of them.[5] To be fair, this notion was somewhat backed by the sheer tenacity and seemingly suicidal courage displayed by the Japanese in battles such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The facade of the fanatical Japanese warrior-state that would fight to the very bitter-end (images of school children and housewives using bamboo spears to defend the God-Emperor are often invoked) was not an accurate reflection of reality. There is some indication[6] that the Japanese realized there was no way they could win, and were willing to negotiate a surrender before the US dropped the two bombs. Robert Pape has suggested that if the US was willing to budge just a little on some issues (not demanding total surrender from the Japanese, letting the Emperor go on pretending to be a living god), a settlement could have been reached before the bombings, though his assessment is not universally supported.

Compounding the issue is the fact that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were hardly the first times the Allies had dropped bombs on a city with the express intent of burning the place to the ground. The firebombing of Hamburg had left hardly a building standing; and the firebombing of Tokyo (earlier the same year as the atomic bomb attacks) carried a death toll of nearly 140,000, most of whom were civilians. The doctrine at work in those two earlier cases was strategic bombing, the notion that you could win a war of attrition by taking away the enemy's factories and population.

Regardless, the bombing did amount to an enormous strategic advantage for the US; by detonating not one, but two nukes, the US showed other would-be superpowers that Uncle Sam had the ability and the will to use such devastating weapons in conflicts.[7] How much consideration was placed into the inevitable blowback that this would cause is unknown.

Still arguing about the morality/necessity of the bombings probably isn't juvenile, as there was no consensus even amongst the top generals themselves.[8]

[edit] Lingering horror

Japan's diagnoses of leukemia increased significantly in the wake of the bombings.[9] This link between radiation and cancer gave birth to modern radiophobia.

There are still roughly 250,000 survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, yet less than one percent are officially recognized by the Japanese government as having A-bomb Disease, despite their noticeably higher rates of cancer. Many professionals allege the real difficulty in meeting the legal criteria is that the Japanese government doesn't want to pay everyone the 140'000 yen a month special medical allowance required for any citizen diagnosed with A-bomb disease. [10]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. Letters of Note: Einstein to FDR
  2. "...and the genie can't be stuffed back in the bottle." - Lawrence Johnston, "Little Man" developer
  3. The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Total Casualties, Yale
  4. See the Wikipedia article on Operation Downfall. (Double the landing force of Normandy and 42 aircraft carriers. Yes, you heard that correctly.)
  5. Trophies of War: U.S. Troops and the Mutilation of Japanese War Dead, 1941-1945, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
  6. Frank, Richard B. (2005-08-08). "Why Truman Dropped the Bomb." The Weekly Standard 010 (44)
  7. Alperovitz, Gar (1965). Atomic Diplomacy: Hiroshima and Potsdam. New York: Simon and Schuster
  8. Who disagreed with the atomic bombing?, University of Colorado
  9. Leukaemia in Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors from 1945 through 1959, WHO
  10. http://www.hankaku-j.org/data/jalana/002_english.html
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