The Day that Changed the World

Oliver Cromwell described the beheading of Charles I as "cruel necessity". That is also how I have always described the use of the atom bomb in 1945. I say this in full knowledge of the fact that 100,000 innocent men, women, and children were killed. None of them was any less innocent than the victims of the Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge, the Great Leap Forward, the Purges, or the Rape of Nanking.

A dear friend of mine, a beautiful Japanese dancer and puppetry artist, lost her mother in her early forties, a victim of the radiation effects in Nagasaki. The disgusting terror of the act speaks for itself.

And still, I ask myself, what else should Truman have done? Statisticians tend to agree that the continuation of conventional warfare would probably have led to a death toll exceeding that exacted by the bombings. Does the fact that those deaths would have been adult, male, and military make this okay? Does the fact that they would have been American make it okay? Are we to be so horrified by what happened that were are tempted to reject this statistical probability out of hand? Perhaps, yes.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to the fact that war is an inherently terrible thing. It was terrible back when the long bow was the cutting edge of military technology. It remains terrible to this day.

I still cannot fathom the power or usefulness of the atomic or hydrogen bomb. I do not know what weapons World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

Some weapons promise the ultimate victory but fall short in the application. A good example would be the giant battleships of the 20th century. They did not make much of a difference in either world war.

Giant artillery was developed in both world wars but had no impact on the final outcome.

But the thermonuclear weapons of today promise ultimate victory and a final solution to all the worlds problems. Unfortunately, we won't survive the victory or appreciate the solutions.

Perhaps the best place for these wespons is in outer space. Who knows what enemies we will eventually meet out there.

The use of the atomic bombs in World War 2 was neccessary. But the exchange of nuclear weapons between Israel and Iran or the U.S and Iran seems like the final act of a cosmic farce.

Note: yesterday's topic. The Romans kept the "peace" in Jerusalem for 400 to 500 years. Any sign of trouble was met with a series of cruxifictions. Ah, the good old days of Pax Romana.

Christianity shouldn't belong to any City. Islam already has Mecca and Medina.
The Middle East seems to be a lost cause.....they'll never stop fighting each other.

I’m sitting here at my PC, drinking coffee, and contemplating the topic at hand. Looking out my window I see a pale blue sky, enormous, old maple trees lining a brick street, people walking their dogs, jogging, mowing their lawns, and driving to work. I see and hear children heading to the park down the block. I am again reminded of how fragile all of this is.

I am also reminded of a movie I saw during the height of the “Cold War” tensions called “Fail Safe”. In this movie, the dropping of a nuclear bomb on a major city was depicted by showing a series of scenes representing all manner of life’s everyday activities become a totally silent still frame. Birds frozen mid flight, children like statues in the playground, car horns and police sirens silenced. It didn’t show the destruction, the mushroom cloud, the blackened sky, or the dead which made the movie even more chilling because it left it up to the viewer’s imagination.

I think the decision to use atomic weapons to hasten the end of WWII was somewhat based on the hope that this would be the first and last time that a weapon of this nature would ever be considered; the proverbial weapon to end all wars so to speak. The great neutralizer that all of the super powers at that time were racing to develop. I believe the decision was the best one at the time. I’m afraid, however, that we overestimated mankind’s ability to learn from that experience.

This certainly slaps all of the other issues we have discussed back into perspective.

"Hiroshima mon amour" is another powerful film on the subject. The first bomb
on Hiroshima, I hate to blithely say it...was probably necessary. I'm not exactly sure
why the second bomb was.

My opinion? War is a tragedy, and never necessary except to a world that believes in its necessity.

If everyone believed problems could be solved in other ways, there would be no war.

War is the failure of reasoning.

Gia,
I may be wrong about this but I think the first bomb was to say "look what we can do" and the second bomb was to convince Japan. and the world, that we already had the capability to do it again. If Japan thought the first bomb was the only bomb, they probably would not have surrendered when they did.

"As soon as war is looked upon as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular." Oscar Wilde.

We can only hope we've reached the vulgar stage.

Let's be thankful 63 years has passed without another one of those bombs going off anywhere. Hopefully another one never does...

"I do not know what weapons World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." Albert Einstein is seriously the man.

"War is the failure of reasoning." Although I never underestimate the level of sophistication among this group of regular commentators, as it’s evidenced by consistently eloquent responses, I googled this line cuz it just seemed too iconic to be original- but I didn’t find anything. PeterLake, if that gem came straight from you, kudos. I won't forget it.

War has been recognized as vulgar for quite a while. Sadly, this has not reduced the practice. Neither the invention of the crossbow nor the fighting of World War I ended all wars as had been predicted.

Most predictions about the future of war ultimately proved false.

Rather than predict the future, I look to history. In all six millennia (approximately) of recorded history, how many years have featured no war anywhere in the world? 23. 23 years out of 6,000. Not a good track record. I tend to think of warfare as an unnatural state bust history seems to refute this notion.

Post script. Whoever wrote this article, kudos on the "Mountain War Time." Nice.

When all the "Great Powers" developed the same weapons, such as Battleships, they were often used to intimidate or threaten. None of the great powers used them strategically. Germany tried in WW2 but their giant battleships quickly went to the botton of the Atlantic.

The Superpowers armed with nuclear weapons never used them on each other. Why? Perhaps everyone knew there'd be no winners.

Today, the problem is not that more nations have "the bomb", it's that more nations have the bomb that are willing to use them. The dream of going to Paradise and enjoying the charms of virgins (I think it's 72 virgins) would be enough for some young man in the Middle East to volunteer to ride one direcly into Tel Aviv or one of our aircraft carriers.

For these people a nuclear weapon is not a threat that keeps the balance of power, but a promise of Paradise. Very compelling stuff for an hormonal-driven young man with nothing else to dream about.

We dream of becoming the next Bill Gates or owning a chain of Starbucks, or maybe buying the next J. Peterman offering. How do you deal with a man (or a woman) whose dream is of a mystical world with every strange desire satisfied? what do the women get in paradise? Do they get to be one of the 72 virgins? Then what? A ritual beheading?

The key to Paradise is a car bomb or riding a nuclear missile into your enemies...... We need to take the "keys" to that "kingdom" away from them. They'll get there soon enough.

My Uncle Harry had a PhD in nuclear chemistry, and had, what was for wartime, a cushy posting. He was working on the Manhattan Project with J. Robert Oppenheimer. The family joke was that Oppenheimer would have been an unknown without Harry, as Uncle Harry designed the detonator for the atomic bomb. It would have been one huge dud if he hadn't figured out a way to set it off.

In October 1945, after Japan's surrender, Uncle Harry got to see the effects of the bombs firsthand when he visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He had a nervous breakdown, and spent the better part of a year in a mental institution. Upon his release, he gave up work in the atomic energy field for life, and eventually became a lead scientist at Underwriters' Laboratories. Growing up, he was one of my favorite uncles, having become the Renaissance Man I wanted to be. There was literally nothing this man could not do or understand. He wrote several books, was an accomplished musician and painter, and held over 100 patents. Yet the ghosts of what he saw in Japan left him with depression, a drinking problem and a haunted look the rest of his life.

I don't hold the belief that the US is a better steward of nuclear weapons than any "rogue nation". Why is it only a WMD when the other guy has one? Total disarmament is the only sane option.

To: JillyBean,

The qoute from Einstein can be found on "GlobalSecurity.org" and in an article in Wikipedia on "world war".

The sad part of Einstein's comment is his belief that a WW4 would be a reality, and having no other weapons, humans would resort to sticks and stones.

To: One Doc,

You might recall from an earlier post of mine that my grandmother's 8 brothers were either killed or permanently disabled during WW1. Those not "lucky" enough to die, lived with the horrendous effects of mustard gas. I remember meeting two of them. One could barely breathe, the other was blind and unable to breathe fully. I personally saw the effects of napalm on the Vietnamese and since the war, the effects of Agent Orange. and is it my imagination or is there an inordinate number of men (and women) missing limbs from our most recent adventure in Iraq? (Was it worth the loss of so many young limbs and lives and sound minds so that a desert-dwelling rabble can have a make-belief democracy?) The sad part is that a 100 years from now these wars will be footnotes in history. I know, because my kids' high school history books have Vietnam as a short paragraph and a couple of footnotes.

I realize that sometimes we have to fight to defend our country. When we do, we should go all out, measure for measure, and end it quickly. No parades, no victory celebrations, no "mission accomplished". But to continue in wars that drag on with no victory in sight is wasteful and immoral. Democracies should not fight such wars.

Onc Doc - I understand your point, and trust me I agree with you entirely except on the point of total disarmament. I fear that, like with individual rogues, certain rogue nations always go underground and break the rules. There's no way to enforce a total disarmament except in a world where there is some ultimate ruler that can create and destroy rules as he sees fit. For example, when China said "No leaded fuel," it happened overnight. The world, however, doesn't work like this. So while total disarmament is the only sane option, enforcing it falls short of realise-able.

"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war".

Albert Einstein, (attributed)
US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

I certainly agree with One Doc. Disarmament in a perfect world is the only sane
option.If it could be enforced. I would like to say we all had an uncle Harry, but yours seems unique. This must have really hit home. I think unless you're of a certain age you can't imagine what growing up with the threat of annihilation was like. And what it must have been like, if you lived, to have been on the receiving end.

JillyBean,
Thanks for your comment but it's just something that tumbled out of my dusty and unorganized "memory closet" when I opened the door while thinking about today's topic. The source, unfortunately, long forgotten.

missive,
Well met and well said. Welcome to our discussion group. What a rich and eloquent introduction/contribution. Hope we'll hear more from you.

PeterLake, My thoughts also sometimes tumble out of my memory closet. Could be from my father, could be from Albert Einstine, could be from some drunk at the bar. I don't know. Could be from me. I surely did not think my thoughts would be "googled". Oh well.

Capt Neptune,

Restroom walls are also a great source for profound and memorable quotes; but nobody ever signs them.

The bomb was a peacemaker only because only one country used it. Most of my life, I have heard that it actually spared lives. That is spin, pure spin to make ourselves feel better.

Remember dolce et decorum est...? We've been conning ourselves for a long time.

As long as we see people who don't look like we do as the other, as the enemy, we are doomed to sending our young men and women to die in war.