There’s a challenging reflection by John Pilger in today’s Guardian on the USA’s murder of Japanese people in 1945:
‘The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a criminal act on an epic scale. It was premeditated mass murder that unleashed a weapon of intrinsic criminality. For this reason its apologists have sought refuge in the mythology of the ultimate “good war”, whose “ethical bath”, as Richard Drayton called it, has allowed the west not only to expiate its bloody imperial past but to promote 60 years of rapacious war, always beneath the shadow of The Bomb … Catching war criminals is fashionable again. Radovan Karadzic stands in the dock, but Sharon and Olmert, Bush and Blair do not. Why not? The memory of Hiroshima requires an answer’.
The full article is re-posted at Civicus.
A book commendation: Some years ago now, I read the inspiring biography of Takashi Nagai, a Japanese victim of terminal radiation disease, a peace activist, a physician, and a convert to Christianity. The book, A Song for Nagasaki, recounts the horrors of atomic devastation, the ironies of the bomb’s dropping on one of Japan’s few Christian communities, Nagai’s struggle to find meaning in suffering, and the power of the word of forgiveness and reconcilation. The book is written by Paul Glynn, an Australian Marist Brother who served over 20 years in Japan.
jasongoroncy.com 
that is so wrong those people had nothing to do with the attack the did not have to suffer and die for others mistakes
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it is like iam seeing the horror movie but people in this picture my salute to them becayse when it happened so they were the part of that accident and only they know what they loss.Evry person want to a handsom,beautiful,smart.but what they will do who are living in hiroshima and nagasaki.and what about childrens which are born there they have no future.America what you did man
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so its ok for them to attack us and kill our people and we cannot defend ourself and save our country mens lives as we suffered enough fighting 2 wars at the same time and trying to keep the UK from going under by supplying guns and food and ammo to others as well. it was war and we had to win. war is hell and freedom comes at a high cost . wake up and remind yourself the only reason you can write such a stupid book is because the country you are trying to insult has giving you the right to do so …GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ……
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josh,
I think you need to read more carefully. The last line of this blog entry clearly states that author of the book is Australian. . .
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War is horrible all around and it is true that there were many innocent people who suffered just as the Germans killed the innocent British children en route to the US for safety as well as many innocent victims in concentration camps. It should also be noted in fairness that we did not start the war with Japan…they bombed us and it’s like any situation where weapons are involved,,,unless you are prepared to die don’t point your weapons at other people because the very weapon you choose to point could be used against you. Japan made an unfortunate decision and is certainly guilty of its fair share or atrocities as well. We can continue to place blame and cry foul or perhaps we could look at the history and commit to not making the same mistakes…just an alternate opinion for consideration.
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Why does no one ask Japan to apologize to it’s neighbors for the countless brutal war crimes they inflicted in those days. Families destroyed, lives taken, women taken to be sex slaves, brutal forms of torture upon innocent civilians, executions, etc. due to their conquests. I’m not excusing the bomb, but this selective criticism is all too common, and I’m tired of it already. Get over it and move on.
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Hi. We’re currently making a feature length movie on the life of Dr.Nagai, which draws heavily upon Paul Glynn’s book “A Song For Nagasaki” and features an interview with Fr. Glynn – http://www.majoroakentertainment.com/allthatremains.html
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Yes, dropping the bomb was terrible for those people in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, but look at the Chinese people in Nanking and you may not feel quite as much empithy.
Dropping the bomb in the long run saves many many lives in the long run, on both sides (to paraphrase EX President Trump, thank God for the EX part)
In was estimated that close to a million lives would have been lost on the US side alone during an invasion of mainland Japan. And I think at least as many, probably MORE would have died on the Japanese side.
Sure it sucked, but in the long run, I think it saved millions of lives in the end!
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So many American apologist here who can’t handle their guilt. It takes character to admit that ones nation is responsible for one of the worste crimes ever commited on civilians on a large scale, twice.
I am saying this as a German – we reflected on what we did, we teach it to the kids so it shall never happen again.
What do you do in America? Pledge your Allegiance to a flag? Deny your war crimes? A spineless, arrogant and self-righteous nation if you ask me…
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Were it possible to only dispose of those speer heading the Japanese threat, would we have done so? Or is it an integral part of the American govt to annihilate the innocent, under an umbrella of ensuring ‘freedom’? The victims of Hiroshima/Nagasaki would concur, along with Native American cultures.
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