Eighty Years Ago Today Hundreds of Thousands Disappear in a Light Second
Eighty years ago the Enola Gay dropped a single bomb over the city of Hiroshima unleashing a force never before seen, chabged the world forever.
We speak about the nuclear bomb, but somehow lose sight of the fact that it was used to allegedly end a war. Now we have multiple wars at once, and there is fear of the use of a "tactical" weapon. We need to find a way to stop himans from kiling each other!
@samueltyler2 My natural position is to build bridges.
My European perspective will differ greatly from yours.
We believe America will move towards isolationism. It will survive, but its standing in the world will get lower. It is not thought as a reliable ally now. Largely unaffected by what happens in the rest of the world.
China emerging as the great power needs to trade with the West. So for the foreseeable future, there will be no major war. More countries will join the BRICS alliance and be in China’s debt. Russia being a vassal state will be kept under control. There may be the odd rogue nuclear action, but it will be local. And the outcome unpredictable, as the radioactive dust could land anywhere. Remember Chornobyl, the dust cloud contaminated northern Britain!
I’m very pessimistic about Gaza. But it will have a nuclear outcome. I think we in Europe are more aware of the genucife there.
@Roundandroundwego We have moved far from the topic of this post though. Any form of war, nuclear in particular is horrific. Let us think today though of the fallen of Hiroshima, they did not deserve that horrific death.
@peterlee of course. It's not in our plans to understand how we're sliding closer to nuclear war at the present!, t That's not related to this topic. The horror . The absolute horror of Hiroshima is unique in history and stands alone. -( I apologize for being too focussed on the current threat, and dragging politics into a non issue non hope non relevant, grief rich and sanctimonious majority moment.) my bad, me out - you good, you in!
If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend "Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War" on Netflix.
They reveal a LOT of new revelations on the history of the nuclear bomb.
I'm sure you know Truman was thrust into the drivers seat on this after FDR died. He went along with the military on allowing the use of the bomb on Japan. There was some arguments on what sites they would strike, apparently Kyoto was considered but discarded because it was considered a cultural center.
According to the documentary, after Truman saw the photos of the destruction, he flipped and was shocked at the level of devastation.
He made a point of issuing an Executive order that no one was to use these weapons again without his express, written permission to do so.
@SumKindaMunster there were geological trains those two cities were chosen, they were thought to be the locations of greater population exposures to a bomb's effects dropped from the specific height chosen.
when he was Very old, I met the bombardier , in s hospital he was dying he spoke of ho he felt hooro at it when he looked back and saw the explosion but allowed he was just doin his duty
The bombs actually did not stop the war. There was a cult that raided the palace trying to find the recording of the emporer declaring unconditional surrender. They were defeated and the announcement went out. The cult leaders fully expected every able bodied person to resist the coming invasion and anyone else was to commit suicide.
@bijouxbroussard I gather that it had something to do with the USA stopping oil sales to Japan because of Japan waging war in China. Japan decided to just take the oil in the Dutch East Indies and needed the US navy out of the way. Big mistake. Some cynical people suggest that FDR deliberately made it attractive for Japan to do that because he needed public support to enter WW2? Hitler conveniently declared war on the US a couple of days later.
The results of the two used on Japan may well have stopped warring governments going that far.
Perhaps too the results of the many tests by NATO and the Soviet Union in the 1950s-60s.
One American hydrogen-fusion test in the Pacific in the 1950s poisoned the crew of a Japanese fishing-boat a hundred miles away, when the fall-out drifted downwind over them. All six suffered from radiation-sickness by the time they reached port. One later died from liver cancer, another later fathered a child born deformed; both cases probably attributable to the radioactivity.
There are also unknown numbers of Servicemen of various nations, who have suffered from their deliberate (by order not choice) exposure to nuclear weapons tests. They were not so close as to be injured by the heat or shock-wave but were still in the heavy ionising radiation, and showered by debris.
One British soldier among a troop sent to the Pacific island with " you are going to build an airfield" in their ears, has recounted that despite dark goggles, facing away from the explosion and covering his face with his hands he thought he could see the bones of his fingers through the tissue, so intense was the glare. An American soldier has also reported something similar.
That’s why Israel was attempting to prevent Iran from having nukes.. because they have been making death threats all this time against Israel and against America
Pathetic how the crumbling global owners are waving their nukes , bragging with Hollywood movies like Oppenheimer, setting off color revolution everywhere,- and losing. But this post is about past nukes, grief, and sanctimonious monents.
