Today, as on every anniversary of the first atomic bombing in warfare, I will pause to reflect.
Not about the people killed in Hiroshima. But about the millions upon millions who had already been murdered by the Japanese and the millions more who would have been murdered had the war continued beyond August 15, 1945.
And on the moral emptiness, lack of imagination and sympathy and all around ignorance of those people who will gather at "peace bells" on Maui and other places to stroke their own egos.
I have written often on this topic, mostly in book reviews. My fullest statement came in a review published in The Maui News before there was RtO, but available at Amazon.
Other reviews (including one that I would rewrite in part if I were to do it today) were here and here.
The Washington Post has a story today about how the bombing is taught around the world. It isn't a well-done story, but the striking thing about it is that despite the strong emotional reaction that still exists about the use of the bombs -- pro or con -- little attention is given to teaching about it; and there is no evidence that the people in the story made any effort on their own to become well informed.
If it is important enough to commemorate every year, you'd think it would be important enough to learn about.
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