Three
by Derek Rasmussen for Canadian University Press
lfyou‘re like me you were probably taught a few basic “facts” about nuclear weapons while you were growing up. Somebody probably taught you that the atom bombs the United States dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki shortened World War II. In history class somebody probably said that nuclear weapons have only been used twice. Later somebody probably said that the main reason for the United States to have nuclear weapons is to deter the Soviet Union.
Everything they told you was a lie.
Myth #1 -— Hiroshima and Nagasaki '
The American atom-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not shorten WWII. it lengthened it; it didn't save Allied lives, it cost Japanese and Allied lives.
Dr. Martin J. Sherwin is the only American historian to have read through all of the top-secret docu- ments relating to the Manhattan Pro- ject and the A-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His research took eight years and from it he published a book, A World Destroyed: The Atomic Bomb and the Grand AI- Home.
Dr. Sherwin presented in a recent interview with Canadian University Press._the following chronology of the last few months of WVVll: May 1945:
phone
The US. demands the unconditional sur- render of Japan. The former ambassador to /
knew more about Japan than any other
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myths about the
American in ’govern- ment," says Sherwin) and now acting Secre- tary of State, Joseph Grew, urges President Truman to modify the unconditional der demand.
SUI‘I‘CI‘I-
The US. had cracked Japanese codes years before, and from the intercepted message Grew and Truman knew that the Japanese would never surrender without assurances that the institution of their Emperor would survive.
Truman refuses.
U.S. wins battle for Okinawa. begins daily aerial bombing of Japan.
In his memoirs. Joseph Grew predicts that Japan may have sur- rendered on this day if the US. had modi- fled their demands for an “unconditional surrender".
In the clearest sign of the way, Japanese
August 6:
August 7:
Foreign Minister Togo (in a cable intercepted by American Intelli- gence to President Truman) says, “Unconditional surrender is the only obstacle to peace...”
Truman ignores it.
Atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima. 80,000 die.
The second bomb is supposed to be dropped on Aug. II, giving the Japanese time to con- sider surrendering (note below: Japan‘s offer to surrender came on Aug. 10).
The timing , decision,' however,'is left in the hands of Colonel Paul Tibbets at ' bomber command.
Tibbets says it is “too bad” that the date isn’t two days earlier. because the weather will be nicer.
.The date is moved up.
Atom bomb dropped
on Nagasaki. 74.000
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August 103 Japanese government offers to surrender on the condition that the US. guarantees the continuation of .'the Emperor and his dyn- asty. '
Augus‘”: The US. agrees to this conditional Jap- anese surrender—a surrender it could have accepted months before. (And Emperor Hirohito is still alive and ruling today).
Given that the Americans could have ended the Pacific War in. July, if not May, of I945, every Australian, New Zealander, British, Canadian and American soldier who died during that period (not to mention the Japanese) is the responsibility of Truman’s government and its blind determination not to end the war until it had tested atom bombs (one uranium and one kplutonium) on civilian populations.
The atom bombs“also heldvout th possibility Of a dividend,” says Sherwin, “and that was the chance to give Moscow a little shock and shake them up a bit.“
But WWII wasn’t over yet. In what American scholar Noam Chomsky
has described as a “final gratuitous act of ’barbarism", the United States launched a thousand plane raid against Japan on August 14, four days after‘Japan had offered to give up, but, technically. before the US. had accepted.
Seven cities were bombed.
One victim, Makoto Oda, described what happened in Osaka:
“In the'afternoon of August 14,
I945, thousands of people died
during a protracted and intensive
aerial bombardment of an arsenal in Osaka. I was a witness to the tragedy... After what seemed an eternity of terror and anguish, we who were fortunate enough to sur- vive emerged from our shelters.
We found the corpses—and the
leaflets which American bombers
had dropped over the destruction.
The leaflets proclaimed in
Japanese. “Your Gavernment has
surrendered. The war is over!"
(from: Journal of Social and
Political Ideas in Japan, August
_l966)
Even American Secretary olear Stimson said hewas “appall€d that there had been no protest over the air strikes we were conducting against Japan which led to such extraor- dinarily heavy losses of life” He felt that “there was something wrong with _a country‘where no. one questioned that." - ‘
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TORONTO (CUP) — A
V. . .4’. 151“! 0V9
UofT
rdue books
librarian Robert
former University of Toronto stu- dent, who let his love of books get the better of him, has been sentenced to seven days in jail for not returning hundreds of library books.
George Elia, a former Continu- ing Studies student, was also placed under probation, ordered to do 300 hours of community work, and to pay $3000.
Some of the books were also from
York University.
Although Elia was blacklisted by librarians at U of T, a slight misspelling of his name when he
rc-registered in 1984. allowed him to cht a new card.
Brandeis equated Elia‘s actions with stealing cars or television sets. “It‘s plain theft. It’s really impor-
' tant that the court has recognized
the seriousness of this offence.”
Elia‘s case is believed to be the , first time in Canada that anyone has been jailed for not returning , overdue books.
Elia. 48, registered at U ofT in I98l. and book out books from at least five of its libraries over the next four years. -
During their investigation, the police found 226 library books, mostly on archeology and Eastern religion. worth about $13,000.
October 24, or 25. 1985 _ THE NETTED GEM_ Pages