Living, And Dying With Nuclear Guilt

DURING THE SUMMER OF 1945 President Harry Truman made it plain in his personal diary that he was well aware that the Japanese were attempting to initiate the process of their surrender, by communicating through the Soviet Union's military, since the United States refused all communication with Japanese representatives. We conveniently omit this fact from our American history textbooks, understandably, preferring instead to portray the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as regrettable but unavoidable means of ending the war without suffering massive American loss of life. this justification was obviously a false fabrication, the real reason for the bombs being a desire to impress upon the world, and particularly upon the soviet Union, a knowledge of America's intention of dominating the post war world. Immediately after two bombs were dropped needlessly on Japan, and the ended in two final acts of criminal civilian slaughter, it became apparent to the American military and foreign policy establishments that the possession of a large stockpile of nuclear weapons would indeed enable the United States to play a dominant role in post war international affairs, to in effect rule the world, and to reshape it in accordance with its own interests, which basically mean, and still means, American corporate interests. to that end, the U.S. the systematic construction and testing of nuclear, and later hydrogen bombs. Between 1946 and 1958 sixty seven nuclear bomb tests were conducted in the Marshall islands in the Pacific, far from American shores, but essentially in the midst of the Marshallese people. In 1954, a bomb was dropped in the islands which contained one thousand times the explosive power of the Hiroshima bomb, and massive amounts of radioactive coral reef dust descended upon the islands, covering everything; food, land, water, and people. An epidemic of massive proportions thus engulfed the Marshallese people, producing an epidemic of various forms of cancer and other illnesses, including diabetes. Among Americans, guilt, responsibility, and restitution are often belated virtues. Finally, in 1983, Congress enacted a bill which provided for Marshallese people to relocate in the United States, albeit without the privileges and benefits of birthright citizenship. Large communities of Marshallese descendants live today in places like Enid, Oklahoma, and Springdale, Arkansas, and for the most part they choose to retain their cultural identity, and, like many immigrants to America, prefer not to assimilate, understandably. Now, having either forgotten to forgot or ignore the lessons of history, American president Donald Trump wants to significantly enlarge the American nuclear arsenal, and to develop new means of delivering atomic bombs to distant enemy targets. The sheer insanity of this runs counter to decades of international efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons from the Earth, and recalls two famous quotes: "You cannot simultaneously prepare for war and plan for peace". (Einstein), and "Those who forget the lessons of history are domed to repeat it" (Santayana). It is crucial that the American people elect future leaders who are aware of these profound truths.