Taking Responsibility For The Bomb; Building Nukes, Once Again

AS THE STORY GOES, Robert J. Oppenheimer, a principle architect of the atomic bomb, shortly after the twin bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan, was horrified by the destruction, and walked into President Harry Truman's oval office, seeking absolution. Mr. President, he is alleged to have said, I have blood on my hands. Truman, an astute judge of human character and motivations of human behavior, was having none of it. Nor was Mr.Truman known to be tactful in his approach to anyone, particularly weaklings, sycophants, and deceitful, money mongering, power hungry politicians. He promptly threw Oppenheimer out of the his office, strongly advising him to never darken his door again. Reportedly, his verbiage went something to wit: "You son of a bitch, how dare you come in here expecting me to give you some kind of comfort, or forgiveness. We both did what we had to do. We had to win this war, by any means possible. Civilization depended on it. it was I, sir, and not you, who made the decision, who pulled the trigger, who dropped both bombs. And it is I, sir, and not you, who takes full responsibility for the decision. Just like the sigh on my desk here says: "the buck stops here". And you know what" I haven't lost a minute of sleep over it, since it happened, and I do know good and god damned well, that for the rest of my life, however long that is, that I will not ever lose a single night, let alone moment, of sleep, because you know what? It was the only decision anyone in my position could possibly have made. I chose to be here, I was here, and I did what I had to do. so, if you'll excuse me, Mr. Oppenheimer, I have far better things to do than sit here, wasting my time and yours, trying to make you feel better. Good day, sir." Reportedly, at about that very moment, Dr. Robert J. Oppenheimer, esteemed renowned nuclear physicist and prime inventor of the atom bomb, quietly left the oval office, somewhat subdued. Wouldn't you have done the same, in his situation? Truman was the kinda guy you kinda have to admire. He, like Donald Trump later, spoke his mind. The main difference is that Harry Truman was not a pathological liar. Generally, he looked you in the eye, and told the damned truth. But not so about the bomb. Truman always claimed, to his dying day, that he had no choice in dropping the bombs on Japan, because the japs, as he said, refused to surrender, and any other course of action, like continuing the war by conventional methods, would have cost the United States as many as a million lives. This was, until rather recently, the standard version, the version my generation was taught in school. But it was a lie. The Japanese did in fact try to surrender, and Truman knew about it, but chose to ignore the surrender offers, which were sent through the Russian military, and transmitted to the American military, because he truly wanted to drop the bomb, to intimidate the Russians. The two atomic bombs used against Japan were entirely unnecessary, and therefore, easily quality as war crimes. Like millions of others of my generation, I spent my childhood occasionally ducking under my little wooden desk at school, practicing a bomb drill in case the Russians decided to go off on us. As if my little wooden desk would have protected me. Well, you have to do something, don't you? When bombs fall, you'll do damned near anything, I reckon, to try to survive. After decades of nuclear bomb stockpiling, Reagan and Gorbachev signed an historic treaty, eliminating many of them, and the treaty held up until now. Putin is no Gorbachev, Putin is a snake, and Russia is indeed cheating. Obama and Trump both agree on that. Tragic that it is that Trump is in power, it is more tragic still that Putin is, because now, we look to return to the days of ducking under our desks, in mock futility. Reagan and Gorbachev were men of honor, compared to these two clowns. Well, at least when today's kids start ducking under their molded plastic desks, they'll have their smart phones to keep them from being bored, and can tweet and text to their little heart's contentment.