Saturday, August 6, 2005
60 Years Ago TodayYes, I did see the terrible black clouds over the suburb as I
cooked dinner. And the messages of the dying spelled there in the ashy
sunset. Every one addressed: "mother". 11:59:58 AM | No, there was nothing about it in the news. Everything was the same. Unemployment was up. Another queen crowned with flowers. Then there were the sports scores. Yes, the distance was great between your country and mine. Yet our children played in the path between our houses. We had no quarrel with each other. -- Joy Harjo, from her poem "No" on the Poets Against War website. Today is the 60th anniversary of the Enola Gay's flight over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Over 242,000 civilians were killed by the bomb, either immediately that day or over the next years from radiation-related illness. In our nation's myth of itself, the bomb ended the war. That is what we're taught in school and what is perpetuated in the story we tell about ourselves. Unfortunately, many Americans feel no remorse for this mass killing, nor any regret over our creation of the perpetual threat of nuclear annihilation. In our story, the "enemy deserved it" and the deaths were justified, regardless of the lingering cost. Today there is more information out there about the dropping of the bomb and the reasons for Japan's surrender. The Soviet Union's entrance into the Asian theater with 1.5 million troops, the recent military failures of the Japanese in the Pacific, and the growing weariness over the war all played a part. Some resources: An op-ed from the LA Times on the Soviet invasion (via Agitprop); The AP on the final Soviet push into Asia and its role in Japan's surrender; The Washington Post on footage from Hiroshima, "the original Ground Zero," and a documentary on Sundance that debuts tonight; Reuters and the AP on the Hiroshima anniversary; Charlie Clements' poem, "American Rage," published in the Journal of Ordinary Thought in November 2001; and Democracy Now's coverage of the anniversary in yesterday's edition. Thousands of paper lanterns were lit and sent down the river in Hiroshima, a visual prayer for peace in a place that has known what peace is not. Japan is considering revising it's constitution, one that has insisted on peace since its surrender, to allow Japan to develop nuclear weapons in order to "protect" itself from North Korea. The survivors of that day are few, and those who are still around are old and are therefore dismissable in the eyes of many. I hope they are listened to in the coming months when Japan considers its nuclear options, and that they can remind the government to not give in to its fear. I know this should go without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway: We should be humble with our power and anxious to use it wisely. We should resist our desires for revenge and we should think of the consequences of our actions. Now we know. The consequences are dire when we enter into things thoughtlessly. Our history is complex. If we're to learn from it, we have to acknowledge this complexity and see our nation for what it is: one that has acted honorably and beautifully at times and arrogantly and harshly at others. If we don't look at ourselves honestly, we will be nothing more than a collection of meaningless slogans, draped in a meaningless flag. 
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Last update: 9/1/05; 10:08:46 AM .
