When the Truth Hurts: The Enola Gay

[Sapphocrat]

I just posted this to my blog. I have never been so exhausted, so drained, after posting a blog entry. In fact, I'm a wreck. I think you'll understand why after reading it. It made me cry, too.

It's a tad disjointed, and raw. But I just need to share it:

http://blogs.salon.com/0002551/2003/11/03.html#a492

How do you talk about the Enola Gay without mentioning Hiroshima? It's like talking about Apollo 11 without mentioning the moon. Or Kennedy's Dallas motorcade without mentioning the assassination.

<snip>

Think what you like about Hiroshima -- and Nagasaki; there are plenty of liberals who agree that the bombing was a necessary evil for bringing World War II to a swift end in the Pacific.

I, however, am not among them. I believe the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki represent the most horrifying depths to which "humanity" can sink.

Dropping the A-bomb "ended the war." Yes, it did. But at what cost? The cost in lives can be quantified in cold, meaningless numbers. The cost to our humanity, however, is immeasurable.

You don't have to agree with me. But if you do, I ask that you review the personal accounts of Japanese who were there -- who "survived," for what it was worth -- and look at the pictures, and watch the film footage. And then I ask you to think of your family, your friends, or yourself, in their place.

From Voice of Hibakusha, eye-witness accounts of the bombing of Hiroshima, from the video "Hiroshima Witness," produced by Hiroshima Peace Cultural Center and NHK:

The atomic bomb does not discriminate. Of course, those who were fighting may have to suffer. But the atomic bomb kills everyone from little babies to old people. And it's not an easy death. It's a very cruel and very painful way to die. -- Mr. Isao Kita

Read on...

(Mods: This is an original piece -- my copyright -- so I believe the four-paragraph rule does not apply. If I'm wrong, please let me know, and I'll edit for brevity.)

[jonoboy]

1. a very moving piece

I've always thought there had to be another way.
It's impossible not to hear eyewitness accounts and feel deeply saddened.

I read this piece just after I read an article by Naom Chomsky in which he pointed out that we are the only species that has created the means of it's own destruction..Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the beginning.

[bpilgrim]

2. bookmarked

we must NEVER FORGET the HORROR so we may recognize it in it's earliest form and smash it... before it consumes us all :nuke:

:toast:

peace