"Hiroshima Nagasaki" by Paul Ham (2014)

This is a fascinating book. I say that because it fascinates me the way that two people; in this case the author and myself; can take the same facts and reach two completely separate conclusions about an event. But that is exactly the case with this book. It’s not revisionist history per se; he doesn't change any of the facts; he merely interprets them in a way to make the point that nuclear weapons are bad; and by extension; that the United States is evil for having used them to end the War in the Pacific. So, we are left to examine the facts.

Mr. Ham makes the argument that we killed 130,000 people; that is the death toll from the immediate aftermath of both bombs; in cold blood, knowing that the Japanese had no way left to fight. He makes this assertion in spite of their still drafting 15 year olds as Kamikazes to fly wooden planes to be used as suicide bombs. The Emperor had already declared his opposition to the Potsdam Agreement of July, which stated that Japan would be subject to all the military might of the combined allies should they fail to surrender.

The Emperor and his military staff knew that Russia was about to invade; bringing with her all the hatred stored up since 1905 war between the two.  The author makes the claim that Japan would have had to surrender under this pressure from the Soviets; completely ignoring what the post war world would have looked like for both Japan and the rest of the world. Japan would probably have become another North Korea; or become subject to colonial control, like Vietnam when it was returned to France. That worked out really well, didn't it? And North Korea continues to be a threat to the world today.

One alternative would have been to continue the use of the incendiary bombings which killed 100,000 a night. The author is also critical of those raids as being inhumane. I have heard these claims before, in connection to the fire bombings of Dresden in Germany. Had we continued with those raids over Japan while the Emperor still refused to surrender, the death rate would have been much higher than even the long term death rate by the effects of the two nuclear bombs.

Moreover, the raids would not have been confined to just 2 targets, but rather have been spread over the whole country. This would have been akin to genocide of the Japanese people and Mr. Ham would be writing his book with that in mind. In other words, there is little we could have done to end the war which would have pleased him. In a perfect world the Japanese would have apologized and we would all sing around the campfire again.

But the Japanese Emperor, Hirohito, was still worried about his social position even after the devastation of the first bomb. He had been unwilling to accept the terms of the Potsdam Agreement which called for unconditional surrender. And, even after the first bomb he wanted to wait and see if we had more. The author even documents that himself. In school we were always taught that Tojo was the roadblock to peace; in reality it was the Emperor. And, in the end, he got what he wanted. He was never punished for war crimes; as Hitler certainly would have been. He remained in power until his death decades later.

Since we obviously have different opinions concerning whether or not the United States should have even developed the weapon; although the Nazi’s were working on it and the Soviets were poised to steal that information from them after they had surrendered; I won’t even belabor the differences too much. Suffice to say that if we had abandoned our efforts to obtain the bomb, then either the Germans would have had it first and won the war; or Germany would have been defeated and the Russians become the custodians of the new weapon. And while we have never used our nuclear weapons to gain new territory, Russia has tried. Remember Cuba? If we hadn't had the bomb how might that one have worked out? And what about Ukraine right now? If we didn't have nuclear weapons then Russia would already have conquered them.

But the biggest problem with this book is how conveniently the author ignores over 12 years of barbarism by the Japanese as they attempted to take over the Eastern hemisphere. As a matter of fact he never acknowledges that this was their goal.  He mentions Pearl Harbor and the Bataan Death March; but there is nary a word about the literal Rape of Nanjing in 1933. Thousands of women were tied to chairs and gang raped to death by the Japanese troops. They even took photos as souvenirs. You can view them online if you doubt me. 

The nuns in the Philippines who had their breasts hacked off with bayonets; the babies speared and stuck to trees. These are not things I am making up. These are the facts of what Japan was doing as part of her Co-Asian Prosperity Sphere. As a matter of fact I don’t remember even seeing that name in the book at all.

It is impossible to write a complete and concise history; let alone a conclusive book; about the bomb without exploring all the aspects of what made the development of such a weapon necessary in the first place. When faced with monsters sometimes it requires doing monstrous things in order to survive. Rather than take the position that we are the evil ones for having defeated these monsters, it is more accurate to blame the monsters of expansionism and the architects of war who put us in that position to begin with.

Missiles In Cuba - 1962

Most historians agree that the Cuban Missile Crisis, which pitted the Soviet Union against the United States during the coldest days of the Cold War, began on October 16^th, and lasted 12 days, until the cessation of the American Quarantine of Cuba on October 28^th, 1962. While this is true of the time of actual confrontation, Soviet ships had been photographed with missile parts, headed for Cuba, as early as September 25^th of that same year. I was just 8 years old, but the events of that period will live with me forever.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was really a test by the Soviets, to ascertain our resolve in keeping West Berlin from falling into their hands, which would have happened had we invaded Cuba; not just for the missiles; even to oust Fidel Castro, as in the failed Bay of Pigs affair in 1961. The Soviet point of view was that if we had our Monroe Doctrine as authority to invade; or even blockade; Cuba, then they had the same authority to act in their own self-interest in their hemisphere. In effect, we were being baited.

The Generals, and the Chiefs of Staff, were all eager to invade. What they didn’t know then, but has been divulged since, is that the Soviets already had tactical nuclear weapons in Cuba. These weapons, which were portable, would have enabled the Cubans to wipe out any full scale invasion by the United States at the time. It was only the resolve of President Kennedy which kept us from providing the air cover that had been promised by his predecessor, and of which the new President had not been informed. Had he given the go-ahead on the Bay of Pigs, the Soviets would have used that as a pretext to invade West Berlin.  The same held true for the Cuban Missile Crisis. Once again, the Joint Chiefs wanted to go in. They either did not understand, or seemingly care about, the results which would have been precipitated by such action.

From the 15th of October until the 28th, the world seemingly stood still, as we all awaited the outcome of the unfolding events. There was no “hot line” or “red phone” between Moscow and Washington yet. That would only come about after the crisis was over, in an attempt to keep this type of thing from ever going so far again.

President Kennedy, along with his brother Robert, took a full week to assess the situation as if it were a chess game. They analyzed each and every move possible, along with the outcomes these moves would provoke. In the end they settled on the Quarantine, announcing it on the evening of October 22^nd. From then on the whole world waited; and watched. The photo above is of one of our Neptune aircraft buzzing a Soviet cargo ship en route to Cuba during the Missile Crisis.

In school we had daily “fallout” drills, sitting in the hallways, covering our heads with books. The expected attack never came, and some say that the events of both the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missile Crisis were factors in the assassination of the president the following year. We will probably never know of there is any truth in that.

Although the compromise reached between the two super powers did end the immediate crisis, it later seemed a bit funny to me that we had accepted a deal in which about 8 non-operational missiles in Cuba were swapped for the withdrawal of the 600 operational Jupiter missiles which we had in Turkey, along the Soviet border. While it is true that those missiles were being replaced with longer range ones based in Western Europe, the swap was so lop-sided that the full details of the deal were withheld from the American people for some time. We were told merely that we had “won”, and that a new phone line was being installed between Moscow and Washington which would allow the leaders of the two countries to have quicker, and more direct, contact with one another.

Next Monday will mark 50 years since the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. I was going to use a portion of President Kennedy’s speech here today, but I have decided instead to post the entire 18 minute speech on the anniversary of the date on which the President delivered it. I still remember watching it with my parents at home in Brooklyn. It is one of the most vivid memories of my childhood, which is saying a lot, considering that my childhood encompassed several assassinations; including that of President Kennedy himself; and massive civil disobedience over both the War in Vietnam, as well as Civil Rights here at home. It was quite a time.

The First Step

When I was 8 years old the world came close to being destroyed in a nuclear confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. Twice, in as many years, these two superpowers had come face to face with the prospect of all out nuclear war. The first time was during the Bay of Pigs debacle in early 1961, when the Cubans, unbeknownst to our CIA, had tactical nuclear weapons to repel the invasion. Their use would have triggered a nuclear response from the United States, which, in turn, would have put us at nuclear odds with the Soviet Union.

Because of this attempted invasion at the Bay of Pigs, the Soviet Union, by the fall of 1962, was in the process of placing nuclear missles on the island of Cuba. This resulted in the Cuban Missle Crisis, which was the second time. If the United States and the Soviet Union had not negotiated a settlement to that crisis, an estimated 140 million people would have been killed within the first day of fighting, as both sides launched their respective missles.

By the following summer of 1963 President Kennedy, along with Soviet Premier Kruschev, would seek to initiate a treaty to ban all further testing of nuclear weapons. This was the first step in what later became known as "detente."

I was only a small boy at the time, but the stakes were so high that I was literally "riveted" to the news. The fact that I lived in New York City, a prime target for the Soviets should hostilities occur, undoubtedly had an influence upon my interest in the matter. So you can imagine my relief when I came home on the afternoon of July 26th, 1963 to the World Telegram and Sun headline that a test ban treaty had been signed between the two superpowers who held my fate in their hands.

I watched the presidents address to the nation that evening. In it, I was introduced to the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius, who was quoted in the President's address. I memorized that speech and for years afterwards could recite it verbatim. I even clipped a copy from the newspaper and carried it around for months. I still have it. For those who have never heard, or read it, I have printed a portion of it here. 47 years after it was delivered the eloquence of these words has not been diminished by the intervention of time.

Test Ban Treaty Speech

"Yesterday a shaft of light cut into the darkness. Negotiations were concluded in Moscow on a treaty to ban all nuclear tests in the atmospere, in outer space and underwater....

Now, for the first time in many years, the path to peace may be open. No one can be certain what the future will bring. No one can say whether the time has come for an easing of the struggle. But history and our own conscience will judge us harsher if we do not now make every effort to test our hopes by action, and this is the place to begin. According to the ancient Chinese proverb, "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

My fellow Americans, let us take that first step. Let us, if we can, get back from the shadows of war and seek out the way of peace. And if that journey is one thousand miles, or even more, let history recall that we, in this land, at this time took the first step."