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By
Skeletal Grace
Dead Rebel Of The Week
~ "Little Boy" & "Fat Man" ~
One of the most stand alone epic events of any war is, of course, the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the eleventh hour of WWII. Dropping those bombs effectively ended that part of the war – but at the same time they started another much colder one. More than 60 years later the debate still rages on as to whether it was the right thing to do or not, both for the reasons of civilian lives lost and for the sake of the world that grew up in the shadow of the bomb. It’s a tricky question and answering it today shines a whole new light on the entire nuclear debate.
First of all, some background info for the slow kids:
On August 6th, 1945 the American bomber “Enola Gay” dropped an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb, “Little Boy”, exploded at 2,000 feet, instantly killed 80,000 civilians, and pretty much leveled most of the city into a parking lot. The total number of bomb related deaths has been estimated to be about 250,000, taking into account the deaths from radiation and other related causes.
Three days later, August 9th, the American bomber “Bock’s Car” dropped the “Fat Man” bomb over Nagasaki after having found its primary target, Kokura, covered in clouds. About 70,000 civilians died in a blaze of very little glory and the city was atomically bulldozed in pretty much the same fashion as Hiroshima. Again, the number of deaths that arose from radiation and stuff soared for decades to come.
Horrible, right?
All those people. Dead as fuck. I mean, that is pretty much as dead as it gets. Getting hit by a nuclear bomb. You’re nothing but a shadow burnt into the sidewalk after that. But what possessed a civilized nation like America to hit these people so hard? How do you come up with the idea to take the war off of the battlefields and into to the apple orchards of the supposedly “safe” civilians on their home turf?
Because it made perfect sense at the time.
The reasons are many:
1.Mathematics. To end a war that was getting out of hand in terms of loss of human lives, both civilian and military, something drastic had to be done. The conclusion was drawn that Japan could be bombed into submission and immediate defeat by hitting them where it hurt the most - their own backyard. Mathematically more lives were saved by ending the war in one strike than by dragging it out over years to come. In the battle of Okinawa, for instance, more civilian lives were lost than in the initial blast over Hiroshima. And that was just one battle. So from a purely statistical perspective it made sense.
Mathematics. To end a war that was getting out of hand in terms of loss of human lives, both civilian and military, something drastic had to be done. The conclusion was drawn that Japan could be bombed into submission and immediate defeat by hitting them where it hurt the most - their own backyard. Mathematically more lives were saved by ending the war in one strike than by dragging it out over years to come. In the battle of Okinawa, for instance, more civilian lives were lost than in the initial blast over Hiroshima. And that was just one battle. So from a purely statistical perspective it made sense.2.Scare tactics. The Germans were developing their own atomic bomb program and it was important to scare them straight by displaying superiority and strength before they took their program any further. It is one thing to have a weapon, and another altogether to actually use it. By taking out two civilian cities America sent the message to Germany that there were no Holy Cows in this war so just fucking sit back and let us invade your stupid asses. So, also on a strategic level in the war as a whole it made perfect sense.
Scare tactics. The Germans were developing their own atomic bomb program and it was important to scare them straight by displaying superiority and strength before they took their program any further. It is one thing to have a weapon, and another altogether to actually use it. By taking out two civilian cities America sent the message to Germany that there were no Holy Cows in this war so just fucking sit back and let us invade your stupid asses. So, also on a strategic level in the war as a whole it made perfect sense.3.Pearl Harbor. Eye for an eye. Do or die. Sink or swim. It all comes into play. The bottom line is that the Japanese government had started this war with America by bombing Pearl Harbor out of the blue, literally. The basic rule of any street fight is “Hit back, but hit back harder” and that is what the US ultimately did; we hit them so fucking hard they were still picking up their teeth half a century later. Therefore, even on an emotional level it made sense. Revenge is a dish best served beneath a mushroom cloud. That sort of thing.
Pearl Harbor. Eye for an eye. Do or die. Sink or swim. It all comes into play. The bottom line is that the Japanese government had started this war with America by bombing Pearl Harbor out of the blue, literally. The basic rule of any street fight is “Hit back, but hit back harder” and that is what the US ultimately did; we hit them so fucking hard they were still picking up their teeth half a century later. Therefore, even on an emotional level it made sense. Revenge is a dish best served beneath a mushroom cloud. That sort of thing.4.Observation. Nobody had ever had a chance to actually witness the real life effect of an atom bomb when applied to a real city and the knowledge gained was invaluable to scientists and their research for years to come. As crass as it sounds, they used Hiroshima as a guinea pig in the name of science to evolve the nuclear program. This means that on a scientific level the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made sense as well. Nothing fuels the innovative parts of the Human Brain more than a war. More inventions have been developed in times of war, for destructive means, than in time of peace, even if those same destructive inventions were later applied to more civil uses. Necessity is the mother of invention, and war is the mother of necessity.
Observation. Nobody had ever had a chance to actually witness the real life effect of an atom bomb when applied to a real city and the knowledge gained was invaluable to scientists and their research for years to come. As crass as it sounds, they used Hiroshima as a guinea pig in the name of science to evolve the nuclear program. This means that on a scientific level the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made sense as well. Nothing fuels the innovative parts of the Human Brain more than a war. More inventions have been developed in times of war, for destructive means, than in time of peace, even if those same destructive inventions were later applied to more civil uses. Necessity is the mother of invention, and war is the mother of necessity.5.Economics. The war was costing huge amounts of money and the treasure chests were running dry. To win the war before bankruptcy knocked down the door was becoming more and more important with every passing week. Financially, the bombings made sense.
Economics. The war was costing huge amounts of money and the treasure chests were running dry. To win the war before bankruptcy knocked down the door was becoming more and more important with every passing week. Financially, the bombings made sense.6.Truman. Having just assumed presidency over the USA a couple of months earlier when Roosevelt died, former Vice President Harry S. Truman needed to establish himself as the man who brought an end to the war and peace to the world if he wanted to stick around for another term. So the bombings also made perfect political sense.
Truman. Having just assumed presidency over the USA a couple of months earlier when Roosevelt died, former Vice President Harry S. Truman needed to establish himself as the man who brought an end to the war and peace to the world if he wanted to stick around for another term. So the bombings also made perfect political sense.Thus, in one strike of a sword that glows in the dark the art of war was changed forever. All of a sudden the idea of sending actual people to fight wars against other people was obsolete. All you needed was one bomb and one guy to fly that one plane to that one country. No more trenches, tanks and prison camps. The whole concept of war was thrown out the window. Or was it?
Actually, the atom bomb didn’t kill the art of war – political correctness did. As years passed and time progressed, wars were fought and battles lost and won. One thing steadily made its way to the forefront of people’s mind, and by our modern days it was established: It is rather rude to kill people.
Nowadays we still go to war as readily as before, but we’re not actually in it to win anymore. Let’s face it. 9/11 was as big of a blow as Pearl Harbor ever was, and also the most ingenious strike on any power since the Trojan Horse, and, as an enemy, the Middle-Easterners are as big of an annoyance as the Japanese ever were. So why isn’t Afghanistan a slab of radioactive glass? Why are we, instead, sending grunts to actually march up and down the streets of Baghdad, running gauntlets between suicidal car bombers and hidden snipers? Why do we still dig our kids down into trenches in foreign lands when we could just end it with one formidable blow to the heart of the city? Because it is rude to kill people and folks at home don’t want to actually have to deal with the fact that war is an ugly business. If we just pick them off one at a time over the years, spreading the numbers thin over a more manageable stat sheet, then we can all still go to sleep with a clear conscience. Right? If we set off a nuclear bomb in the middle of Baghdad we would be the crooks, and the blame would be all ours.
Wake the fuck up.
That line of reasoning doesn’t work. If it’s rude to kill people, then we don’t go to war period. If we go to war we should strive to end it in as short of a time as possible in order to both minimize our own losses and to scare the rest of the world straight so they don’t get any funny ideas. Why drag things out? The great philosopher and warrior, Zun Tsu, wrote a book called “The Art of War”, which is still used as a manual by all and everyone in any sort of military position, and in it he stresses: “There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.”
Lengthy wars exhaust your resources, your soldiers’ morale, and the patience of the people at home. Lengthy wars give your enemies the idea that they stand a shadow of a chance against you.
End it, and end it quickly. If you are the superior force there is no reason to drag it out for one second. Especially since it is also “rude” these days to help yourself to the spoils of war. We don’t invade countries anymore just to steal all their nice shit and go home to live like kings. We bomb them to powder and then spend more money building all their stuff up again. What the hell?
Every cent spent on the war is a cent out of the pocket of your own people.
Don’t cry for me, Hiroshima. You had it coming and look at all the good it did you in the end. We’re eating sushi, driving Hondas, playing your videogames and watching your stupid cartoons. We just gave you a push in the right direction.
“Little Boy” and “Fat Man” did the job. No matter how you look at it. Dead as Fuck Rebels of the Week.
