Fifty-eight years ago, on August 6 and August 9, 1945, U.S. imperialism dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This horrendous crime remains the only time nuclear weapons have been used against humanity. The bombs were the dirtiest nuclear weapons imaginable. They killed over 220,000 people instantly and left entire generations condemned to slowly die from long-term illnesses. It is an atrocity the U.S. rulers not only never apologized for, but defend to this day.
For decades U.S. government officials and other apologists for imperialism have justified Washington's decision to drop the bombs as necessary to save American lives and end the war. Of course this is always the justification of an empire, and will continue to be the banner under which the U.S. rulers inflict brutalities on humanity. But this rationalization covers up the real truth. Washington made the cold-blooded decision to incinerate the civilian populations in these two Japanese cities to send a message to its imperialist rivals and working people around the world. Their message was loud and clear: we not only have the bomb but are more than willing to use it to advance our imperial prerogatives. The point was succinctly made by famous historian Thomas McCormick, who argued, “A prearranged demonstration of the atomic bomb on a non-inhabited target, as some scientists had recommended, would not do. That could demonstrate the power of the bomb, but it could not demonstrate the American will to use the awful power. One reason, therefore, for American unwillingness to pursue Japanese peace feelers in mid-summer 1945 was that the United States did not want the war to end before it had had a chance to use the atomic bomb”.
US’ Nuclear First Strike Policy and Nuclear Proliferation:
Nuclear proliferation problems go back to US’ first uses of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the Second World War, it played a charade with the Soviet Union over control of the nuclear genie. A number of American officials called for first strikes against the Soviet Union when it had a nuclear monopoly. Several American presidents have made nuclear threats to the Soviet Union, China, North Vietnam and North Korea. A nuclear first-strike against the Soviet Union was always on the table and discussed openly by General Curtis LeMay and other military leaders during the Cold War. It was such common knowledge that several movies were made about the subject. In a recent article senator Mike Gravel says, “it may have been entirely rational for the Soviet Union and China to view their nuclear capability as deterrence to a possible first-strike by the U.S.”
Nuclear Threat Still Looms Large:
However a threat of nuclear first strike from the US did not end with the Cold War. In George W Bush's America, nuclear weapons are here to stay and are viewed as weapons for fighting wars. The US "Nuclear Posture Review 2002" recommended continued reliance for the indefinite future on nuclear weapons "to achieve strategic and political objectives". It mandated new facilities for the manufacture of nuclear bombs, research into new kinds of nuclear weapons, new delivery-systems, and much more. It laid out a new strategy, in which nuclear weapons were to be used to "dissuade adversaries from undertaking military programs or operations that could threaten U.S. interests or those of allies." It named as possible targets Russia, China, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Libya, and opened the door to the use of nuclear weapons to respond to "sudden and unpredicted security challenges." The Pentagon’s Global Strike Plans, including CONPLAN 8022, refers to first-strike possibilities against Iran and North Korea. Just recently, military and CIA officers leaked plans to use nukes to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities before they could build a bomb.
Fight Imperialism! Fight Nuclear Proliferation!:
The fight against weaponisation is intertwined with the fight against imperialism. Nuclear proliferation cannot stop till world lives under the threat of arrogant US that has the nuclear capacity and intent to destroy countries that do not fall in line with its economic and strategic goals. Let us all resolve on the Hiroshima day to fight US’ global domination and remove the curse of nuclear weapons from our planet. Let us fight for a world free of hunger, exploitation and weapons.
An SFI Release
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