Anniversary of Death

The Liberal Journal (no relation to my site) has an important post about the anniversary of our dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima sixty-two years ago today. Growing up I was fed a steady diet of justification and rationalization for the destruction my country unleashed at the end of World War Two. Although I remain an admirer of President Harry Truman and can understand why he justified the decision, it was wrong. I’ve come to that point of view reluctantly. Too reluctantly and I’m not proud of it. As the Liberal Journal appropriately points out, we ought to study and examine the real horror we inflicted when casually discussing the use of nuclear weapons in Iran, Pakistan or anywhere else on this planet.

While Harry Truman cannot be absolved of this egregious lapse in moral judgment, I can sympathize with the conundrum he faced at the time. And he didn’t have the benefit of history to guide his decision. We don’t have that excuse.