Thursday, August 05, 2010

After the bombs dropped: Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Asia, World - The Independent

After the bombs dropped: Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Asia, World - The Independent

An exhibition documenting the impact of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II opens in London today.

Stopped clocks, flattened clothing, the charred contents of a tin lunchbox and a mangled glass bottle are among artefacts recovered from the wreckage of the two Japanese cities and brought to the UK for the first time to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the attacks.

The exhibition brings together first hand accounts of what took place on the 6th and 9th of August 1945 with objects representing the 340,000 people killed when the United States dropped two atomic bombs- events which led to Japan’s surrender from the war only days later...

Its the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima tomorrow and Nagasaki on 9th Aug. We then demonstrated the capability and willingness to deploy atomic weapons of mass destruction in a war situation, mass killing non-combatants on a scale and with a speed previously unmatched. We can kill on an even bigger scale now (there's 'progress' for you) and continue to regard the threat of mass destruction as acceptable and worth spending billions on to update systems. Presumeably the [growing number of] countries in possession of nuclear weapons are all willing to use them in certain circumstances. We cannot escape the consequences of our ethical choices - so lets hope nuclear disarmament proceeds ever more effectively and rapidly.

1 comment:

  1. So glad this is coming to the UK. My husband and I went to the Memorial Peace Museum in Hiroshima a few years ago and it was an overwhelming experience. It's too easy to forget what these weapons actually mean- the inhumanity of the destruction, or perhaps more accurately the sheer evil face of humanity that allows such weapons to even exist, especially after the lessons we should have all learnt after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Every year the Mayor of Hiroshima gives a peace declaration to the world- see it live tomorrow here:-
    http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/hpcf/english/information/Peace_Declaration/index.html

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