Sixty-five years ago

Posted by Tory Historian Friday, August 06, 2010

From the USS Augusta, in mid-Atlantic President Harry S Truman announced the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It was dropped from an American B-29 Superfortress, known as Enola Gray. The second picture, from DefenseImagery.mil and reprinted with their permission, shows an aerial view of the USAAF North Field on Tinian Island from which B-29 bombers flew throughout World War II. That included the two that flew to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The two bombs undoubtedly brought the war in the Pacific to a much speedier conclusion and inaugurated a completely new age in military thinking and international affairs.

11 comments

  1. Anonymous Says:
    8:32 am

  2. Well said! And in the age of asymmetrical warfare, possession of the bomb is arguably more improtant than ever.

     
  3. Anonymous Says:
    11:25 am

  4. Enola Gay, not Gray....

     
  5. Tory Historian Says:
    1:05 am

  6. Thank you Anonymous.

     
  7. gcallah Says:
    1:31 pm

  8. "The two bombs undoubtedly brought the war in the Pacific to a much speedier conclusion..."

    Well, as Anscombe noted, only because the Americans were insisting on the barbaric idea of unconditional surrender.

     
  9. Tory Historian Says:
    1:35 pm

  10. It was a barbaric war especially on the Japanese side. Unconditional surrender was seen to be necessary to destroy the militarism that produced the war and the behaviour. The same was true in Europe where the Allies fought on till Germany surrendered unconditionally. Opening up the camps did not actually make anyone feel charitable.

     
  11. gcallah Says:
    1:58 pm

  12. "Unconditional surrender was seen to be necessary..."

    Yes, and Hitler thought the Holocaust was "necessary."

     
  13. Tory Historian Says:
    2:11 pm

  14. Well, well, well. So the Holocaust and the destruction of the system that created it is the same, according to you. A very interesting example of moral relativism.

     
  15. gcallah Says:
    2:25 pm

  16. "Well, well, well. So the Holocaust and the destruction of the system that created it is the same, according to you."

    Yes, because certainly, anyone who notes that any two things share any characteristic whatsoever in common is saying they are "the same." So, if I point out that amoebas and humans both engage in metabolism, I suppose you will respond, "So, amoebas and humans are the same, according to you."

    Are you a compelte nitwit, or do you just not care about logic when the chance to score rhetorical points arises.

    "A very interesting example of moral relativism."

    It's hilarious how "moral relativism" is always brought as a charge up by those who DON'T want the actions of their side judged by any universal standard. Anscombe, as a devout Catholic, was upholding a universal standard: deliberately targeting innocents in war is wrong. Whether done by "our" side or "theirs."

     
  17. gcallah Says:
    2:27 pm

  18. Sorry, little sleepy - that should be:

    "It's hilarious how "moral relativism" is always brought up as a charge by those who DON'T want the actions of their side judged by any universal standard."

     
  19. Tory Historian Says:
    2:53 pm

  20. Anyone who resorts to personal insults has lost the argument. That applies to your double comments, Mr Callahan. Good bye.

     
  21. gcallah Says:
    4:37 pm

  22. You egregiously distort my comments to score rhetorical points while implying that I equate the Nazis and the Allies, and then get all huffy when *I* get persona! Good-bye it is.

     
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