[ RadSafe ] RE: [AMRSO] On This Day( NY Times) - Observationof Moment of Silence

[Brennan, Mike (DOH)]

There were far, far more than just two crimes; there were almost an infinite number of crimes, with most of them committed or ordered by those controlling the Japanese government.  There is no justification at all to believe that those committing the crimes would stop, short of such overwhelming force as to kill them or break Japan's ability to continue the War.  The resolve of the Western Allies (and the greed of the Soviet Union) was such that Japan was going to be defeated; the only question was at what cost.  The first bomb did not convince those in power.  Even after the second bomb there were men in the High Command who tried to intercept the Emperor's surrender message, as they were willing to fight to the last Japanese person they could control.  

I have the deepest the citizens of Japan who had no control over their government, and who only wanted to raise their families in piece.  But while they were in some ways the victims of their leaders, they were also their enablers, providing the soldiers, making the weapons, unresistingly giving whatever was demanded of them.  They were also the eager supporters of the Japanese expansionist policy, especially in the early days, when the deaths of civilians happened in places like China and Singapore and the Philippines and New Guinea and Korea and...  Breaking their will to continue supporting the War was a necessary part of ending the War.  

For those who wish to improve their understanding of the War in the Pacific, I strongly recommend "Japan at War: An Oral History", available at Amazon at  http://www.amazon.com/Japan-at-War-Oral-History/dp/1565840399/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-0859248-4214836?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186676568&sr=8-1, and in most English language libraries.  The first hand accounts, most of them from ordinary civilians and lower rank military personnel, helped me to understand how tragic ALL of the War was, not just the two atomic bombings, and also how, without those bombings, Japanese might be on its way to being a dead language, and the Japanese culture crushed beyond recovery.

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf Of Peter Bossew
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 7:42 AM
To: radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] RE: [AMRSO] On This Day( NY Times) - Observationof Moment of Silence

One crime does not justify another.

pb




Jacobus, John (NIH/OD/ORS) [E] wrote:
> Should we offer a moment of silence for all those Chinese and Asian 
> civilians killed by the Japanese?
>  
>
> -- John
> John P. Jacobus, MS, CHP
> Senior Health Physicist
> National Institutes of Health
> Division of Radiation Safety
> 21 Wilson Drive, MSC 6780
> Bethesda, MD 20892-6780
> USA
> Ph. -- 301-496-5774
> FAX -- 301-496-3544
> e-mail:  jjacobus at mail.nih.gov
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> 	From: Johnston, Thomas [mailto:Tom_Johnston at nymc.edu] 
> 	Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 8:55 AM
> 	To: Academic-Medical Radiation Safety Officers listserve; 
> radsafe at radlab.nl
> 	Subject: [AMRSO] On This Day( NY Times) - Observation of Moment of 
> Silence
> 	
> 	
>
> 	Hello Everyone,
>
> 	 
>
> 	On This Day - NY Times
>
> 	On Aug. 9, 1945, the United States exploded a nuclear device over 
> Nagasaki, Japan, instantly killing an estimated 39,000 people.
>
> 	The explosion came three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
>
> 	 
>
> 	May we all observe a moment of silence.
>
> 	 
>
> 	Tom
>
> 	 
>
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>   


--


-----------------------------------------------------
Peter Bossew 

European Commission (EC)
Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES) 

TP 441, Via Fermi 1
21020 Ispra (VA)
ITALY 
  
Tel. +39 0332 78 9109
Fax. +39 0332 78 5466
Email: peter.bossew at jrc.it 

WWW: http://rem.jrc.cec.eu.int 
  
"The views expressed are purely those of the writer and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European Commission."


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