Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
Resources: TANIGUCHI’s memoir, The Atomic Bomb on My Back, and a film of the bombings.
Beyond the Bomb
War Resisters League, Ban the Nukes!
Global Zero
3 NEW BOOKS Reviewed by Publishers Weekly
The Button: The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump by William J. Perry and Tom Z. Collina. BenBella, 2020.(334p).
Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-Up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World by Lesley M. M. Blume. Simon & Schuster, 2020,.$27 (288p) .
Gambling with Armageddon: Nuclear Roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1945–1962 by Martin J. Sherwin. Knopf, 2020. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
TEXTS
Honoring survivors, 75 years later
Jon Rainwater, Peace Action
Thu, Jul 30, 1:17 PM (4 days ago)
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Friend,
As you may know, this year marks an unfortunate anniversary: the 75th year of the nuclear age.
On July 16, 1945, the world was forever changed when the first nuclear bomb was exploded in New Mexico. Three weeks later, on August 6, the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima; on August 9, the United States dropped another nuclear bomb on Nagasaki.
Survivors of those attacks and of the next few decades of testing and nuclear weapons production are still here. But so are the weapons. While this anniversary is an appropriate time to acknowledge and mourn the loss of life our fellow Americans caused on that day, it is also an opportunity to look to the future.
That’s why Peace Action is proud to join with more than 100 other organizations worldwide to honor the survivors of the world’s most gruesome and deadly attack — and to embrace our role in ensuring these weapons are never used again.
On August 7th, from 6:30 pm - 8 pm ET, along with our New Hampshire affiliate, Peace Action will be hosting an online event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of those tragic bombings, and to honor those who somehow survved through it.
Every year, all over the world, people gather to remember the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year will be a little different. On the seventy-fifth anniversary of those bombings, you can gather with American and international peace groups for a live streaming remembrance hosted by our own Kevin Martin, President of Peace Action. The ceremony will be led by Reverend Elizabeth Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, and will feature Masako Wada, who was a young girl in Nagasaki and survived the bombing. She is now the Assistant Secretary-General of Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese organization of survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We would love for you to join us! Please RSVP here. In the run-up to this remembrance, please share this online event with your friends, explore this website honoring the Hibakusha (survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki), and read the stories of these survivors of the terrible legacy of nuclear weapons. We all have a role to play in raising awareness about this anniversary, and I need your help to make this event as successful as possible. I hope you’ll join us. In Peace and Remembrance, Jon Rainwater Executve Director Peace Action
This past Memorial Day, a Minneapolis police officer knelt on the throat of George Floyd for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Seventy-five years ago, an American pilot dropped an atomic bomb on the civilian population of Hiroshima. Worlds apart in time, space, and scale, the two events share key features. Read more.
Share a visual remembrance of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with this social media profile frame created by #stillhere, a coalition of organizations putting on national virtual events related to the anniversaries of the Bombings. Create your frame.
Bulletin associate editor Matt Field will join a Tokyo House Party to talk"art, activism, and aspiration in our Atomic Age"with Dr. Yuki Miyamoto of DePaul University, whose work centers on nuclear discourse and environmental ethics. Stream the event live on Twitch.Learn more
The potential for monitoring and verification has been transformed by new information technologies. Though the Trump administration has left the Open Skies Treaty, other means may support the transparency and confidence-building functions of verification arrangements.Read more.
Join a Bulletin Global Webinar featuring Science and Security Board member Scott Sagan and international legal scholar Allen Weiner, who dive into the legal considerations and moral reasoning used in 1945 to justify the attack on Hiroshima. Bulletin columnist Sara Kutchesfahani, director of the N Square DC Hub, will lead the conversation.Read the article by Sagan, Weiner, and co-author Kathrine McKinney. Then register for this free webinar.
On July 31, Bulletin president and CEO Rachel Bronson will join a symposium titled “The Road to Nuclear Weapons Abolition: Steps Ahead in Global Danger.” The program is part of the International Symposium for Peace 2020 and hosted by the Nagasaki city government, The Asahi Shimbun, and other organizations. Dr. Bronson's panel discussion with former Secretary of Defense William Perry will be live-streamed free. Learn more.
The potential for monitoring and verification has been transformed by new information technologies. Though the Trump administration has left the Open Skies Treaty, other means may support the transparency and confidence-building functions of verification arrangements.Read more.
Join a Bulletin Global Webinar featuring Science and Security Board member Scott Sagan and international legal scholar Allen Weiner, who dive into the legal considerations and moral reasoning used in 1945 to justify the attack on Hiroshima. Bulletin columnist Sara Kutchesfahani, director of the N Square DC Hub, will lead the conversation.Read the article by Sagan, Weiner, and co-author Kathrine McKinney. Then register for this free webinar.
On July 31, Bulletin president and CEO Rachel Bronson will join a symposium titled “The Road to Nuclear Weapons Abolition: Steps Ahead in Global Danger.” The program is part of the International Symposium for Peace 2020 and hosted by the Nagasaki city government, The Asahi Shimbun, and other organizations. Dr. Bronson's panel discussion with former Secretary of Defense William Perry will be live-streamed free. Learn more.
Hiroshima coverage from Richard Rhodes, Alex Wellerstein, Hidehiko YuzakiImage may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
How many people died in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? It's complicated. Historian Alex Wellerstein examines the conflicting reports, observing that various numbers are deployed primarily as a form of moral calculus. Read more.
Many A-bomb survivors have long been working as storytellers at the cost of their emotional pain. Why have the urgings of the victims of the atomic bombings and of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the abolition of nuclear weapons been betrayed for so long? Read the message from Hidehiko Yuzaki, governor of Hiroshima Prefecture. Read more.
Since the first use of nuclear weapons in war, 75 years ago today, people concerned with the danger of large-scale nuclear war keep rediscovering a powerful tool for its prevention. Richard Rhodes outlines the "only answer to the clear and present danger of nuclear destruction." Read more.
On the 75th anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Bulletin's Science and Security Board calls on all states to use their scientific and technical prowess to reduce rather than increase nuclear risks and refrain from new nuclear weapon capabilities that fuel nuclear arms races. Read more.
Take time today, the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, to sign the Hibakusha Appeal for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Then, join national, virtual events commemorating the anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
With both COVID-19 and nuclear weapons, we have no choice but to call upon the remarkable capacity of the human species for adaptation. Such adaptation is by no means passive and must combine political will with scientific knowledge. Read more.
On Monday, the Bulletin hosted a global webinar featuring Scott Sagan, Bulletin SASB member and Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science at Stanford University; Allen Weiner, director of the Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law; led by Bulletin columnist Sara Kutchesfahani, director of N Square DC Hub. Watch now.
Bulletin executive chair, former California Governor Jerry Brown, and president and CEO Rachel Bronson will appear at the first ever virtual Aspen Security Forum today at 11:45 am Central. Join the forum to explore the most pressing foreign policy and national security issues of the day facing the US and its allies. Watch now.
Bulletin president and CEO Rachel Bronson joins Humanity Rising this morning at 10 am Central to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Join in to explore pathways forward to the elimination of nuclear weapons. Watch on YouTube.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Earnestly desiring the elimination of nuclear weapons without delay, we, the Hibakusha, call on all State Governments to conclude a treaty to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons."
Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
Joseph Gerson<cpdcs@mg2.lglcrm.net>Unsubscribe
8:39 AM (17 minutes ago)
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
to me8-1-20
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Friends,
This is the promised follow up with links to Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75th anniversary webinars, events and resources.
ACTIONS
Let me begin with two resources that will take you more deeply into the human meetings of the Atomic Bombings than almost anything else.
First is Sumiteru TANIGUCHI’s memoir, The Atomic Bomb on My Back. Translated from the Japanese and edited by yours truly, it provides the painful history of one of the most tortured A-Bomb survivors, his courageous commitment to live a loving and full life, and the story of the creation and activities of the Hibakusha movement for nuclear weapons abolition and to secure government assistance. The book can be pre-ordered online. But you can get two blessings with one payment, by making a $100 contribution to the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security. It will help us to keep on keepin’ on. Donate at https://www.cpdcs.org/donate/
The other is the searing 17-minute Hiroshima Nagasaki 1945 is comprised of film footage taken by Japanese photographers and locked away in a Pentagon vault for 20 years to prevent the Soviet Union from using it for propaganda purposes. It’s upsetting to watch, but like the video of George Floyd’s murder, it documents truths that we must know:
You can join the 2020 World Conference against A and H Bombs (Online):
August 2, 6 and 9,
The Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security advocates for peace and disarmament with justice. Our priorities include working for Common Security diplomacy among the great powers, as well as serving as a bridge between peace and nuclear disarmament movements in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and contributing to intersectional organizing.
Your Monthly Lowdown from Beyond the Bomb: August Edition 2020
The Beyond the Bomb Team via ActionNetwork.orgcampaigns@beyondthebomb.orgvia email.actionnetwork.org 8-3-20
1:00 PM (5 hours ago)
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
to me
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Dick,
This week marks an important and somber commemoration: the 75th anniversary of the nuclear attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 75 years ago, the United States devastated the populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands of people in an instant, destroying infrastructure, and causing long-term detrimental health effects for millions. 75 years ago, the United States began a war on civilians all over the world by testing these world-ending weapons. 75 years later, we are badly off course in efforts to honor the plea of the Hibakusha, those impacted by the nuclear blasts, and end the nuclear threat. 75 years later, nuclear weapons are still here. Unless we dismantle the system, the chance that these weapons will be used again is high.
Nuclear weapons may still be here, but so are survivors and activists working to eliminate this threat. We hope you will join us in taking action this anniversary to commemorate the bombings and ensure nothing like this ever happens again. #StillHere: 75 Years of Shared Nuclear Legacy Our coalition of anti-nuclear activists is humbled to host a national virtual eventcommemorating the 75th anniversaries. Join us on Thursday, August 6 at 11am ET and Sunday, August 9 at 2pm ET for highlights from local events nationwide, stories from survivors, and a look toward the future of a world free from nuclear threats. Watch the livestream here.
And find out more about our coalition to commemorate the anniversaries and how we’re pressing our leaders to take necessary actions to ensure nuclear weapons are never used again. Talk about the anniversaries on social media We need to get loud this week to call attention to these anniversaries and the way forward. And you can do this using social media, specifically using the hashtags #StillHere, #75YearsOf, and #HiroshimaNagasaki75. Here’s some suggested social media actions:
1.Click to tweet about our national virtual event happening Thursday and Sunday
5.Search the hashtag #StillHere on Twitter to see other tweets to uplift
Sign the Hibakusha appeal For more than 70 years since the atomic bombings, the survivors, known as Hibakusha, have struggled to live on, afflicted by delayed health and environmental effects. Never again can we allow such tragedies to be repeated. Americans must support the Hibakusha and over 10 million Japanese community members by calling on the U.S. government to work towards the elimination of all nuclear weapons and fight for a livable future. Sign the Hibakusha Appeal to call on U.S. leaders to work toward global nuclear disarmament. Talk to your reps about justice for New Mexicans This week especially, we cannot forget that New Mexicans were the first victims of nuclear weapons. The area of the Trinity Test site has reported high rates of cancer, birth defects, and other issues that can be linked to the nuclear fallout. Visit your reps virtually or write your reps to let them know that supporting the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019 is the LEAST Congress can do to make amends for nuclear testing that continues to harm people and the planet. Sign and share the No First Use pledge On the 75th anniversary of the only time nuclear weapons have been used in war, it’s long past time to make sure this never happens again. We can do this through instituting a No First Use policy and paving the way toward the elimination of these weapons. There are no circumstances in which the United States could use nuclear weapons first without suffering horrific consequences and inflicting the loss of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. Sign and share our No First Use pledge.
Honor those impacted by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Beyond the Bomb via ActionNetwork.orgcampaigns@beyondthebomb.orgvia email.actionnetwork.org
8:00 AM (22 minutes ago)
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
to me
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Dick,
With so much turmoil in the world right now, it can be difficult to step back to truly assess where we are. But, now, more than ever, we must commit to remembering the past, to never repeat the atrocities of yesterday and to learn how to create a brighter future.
On July 16, 1945, the first nuclear weapons test was conducted in New Mexico. Then, three weeks later, on August 6, the U.S. dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. Days later, on August 9, the U.S. dropped a second nuclear bomb on Nagasaki. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives on those two horrific days — and more have followed in the years since due to the long term effects of radiation exposure. But, survivors of those attacks and of the nuclear weapons industrial complex are #stillhere, sharing their stories and asking for justice. Sadly, these terrible weapons are also #stillhere. We have so much to learn from those impacted by nuclear violence. And, we have a responsibility to join them in action.
That’s why Beyond the Bomb is proud to join more than 100 other organizations worldwide in honoring the survivors of the world’s most gruesome and deadly attack — and in ensuring these weapons are never used again. Listen to survivors tell their stories, learn how to get involved in your community, and push back against the nuclear status quo through our live streamed events.
Please RSVP and share the online event with your friends! Together, we can make a difference. We all have a role to play in raising awareness about this anniversary, and we need your help to show the world that we will not rest as long as these weapons are #stillhere. We hope you’ll join us.
Forward,
Yasmeen, and the Beyond the Bomb team
6 of 70,471
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Abolish Nukes!Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
War Resisters League 8-6-20
3:04 PM (1 hour ago)
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Dear friends,
August 6th and August 9th this week mark the 75th year since the United States used nuclear weapons on civilians living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings killed over 200,000 people. To this day, survivors are #stillhere and fighting for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
As we remember the incredible violence of these days, which irreparably changed the course of history, we also look to the future. 75 years later, it is completely unacceptable that nuclear weapons still exist.
It's time to abolish nuclear weapons.
Here's how you can be part of the work to abolish nuclear weapons:
It's possible to end war, but it will take all of us. War Resisters League needs every single person to stand with us in the fight against US imperialism, militarism, and the expanding war machine during a time where fascists are in power across multiple countries. Like what you're reading? Forward this email to a friend. New readers can subscribe here.
If you really need to take a break, you can click here to unsubscribe – and we hope you'll join us again!
No more Hiroshimas, No more NagasakisImage may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Derek from Global Zerovia email.actionnetwork.org 8-6-20
8:30 AM (15 minutes ago)
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
to me
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
“Nuclear weapons should be abolished to ensure a peaceful future. The damage of atomic bombings should not be repeated. The pain of the victims of that day must not be forgotten. We must not allow nuclear weapons to continue to exist.” —Reiko Yamada, Hibakusha
Dick,
75 years ago today, the United States launched the first nuclear strike in history, laying waste to the city of Hiroshima with a single, devastating bomb. Three days later, a second atomic weapon was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. An estimated 200,000 civilians died in the attacks and many more were injured.
The stories of the survivors of the atomic bombings of Japan — known as Hibakusha — are living reminders of why we must never abandon our work. There can be no more Hiroshimas or Nagasakis. The only way to ensure these weapons are never used again is to eliminate them. All of them, everywhere.
We’re commemorating the anniversaries all week by shining a light on these barbaric attacks, amplifying stories of survivors, and outlining bold steps toward a nuclear weapons-free future. We invite you to follow along on Facebook and Twitter and share these vital stories.
75 years is too long to live under the threat of nuclear violence. While many believe the prospect of nuclear conflict receded with the end of the Cold War, the truth is that today’s nuclear risks are as high or higher than any point in history. We must not wait for a catastrophe before we act.
As grim as it looks today, we can’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Over the last 30 years, we’ve eradicated more than 80% of the global nuclear stockpile — from its peak of 70,000 to the estimated 13,400 that remain today. With bold leadership and sustained public pressure, zero can be accomplished within a decade. The only obstacles are political.
Global Zero has a plan to eliminate nuclear weapons in our lifetime, and it’s backed by an unprecedented global network of current and former senior political leaders, military commanders, and national security experts that spans the political spectrum and transcends borders and conflict zones. We are working every day to set that plan in motion.
Thank you for all of your support to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.
The Button: The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump by William J. Perry and Tom Z. Collina.BenBella, 2020.(334p).
Perry (My Journey at the Nuclear Brink), who served as secretary of defense under Bill Clinton, and global security analyst Collina expose the lack of checks and balances to prevent U.S. presidents from triggering nuclear war in this well-documented call for reform. Cataloguing seven decades of domestic policy developments and international power struggles over nuclear arms, including General MacArthur’s tug-of-war with President Truman over nuclear authorization during the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the 1980s Strategic Defense Initiative (commonly known as Star Wars), Perry and Collina argue that presidential monopoly on “the button” has reached a new level of danger under President Trump, whom they regard as a uniquely unstable leader. Their policy suggestions include an end to sole presidential nuclear authority, a prohibition on the first use of nuclear weapons by the U.S., and sustained diplomatic engagement with Iran and North Korea. Perry’s insider perspective on disarmament negotiations between the U.S. and Russia and the vulnerability of the U.S. arsenal to cyberattacks illuminates, but generalists will find themselves overwhelmed with policy minutiae. Still, this authoritative account reveals the true extent of the nuclear threat. Publisher’s Weekly June 2020.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-Up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World by Lesley M. M. Blume. Simon & Schuster, 2020,. $27 (288p) .
Journalist Blume (Everybody Behaves Badly) delivers a thrilling behind-the-scenes account of John Hersey’s seminal 1946 report on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. In the months after Japan’s surrender, Hersey hatched a plan with New Yorker managing editor William Shawn to go into Hiroshima as a “Trojan horse reporter” and describe the bomb’s impact from the victims’ point of view. Blume balances her narrative between Hersey’s journalistic process and Shawn’s editorial decision-making, which culminated in convincing New Yorker founder Harold Ross to devote the entire Aug. 29, 1946, issue to the story. She also documents the dramatic impact of Hersey’s report, which was eventually published as a book, on the public perception of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, and its continued resonance in the debate over nuclear arms. Hersey, she notes, devoted all the proceeds from the work to the American Red Cross and didn’t return to Japan for 40 years. Blume builds tension by expertly interweaving scenes at the New Yorker offices (where Ross and Shawn kept most staffers in the dark right up until publication), with Hersey’s journey into Japan and his search for survivors, and vividly captures a pre-television era when evidence of the nuclear fallout was suppressed by the U.S. government. This enthralling, fine-grained chronicle reveals what it takes to cut through “dangerously anesthetizing” statistics and speak truth to power. (Aug.)
Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly referred to William Shawn as Wallace Shawn.
DETAILS
Reviewed on : 06/03/2020Release date: 08/04/2020 Downloadable Audio - 978-1-7971-0887-2
Gambling with Armageddon: Nuclear Roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1945–1962. By Martin J. Sherwin. Knopf, 2020.(624p) .
Blunders, misunderstandings, and “dumb luck” shape history in this captivating reevaluation of post-WWII nuclear brinksmanship. Examining America’s use of atomic weaponry to contain Soviet expansion in Asia and the Americas, Pulitzer winner Sherwin (coauthor, American Prometheus) relates in nerve-jangling detail how presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy grappled with their Soviet counterparts, Stalin and Khrushchev. According to Sherwin’s portrayal, Truman was “intellectually and emotionally unprepared” to understand the atomic high stakes and often deferred to his hawkish secretary of state, James F. Byrnes. Entangled in an affair with a White House intern, Kennedy wavered during the Cuban Missile Crisis and depended on his brother, Robert, to back-channel with the Soviets to avoid nuclear war. According to Sherwin, military personnel countermanded orders to launch nuclear weapons on multiple occasions during the two-week confrontation. In one instance, a U.S. missile squadron on Okinawa was poised to fire 32 nuclear missiles at targets in China and the Soviet Union before deciding to stand down. Intricately detailed, vividly written, and nearly Tolstoyan in scope, Sherwin’s account reveals just how close the Cold War came to boiling over. History buffs will be enthralled. (Sept.)
DETAILSReviewed on : 06/19/2020Release date: 09/22/2020
CONTENTS: HIROSHIMA/NAGASAKI and NUCLEAR ABOLITION 2020 NEWSLETTER #1
Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-Up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World by Lesley M. M. Blume. Simon & Schuster, 2020,. $27 (288p) .