OMNI Hiroshima Nagasaki Remembrance and
Nuclear Abolition Campaign 2022
Bill Offenloch. “Kings Bay Plowshares Seven.” The Catholic Worker (Jan.-Feb. 2021). The seven were sentenced for their disarmament action at the Trident naval base in Georgia. The author describes each defendant and selects key statements from their defenses. They speak of their faith in the divine reality that sustains them. Humanists might call them, as would Daniel Ellsberg, miracles. I recommend this newspaper. –Dick
Chomsky: From Hiroshima to Fukushima, Vietnam to Fallujah, State Power Ignores Its Massive Harm
STORYMARCH 11, 2014
Volume 53%
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TOPICS Japan Nuclear Power Hiroshima & Nagasaki Fukushima
GUESTS Noam Chomskyworld-renowned political dissident, linguist, and author. He is Institute Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has taught for more than 50 years.
LINKS See Democracy Now’s coverage of Japan
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World-renowned political dissident, linguist, author and MIT Professor Noam Chomsky traveled to Japan last week ahead of the three-year anniversary of the Fukushima crisis. Chomsky, now 85 years old, met with Fukushima survivors, including families who evacuated the area after the meltdown. “[It’s] particularly horrifying that this is happening in Japan with its unique, horrendous experiences with the impact of nuclear explosions, which we don’t have to discuss,” Chomsky says. “And it’s particularly horrifying when happening to children — but unfortunately, this is what happens all the time.”
Transcript
AMY GOODMAN: We end our Fukushima anniversary special with the words of world-renowned political dissident, linguist, author, MIT Professor Noam Chomsky, who also traveled to Tokyo last week. Noam Chomsky is now 85 years old. He met with survivors from Fukushima, including families who evacuated the area. Their meeting was filmed by the independent online media channel, OurPlanet-TV. This is Professor Chomsky speaking in Japan.
NOAM CHOMSKY: Particularly horrifying that this is happening in Japan, with its unique, horrendous experiences with the effect of the nuclear explosions, which we don’t have to discuss. And, of course, it’s particularly horrifying when it’s happening to children, who are defenseless and innocent. But, unfortunately, this is what happens all the time. I mean, I had two daughters about—when they were about the age of your daughter, they would come home from school telling us how in school they were taught to hide under desks in case there was a nuclear war. This was right after the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the world came very close to nuclear war. And children were very upset. I mean, I knew children who were friends of families who were sure they were never going to survive because the world was going to be destroyed by a nuclear war. But the official line was: “Don’t worry; everything is under control.” The same was true—again, my daughters, when they were about her age, we stopped feeding them milk, because the scientists, who were concerned, recognized that there was a very high level of strontium-90 in the milk that was coming from atomic explosions the U.S. was carrying out, many open-air explosions. And the government assured everyone that there was no problem, but we just—a lot of people, like us, just stopped feeding the children, gave them only powdered milk, which came from before the explosions.
It happens all the time. So, right now, for example, in Iraq, there is a city, Fallujah, which was attacked by U.S. forces using weapons that no one understands, but they leave a high level of radiation. And there’s studies by Iraqi and American doctors showing a very high level of cancer among children, far higher than before, in the whole neighborhood of Fallujah. But the government denies it. The U.S. government denies it. The Iraqi government doesn’t function. The international organizations refuse to look. So it’s all being carried out by independent organizations and citizens’ groups.
And this is simply everywhere. I mean, in 1961, the United States began chemical warfare in Vietnam, South Vietnam, chemical warfare to destroy crops and livestock. That went on for seven years. The level of poison—they used the most extreme carcinogen known: dioxin. And this went on for years. There’s enormous effects in South Vietnam. There are children today being born in Saigon hospitals, deformed children, and horrible deformations. Government refuses to investigate. They’ve investigated effects on American soldiers, but not on the South Vietnamese. And there’s almost no study of it, except for independent citizens’ groups.
It’s—can add case after case, but it’s a horrifying story, and particularly horrifying for you because you’re suffering from it. But that’s the way governments operate: They protect themselves from their own citizens. Governments regard their own citizens as their main enemy, and they have to be—protect themselves. That’s why you have state secret laws. Citizens are not supposed to know what their government is doing to them. Just to give one final example, when Edward Snowden’s revelations appeared, the head of U.S. intelligence, James Clapper, testified before Congress that no telephone communications of Americans are being monitored. It was an outlandish lie. Lying to Congress is a felony; should go to jail for years. Not a word. Governments are supposed to lie to their citizens.
AMY GOODMAN: Author and MIT Professor Noam Chomsky, speaking during his visit to Tokyo last week. Special thanks to OurPlanet-TV. You can visit our website to see our three days of coverage from Tokyo, Japan, at democracynow.org. . . .
Abel I think I have a blog for the following; if not please make one, and include the above posted 7-27-22
OMNI Hiroshima Nagasaki Remembrance and
Nuclear Abolition Campaign 2022
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology, August 6, 2022
HIROSHIMA DAY
CONTENTS
"The Day After" film screening and discussion online (or earlier YouTube)
APCJ, WAND. Hiroshima annual commemoration at the Promenade in Hillcrest, Little Rock
Union of Concerned Scientists. Commemorate the atomic bombings in Hiroshima & Nagasaki
Coalition for Peace Action. Be Active Today to Prevent Being Radioactive Tomorrow!
Your event is coming up!
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Hiroshima annual commemoration, on August 6, 2022, at the Promenade in Hillcrest, Little Rock
You’re invited!
Join us at our annual event commemorating August 6, 1945, the fateful dropping of the world’s first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, and its citizens by American forces towards the end of WWII.
It takes place at the Promenade, next to Hillcrest on Kavanaugh Blvd on August 6; the program begins at 7 pm, but come early at 6:45 and help make posters. Comments or remarks during the program will come from our “Conversations,” which we will encourage from any participant. Given the state of the world today, with serious changes confronting everyone, we’ve decided it is time to devote to hearing from “us,” from our “Conversations,” what have we to say about things, about atom bombs, domestic politics, the future, about scandal and ethics and even wars?
We’ll remember Hiroshima, its deplorable destruction and deaths, the condition of our nuclear arsenal, while feeling free to address other issues at large in the world. Our “Conversations” will, we hope, lead us to re-dedicate our efforts to both listen to our fellow-citizens and to act together for desirable change.
Signed,
Arkansas Coalition for Peace & Justice (ACPJ)
Womens’ Action for New Directions (WAND)
For more information, contact John Coffin at 501 952 8181 or at joticof@aol.com
July 25
Commemorate the atomic bombings in Hiroshima & Nagasaki
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Be Active Today to Prevent Being Radioactive Tomorrow!
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THE COALITION FOR PEACE ACTION (CFPA)
* 40 Years of Peacemaking *
www.peacecoalition.org
Dear Dick,
As the 77th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 approach, I was struck by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' warning in his August 1 address to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, “Humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation.”
The latest of many examples of miscalculations by world leaders was the extreme one of Putin's assumption that Ukranians would welcome Russia's invasion of Ukraine and that he would take Kiev within days. We are now six months into that catastrophic war, with no end in sight. Moreover, the danger of it turning into a nuclear war remains real, as Russia has a policy of initiating the use of tactical nuclear weapons if they are on the verge of losing a war.
On August 3, I submitted this op-ed titled Be Active Today to Prevent Being Radioactive Tomorrow! Top experts are saying that another use of nuclear weapons in war since 1945 has not been due to prudent policies, but has been "mostly luck." There is an urgent need to revitalize and rapidly enlarge the nuclear weapons abolition movement for humanity to respond in time to prevent nuclear annihilation.
I deeply appreciate the support of people like you who have sustained nuclear weapon abolition activism over time, but we must rapidly increase our organizing to prevent nuclear war. We can only do that with your help. At this time when we will commemorate the anniversaries of the first two uses of nuclear weapons, below are some ways you can help.
·Attend either of both of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemorations CFPA is co-sponsoring: in person on Sunday, August 7 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Camden; and in person or online on Tuesday, August 9 in Princeton. We plan to send a follow-up email on Monday about whether the Princeton event will be at the rain site, so please be watching for that. Even if you are too far away to attend in person, you can watch the Livestream.
·Forward my op-ed and/or the above Commemorations to your contacts to urge them to read and/or attend. There is also a one page hard copy flyer of the Princeton Commemoration you can use to hand to contacts you may see in person.
·Click here or below to contribute to CFPA. We are currently in the summer doldrums of fundraising, so donating now as generously as you can gives us the financial resources to ramp up our organizing as strongly as possible, especially as we approach the crucial 2022 elections!
Sincerely,
The Rev. Robert Moore
Executive Director, Coalition for Peace Action &
Peace Action Education Fund
40 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 08542
Everything following disappeared 8-5, but reappeared 8-8. I sent the above out 8-5, and added the below to the blog 8-8
Aug. 9 Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration in Princeton features Nuclear Experts, Music, Origami Cranes
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THE COALITION FOR PEACE ACTION (CFPA)
* 40 Years of Peacemaking *
www.peacecoalition.org
Dear Dick,
Every year since our founding in 1980, CFPA has sponsored an annual Commemoration of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We must remember the terrifying reality of those bombings, to motivate and inform the continued pursuit of our founding goal of the global abolition of nuclear weapons. That is the only sure way we can ensure these omnicidal weapons will never again be used. CFPA's 2022 Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration will be in person at 7 PM on Tuesday, August 9, the anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing.
Tell Congress: Nuclear Testing Survivors Deserve Our Support
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| Dear James, Seventy-seven years ago this week, a nightmare unfolded in Japan. Two nuclear bombs, dropped from American B-29s on Aug. 6 and 9, leveled the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At least 110,000 people—mostly civilians—were killed. Thousands more died in the coming weeks, months, and years due to radiation exposure. With that carnage came an enduring lesson: The world can never know true peace so long as nuclear weapons exist. The threat of nuclear confrontation with Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran is growing. Right here in the United States, thousands continue to suffer the health consequences of nuclear testing without proper compensation from the government. We can chart a better future together. Here are two ways for you to act: ·Write Congress: Urge your lawmakers to support the RECA Amendments of 2021 (H.R. 5338) to address the harm caused by U.S. nuclear testing. ·Cranes for Peace: Fold an origami paper crane as part of the #CranesForOurFuture campaign and share a message on social media about what a world free of nuclear weapons means to you. Every voice matters. We hope you’ll join us in taking action!
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LOOKING BACK AT EARLIER OMNI REMEMBRANCES
Greg Mitchell interviewed by Amy Goodman. “Atomic Cover-Up: The Hidden Story Behind the U.S. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” AUGUST 09, 2011. Atomic Cover-Up: The Hidden Story Behind the U.S. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Aug 09, 2011
Volume 53%
· Greg Mitchelleditor of Nuclear Times magazine from 1982 to 1986. He has written widely about the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, including Hiroshima in America: A Half Century of Denial, with Robert Jay Lifton. His latest is Atomic Cover-Up: Two U.S. Soldiers, Hiroshima & Nagasaki and The Greatest Movie Never Made. Mitchell is a daily contribute to TheNation.com and has been chronicling the lead-up to the bombing in a series of blog posts called “Countdown to Hiroshima 1945.”
LINKS
ATOMIC COVER-UP: Two U.S. Soldiers, Hiroshima & Nagasaki, and The Greatest Movie Never Made,"by Greg Mitchell (Sinclair Books). “From Hiroshima to Fukushima: Lessons for Today's Nuclear Crisis.” By Greg Mitchell. (The Nation, August 8, 2011). Democracy Now!’s Reports on Japan’s Nuclear Crisis.
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As radiation readings in Japan reach their highest levels since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdowns, we look at the beginning of the atomic age. Today is the 66th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki, which killed some 75,000 people and left another 75,000 seriously wounded. It came just three days after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing around 80,000 people and injuring some 70,000. By official Japanese estimates, nearly 300,000 people died from the bombings, including those who lost their lives in the ensuing months and years from related injuries and illnesses. Other researchers estimate a much higher death toll. We play an account of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki by the pilots who flew the B-29 bomber that dropped that bomb, and feature an interview with the son of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist George Weller, who was the first reporter to enter Nagasaki. He later summarized his experience with military censors who ordered his story killed, saying, “They won.” Our guest is Greg Mitchell, co-author of Hiroshima in America: A Half Century of Denial, with Robert Jay Lifton. His latest book is Atomic Cover-Up: Two U.S. Soldiers, Hiroshima & Nagasaki and The Greatest Movie Never Made.
Transcript MORE
https://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/9/atomic_cover_up_the_hidden_story
A look back at OMNI’s H-N Remembrance and Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
Contents of OMNI’s Hiroshima-Nagasaki Newsletter, August 6, 2014 (now titled Anthology)
OMNI’s Hiroshima-Nagasaki Remembrance, August 10, 2014
Dick, Bibliography: No Rationalizations for Hiroshima/Nagasaki, Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Gerry Sloan, “6 August 1945”
UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon
Noam Chomsky, “Hiroshima Day,” 2014
David Swanson, Truman’s Motives
John Pilger, Lies About Hiroshima, Lies Today
Hiroshima Day, August 6, 2014, Google Search
Anti-Nuclear Weapons Organizations, Google Search
War Resisters League, Uranium’s Legacy and Nuclear Free Zones
A BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY QUESTIONING THE BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI (Causes, Consequences) and ADVOCATING THE ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Prepared by Dick Bennett for OMNI’s 2014 Hiroshima-Nagasaki Remembrance: A New Generation of Truth.
UNDERSTAND THE BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI
Pearl Harbor: No Choice But War—for the Japanese. . .and the US
Roland Worth, Jr. No Choice But War: The United States Embargo Against Japan and the Eruption of War in the Pacific. 1995. The US instituted a severe embargo “knowing full well its probable result. Hence. . .the Pacific war was caused by the United States launching a policy of economic destruction against the Japanese nation” (218).
Surrender Imminent, Soviet Invasion August 9, 1945
Tsuyoshi Hasegawa. Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan. 2005. “In his 2005 book, Racing the Enemy, Hasegawa puts forward the view that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not the main decisive factor in the Japanese decision to surrender, ending World War II, specifically the Pacific Theater. Instead, Hasegawa looks to the breaking of the Neutrality Pact by the Soviet Union, and the imminent fall of Manchuria and Korea to the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.[3] This view is in contrast to earlier critics of the bombing, who argued that US President Harry S. Truman's underlying objective was showcasing US military might, as a deterrent to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's ambitions. Hasegawa emphasizes the extent to which Japanese decision-making was independent of the nuclear attacks. According to British historian Geoffrey Jukes: "[Hasegawa] demonstrates conclusively that it was the Soviet declaration of war, not the atomic bombs, that forced the Japanese to surrender unconditionally."[4]
Bombings Did Not End WWII in the Pacific
In the piece below, John Pilger readily debunks the myth that the bombing of Hiroshima was either needed or intended to end the war in the Pacific. . . . Judith Norman
“The Lies Of Hiroshima Are The Lies Of Today Aug 06, 2008” By John Pilger
http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/3578
Kill Japanese and
“Harry Truman and Memory of Mass Murder” By David Swanson 06 August 2013. High officials intended to kill as many Japanese as possible. Since then, the US has threatened to use nuclear weapons a dozen times.
Revenge
“America's Habit of Revenge” by James Carroll. Published on August 5, 2003 by the Boston Globe. [Also published in Carroll’s book, Crusade: Chronicles of an Unjust War. 2014. Carroll was an USAF General, and his magnificent book about the Pentagon, House of War, won the National Book Award. –Dick]
Alternatives Not Tried, War Crimes Committed
Are There Any [Good] Arguments for Nuking Hiroshima? by Bretigne Shaffer
http://www.lewrockwell.com/2011/08/bretigne-shaffer/are-there-good-arguments-for-nuking-japan/ The Bombs were not the only options available to the US. Truman and his administration wished to hit the Japanese, and in doing so they committed two of the most atrocious of all war crimes—the deliberate murder of several hundred thousand innocent civilians.