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20 days ago commemorated another anniversary of the catastrophe caused by the atomic bombs dropped by the United States on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This important date was practically ignored, with the exception of some television programs that showed videos and films broadcast in previous years. We also recognize the publication of news about it in various print media and, especially, on social networks. However, it was not enough.
It would be very serious to forget this date, regardless of one’s political position or diplomatic relationship with Japan. It was a crime against humanity. A crime for which none of those responsible have yet paid.
I am grateful for the suggested material and reflections that Mijaíl Blandino, from the Philosophy Department at the Autonomous University of Mexico City, sent me. It is a topic that we cannot stop studying, since warlike policies are the order of the day.
What happened in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Monday 6 and Thursday 9 August 1945 has remained a constant warning throughout the world of the danger that exists if the warlike currents continue.
For those of us who have dedicated ourselves to the study of nuclear energy, the dissemination of its use and exploitation for the benefit of society is an obligatory and ongoing task. Information must be made available to all sectors of the population, as well as to all school levels, including the most elementary, in order to appreciate the importance of world peace and healthy diplomatic and commercial relations.
It would be unforgivable if, at this stage of technological development, the manipulation of knowledge continues to benefit companies that do not have the objective of taking advantage of this clean source of energy.
The detonation of the first bombs in Japanese cities was one of the unforgivable chapters against basic rights, such as the right to life and the opportunity to live without threats of any kind, much less war.
It was not a military strategy to end the Nazi threat, nor a method to end a war, or punish a regime like that of the Japanese empire, but rather a mass murder of innocent people who did not even know that a device of such destructive proportions existed.
The unforgivable thing is that the bombs were dropped to demonstrate a military power that, in fact, had already been demonstrated. Germany had already surrendered and Japan, although its irresponsible emperor defended his absurd imperial honour, was also subdued, based on multiple bombings that caused profound damage to the population of various cities. Dropping a bomb of such magnitude only demonstrated enormous irresponsibility, barbarism and lack of any human sense.
What followed Japan’s surrender was also extremely destructive. American policy was dedicated to hiding the disasters left by its criminal determination to drop the bombs and the damage to the physical and mental health of thousands of people and the environmental disaster that lasted for decades. They tried to hide the consequences left by the use of atomic energy.
Given the circumstances under which the order was given from the Pentagon and the White House with Harry Truman at the helm, and when the Second World War had practically ended with the surrender of Germany, the massacre in Japan should have been considered a war crime, but to date, the United States has remained unpunished for that act.
Why did they do it? For those interested in detonating the bombs, the two billion dollars invested and the demonstration of the destructive scope were more important. Four tons of explosive material ended the lives of around 120,000 people in seconds. More than 130,000 are believed to have been injured and maimed during the explosion. The affected people later suffered the consequences of nuclear contamination.
Is this a source of pride for US foreign policy? Who are the Democratic and Republican governments that have perpetuated themselves in power working for?
The political conduct of our northern neighbors remains in the international community’s sights. The history of the destruction of such policy is Neither forgiveness nor forgetfulness must continue. It is not a question of maintaining an irrational enmity, but of not forgetting that we have an ethical commitment: to continue to strive so that the advances in the nuclear energy industry are applied absolutely for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of the world’s population.
Hopefully, the US ambassador in Mexico will review his country’s history of war and realize the damage caused by an interventionist policy. It is time for the most warlike country in the history of humanity to put an end to its bravado policy.
Collaborated by Ruxi Mendieta
