Today marks the 77th. anniversary of the worst crime against humanity in our blood soaked human history. The psychopathic display of imperialist power by the U$A, the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan, Hiroshima, and three days later on Nagasaki. These two events may drift into the fog of history, but are etched in blood and suffering in that human history, unforgettable, unforgivable. The extent of the horror and suffering caused by these two actions is proof the we must not allow any nation state to hold such devastation in its power. We must demand an end to any such weapons existing on this planet, especially now, when those same imperialist powers are discussing the possibility of a nuclear war.
The extract blow from ICAN, states far more eloquently the horrors of nuclear weapons, than I ever could. No matter how it is said, it must never be forgotten, never forgiven.
The two atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of people, and their effects are still being felt today.
By the end of 1945, the bombing had killed an estimated 140,000 people in Hiroshima, and a further 74,000 in Nagasaki. In the years that followed, many of the survivors would face leukemia, cancer, or other terrible side effects from the radiation.
The uranium bomb detonated over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 had an explosive yield equal to 15,000 tonnes of TNT. It razed and burnt around 70 per cent of all buildings and caused an estimated 140,000 deaths by the end of 1945, along with increased rates of cancer and chronic disease among the survivors.
A slightly larger plutonium bomb exploded over Nagasaki three days later levelled 6.7 sq km. of the city and killed 74,000 people by the end of 1945. Ground temperatures reached 4,000°C and radioactive rain poured down.
No response capacity
If a nuclear weapon were to be detonated over a city today, first responders - hospitals, firemen, aid organisations - would simply be unable to help.
The reason we know this is that the extent of the damage in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 made it nearly impossible to provide aid. In Hiroshima 90 per cent of physicians and nurses were killed or injured; 42 of 45 hospitals were rendered non-functional; and 70 per cent of victims had combined injuries including, in most cases, severe burns.
All the dedicated burn beds around the world would be insufficient to care for the survivors of a single nuclear bomb on any city.
In Hiroshima and Nagasaki, most victims died without any care to ease their suffering. Some of those who entered the cities after the bombings to provide assistance also died from the radiation.This powerful video by the Red Cross explains why responding would be impossible.
‘Hiroshima Child’
I come and stand at every door
But none can hear my silent
tread
I knock and yet remain unseen
For I am dead for I am
dead
I’m only seven though I died
In Hiroshima long ago
I’m
seven now as I was then
When children die they do not grow
My hair was scorched by swirling flame
My eyes grew dim my
eyes grew blind
Death came and turned my bones to dust
And
that was scattered by the wind
I need no fruit I need no rice
I need no sweets nor even
bread
I ask for nothing for myself
For I am dead for I am
dead
All that I need is that for peace
You fight today you fight
today
So that the children of this world
Can live and grow
and laugh and play
A poem by Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet
