Another Day That Will Live in Infamy

Today is the 60th anniversary of the atomic bomb detonation in Hiroshima, Japan. A good day to reflect on the world then versus the world now, and the differences and similarities between the two times. Below is the full editorial from today's OpinionJournal.com. The debate about whether we should have dropped the A-bombs or not will go on ad infinitum, but either way we would be dealing with many of the same nuclear issues that we are today. And for reference, the Wall Street Journal asked its readers today if they agreed with the decision to drop the bombs 60 years ago. With about 3400 votes in so far, 74% say that they agree with both bombs being dropped, 14% say only one bomb was needed and 12% say we should not have dropped any. Thoughts?

Today--or August 6 in Japan--is the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which killed outright an estimated 80,000 Japanese and hastened World War II to its conclusion on August 15. Those of us who belong to the postwar generations tend to regard the occasion as a somber, even shameful, one. But that's not how the generation of Americans who actually fought the war saw it. And if we're going to reflect seriously about the bomb, we ought first to think about it as they did.

In 1945, Paul Fussell was a 21-year-old second lieutenant who'd spent much of the previous year fighting his way through Europe. At the time of Hiroshima, he was scheduled to participate in the invasion of the Japanese mainland, for which the Truman Administration anticipated casualties of between 200,000 and one million Allied soldiers. No surprise, then, that when news of the bomb reached Lt. Fussell and his men, they had no misgivings about its use: "We learned to our astonishment that we would not be obliged in a few months to rush up the beaches near Tokyo
assault-firing while being machine-gunned, mortared, and shelled, and for all
the practiced phlegm of our tough facades we broke down and cried with relief
and joy. We were going to live."

Mr. Fussell was writing about American lives. What about Japanese lives? The Japanese army was expected to fight to the last man, as it had during the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Since the ratio of Japanese to American combat fatalities ran about four to one, a mainland invasion could have resulted in millions of Japanese deaths--and that's not counting civilians. The March 1945 Tokyo fire raid killed about 100,000; such raids would have intensified had the war dragged on. The collective toll from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings is estimated at between 110,000 and 200,000.

Nuclear weapons are often said to pose a unique threat to humanity, and in the wrong hands they do. But when President Truman gave the go-ahead to deploy Fat Man and Little Boy, what those big bombs chiefly represented was salvation: salvation for young Lt. Fussell and all the GIs; salvation for the tens of thousands of Allied POWs the Japanese intended to execute in the event of an invasion; salvation for the grotesquely used Korean "comfort women"; salvation for millions of Asians enslaved by the Japanese.

Not least, and despite the terrible irony, the bombings were salvation for Japan, since they prompted Emperor Hirohito to intervene with his bitterly divided government to end the war, thus laying the groundwork for America's beneficent occupation and the country's subsequent prosperity. To understand the roots of modern Japan's pacifist mentality, so at variance with its old warrior culture, one need only visit Hiroshima's peace park.

The same can be said about nuclear weapons in other contexts. America's nuclear arsenal helped thwart Soviet expansionism and provided the umbrella under which Western Europe and the Asian rim countries became--and remained--free throughout the Cold War. For embattled Israel, nuclear weapons have not only helped guarantee its existence, they have paradoxically provided it with the margin of strength it needs to contemplate territorial concessions unimaginable for other states its size.

Of course, for every Pershing missile that helped keep Western Europe free, a Soviet SS-20 helped keep Eastern Europe captive. In the hands of democracies, nuclear weapons safeguard liberty; in the hands of dictatorships, they safeguard despotism. It's doubtful the Soviet Union could have survived as long as it did had it never developed nuclear weapons. That's true for North Korea today, and it explains why the mullahs of Tehran seek to bolster their faltering regime with an atomic bomb. Also true is that the threat nuclear weapons pose today is probably greater than ever before. That's not because they're more plentiful--thanks to the 2002 Moscow Treaty (negotiated by John Bolton), U.S. and Russian arsenals are being cut to levels not seen in 40 years. It's because nuclear know-how and technology have fallen into the hands of men such as A.Q. Khan and Kim Jong Il, and they, in turn, are but one degree of separation away from the jihadists who may someday detonate a bomb in Times or Trafalgar Square.

Reflecting on this history, there's a tendency to wax melancholic about the dangers of letting the proverbial genie out of his bottle, and to suggest we stuff him back in. Thus the reflexive opposition by Democrats and some Republicans to developing new nuclear weapons such as the "bunker buster" and to the resumption of nuclear testing. The Senate has even zeroed out of the President's budget funding for a high-powered laser that would help gauge the reliability of the U.S. arsenal without testing. We also frequently hear calls for the U.S. to lead by example by further reducing its arsenal, and for the Bush Administration to "strengthen" the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by agreeing to the useless Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Yet the notion that the nuclear genie can be willed out of existence through the efforts of right-thinking people is as absurd as it is wrongheaded. Just as guns and knives will be with us forever, so too will the bomb. We need bunker busters because North Korea and Iran are using underground facilities to build weapons that threaten us, and we must be able credibly to threaten in return. We need to have nuclear tests because the reliability of our principal warhead, the W-76, has been seriously called into question, and China must not be enticed to compete with us as a nuclear power. In neither case does the U.S. set a "bad example." Rather, it demonstrates the same capacity for moral self-confidence that carried America through World War II and must now carry us through the war on terror.

Looking back after 60 years, who cannot be grateful that it was Truman who had the bomb, and not Hitler or Tojo or Stalin? And looking forward, who can seriously doubt the need for might always to remain in the hands of right? That is the enduring lesson of Hiroshima, and it is one we ignore at our peril.

Election News

Several recent politcal races are in the news this week. First, in Ohio, the race for the Congressional seat formerly held for 12 years by Bob Portman (now U.S. trade rep) was won by former state Congresswoman Jean Schmidt. This was a nationally-followed race because Schmidt's opponent was an Iraq veteran, the first to seek national office after service in the war there. He was basically a one-issue candidate - look at me, I'm a veteran - but he put up an honorable fight and has given the GOP some food for thought based on his performance and the overall voter turnout.

However, as Michael Barone points out in his blog at US News.com:

But the Democrats' shrewdest political strategists know that partisan
swings in special elections are not usually replicated in the next general
election. Special elections usually run against the party that holds the
presidential office, for structural reasons. Voters in special elections know
that their vote will not change party control of the House. Republican-leaning
voters who are discontented with their party's leadership for any reason can
vote for a Democratic candidate serene in the knowledge that Republicans will
still have a majority in the House. Shrewd opposition party candidates will try
to aggregate discontented voters and will sometimes win. That seems to be what
Paul Hackett did in the 2nd District.

Consider another special election in a similar district, the 4th
District of Ohio, in 1981, Ronald Reagan's first year in the presidency. The
Republican incumbent died, and Democrat Dale Locker won 49.8 percent of the vote
to Republican Mike Oxley's 50.2 percent in a district in which Reagan had won 64
percent of the vote. But this was not a harbinger of the 1982 results. In that
year Republicans did lose 26 seats, but most of those losses, by my
calculations, were the result of redistricting, and Republicans lost no
districts as heavily Republican as the Ohio 4th. Oxley has been re-elected by
wide margins and is currently serving his third and, because of Republican term
limits, probably his final term as chairman of the Financial Services Committee.
So the Ohio 2nd result probably is not a harbinger of a Republican bloodbath in
2006.

In other news, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has finished SECOND in a 12-person runoff for the top job in the Motor City. This is the same guy that racks up hundreds of thousands of dollars in suspicious charges on his city-issued credit card and gave his wife a city-owned luxury SUV. Does anyone really wonder why people have moved out of Detroit in droves?

There's only one possible solution to Detroit's problems:

ROBOCOP.

F...L...Y...E...R...S....

In honor of the owner of this blog, just thought we'd pass on the lastest Philly Flyers roster moves. Lots of talented players like Tony Amonte and Johnny Leclair are on their way out (and rumor has it Jeremy Roenick isn't far behind them) but the Flyers have added former MVP Peter Forsberg and defensemen Derien Hatcher and Chris Therien, among others.

Now, as fans of another Atlantic Division team, it pains us to say this, but things are looking good for the Flyers. These moves will help keep them from falling into the same rut of our aforementioned team of buying old marquis players and paying them lots of money to do nothing. Of course, it looks like the Boston Bruins have already started following that mantra.

Given the recent rules changes in the NHL this year, and with the new salary cap restrictions, it should be an exciting season, if anyone really bothers to pay attention. Perhaps the two saps that write for this blog can even get together for a game or two. Of course, we'd need a blog-sitter at that point...

Shoot to Kill

The IACP, an association representing 20,000 police chiefs in the U.S., has authorized shooting suspected terrorists in the head. This is a change in the Rules of Engagement as currently supported. To quote Monty Python: "...And there was much rejoicing."

We're sure this will provoke some frothing outrage from the ACLUand other groups, and we think that debate is always healthy, especially given the recent shooting of a Brazilian-born immigant on a London subway. However, in the opinion of the stand-in writer of this blog, if you're wearing a bulky overcoat in mid-summer, acting suspiciously, and decide to run from the police into a public transit system that has had 7 bombings in 3 weeks, don't come looking for sympathy. At the same time, here in America, if you're a terrorist, you're probably in more danger of getting mugged on certain subways than you are of being shot by an overzealous cop.

We hope that law enforcement staff in the U.S. can stay alert and learn from recent events in London and elsewhere. We hope that the U.S. Intelligence Agencies can gather and analyze information fast enough to prevent further attacks on U.S. soil. But on another level, we hope there are thousands of police officers down at the gun range, practicing aiming for the big gourd.
To end with anoher quote, this time from the Hill Street Blues desk sergeant:

"Let's do it to them before they do it to us."

A Worthy Cause Revisited

A sad but meaningful close to the life of Susan Torres. She was able to hold on long enough for her baby daughter to be born, albeit prematurely, but I am sure that is some consolation to her family. This was an issue close to the heart of this blog's owner, so I wanted to re-post the information on the fund set up to help defray medical and other costs for this brave family.

You can visit the Susan M. Torres Fund site or donate via US Mail at the address below.

The Susan M. Torres Fund
PO Box 34105
Washington DC 20043-0105

Susan - you did all you could do for your daughter.

Miracle in Toronto

As more details continue to emerge in the miraculous survival of all passengers in the Toronto Air France crash, we must take the opportunity to point out how imperiously French the French government and press continue to be. French newspapers are of course claiming that it is due to the amazing construction of the (partly French government-owned) Airbus A340 jet.

Neglecting, of course, to wonder about the logic of the Air France controllers telling the pilots to land in what everyone knew were dangerous conditions. Neglecting to mention the rigorous safety standards required by the FAA in recent years that have saved many lives but that the French complain about as they try to launch their new super-jumbo Airbus A380. Remember - that plane can carry more than 850 passengers and is almost 40 feet high at the upper doors - imagine what evacuating that aircraft would be like in a fire.

Bottom line: It's a tribute to the flight crew of this aircraft that all of the passengers were able to escape. To them, I take my beret off.

At least on this occasion, the French skill of running away ends up saving lives.

McFree, You Want to Tell Us Something?

The title of this article will provide some amusement to our circle of friends, but the subject matter should raise some questions (and eyebrows?) for everyone. I remember being confused in elementary school about the "Ms." designation and how it was different from "Miss" or "Mrs." Imagine being a student and having to wrap your brain around your teacher's sudden gender change.

It will, however, make for a great "How I Spent My Summer" story to kick off the schoolyear - I doubt any of the kids will be able to top it.

A Blog Coup When Two Become One

Greetings faithful readers! Do not adjust your monitors - this is the Lord of Truth coming to you live from Raje's Rants. As you have no doubt been following, the esteemed creator of this blog was just happily married on Saturday, July 30. The newlyweds have made their way to one of the more remote sections of the Earth and Raj, in his post-wedding bliss, decided to hand the proverbial author's pen to moi. Parents with small children may want to escort them from the room.

I'll leave it to Raj to give you the full details of the wedding when he returns, but allow me to hit on a few high points, in what should be the penultimate Wedding Update:

1. To me, the best part of any wedding is seeing the look on the groom's face when he glimpses his bride coming down the aisle. Trust me when I say that Raj did not disappoint. There's really no way of describing that feeling to anyone else, huh Raj?

2. The dual ceremonies were both very impressive and inspiring. Once again it illustrated to me the many common themes that run throughout various religions, especially when it comes to major life events. Also, it gave me the opportunity to practice my Sanskrit, which as you all know, has gotten a little rusty.

3. There were no major calamities, although I had to work diligently to keep several people out of the koi pond as the night progressed. There were, however, several minor calamities, including a stirring rendition of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by the Mayor of Wayne, AKA The King of Parliament Lights. Luckily for all, this was captured on professional video and the newlyweds can enjoy it over and over on their anniversary each year.

4. A shout-out to all of my new friends at Johnson's Tavern in Annville, PA. I've never walked into a place and had the jukebox record skip before, but now I know what it's like. And to the young lady that noticed my brand new fancy pool cue case and reminded me that there was no pool table in the bar, this 75-cent Yuengling Lager is for you.

5. Raj played golf. In a related story, Hades suffered its first blizzard. Now this.

6. Two words: Philly Boom. There really is no force in nature like him. Phi Alpha, bro.

7. Hershey, PA really does smell like chocolate. Minor, but yet still fascinating to me.

8. I was surrounded by the most redheads I've ever seen in one place in my life at this wedding, which suddenly made me feel tan for once in my life. But seriously, I was waiting for the universe to explode with all of that fiery energy concentrated in once place. Perhaps my setting my "Bourbon shields" to maximum saved me. Thank you, Mark of the Maker.

9. Why does greasy food taste so good the morning after a party? Come on, Science, you got some 'splainin' to do. How do you absorb my headache, giant sweet Italian sausage?

10. Finally, Raj and Alli, a thousand congratulations. But I still hate you for sitting on some lagoon beach right now while the rest of us waste time at work blogging. May your most recently served frozen drink give you a cold headache, you lucky ducks. Hope you're having a blast.