On August 6, 1945 U.S. imperialism dropped “Little Boy” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later this act of mass carnage was repeated on the city of Nagasaki. “Little Boy” was the nickname given to a weapon with explosive energy equivalent to 15 kilotons of TNT. 90,000 to 140,000 civilians were wiped from the face of the earth in Hiroshima and 60,000 to 80,000 perished in Nagasaki. Such was the Little Boy gift of U.S. imperialism in 1945.

Imperial Japan was a member of the Axis powers which included Nazi Germany, fascist Italy. Italy surrendered in September 1943 and Germany was on the verge of surrender in early 1945. Imperial Japan saw its prospects of continuing the war as very bleak and, in April 1945, began making overtures to the Western Allies regarding peace terms that would not include unconditional surrender.

We must remember that at the November 1943 Tehran Conference the British, Americans and Soviets agreed that once the Nazis had surrendered the Soviets would enter the war against Imperial Japan within two months. The date for Soviet entrance into the war was set for August 9, 1945.

With this history it becomes very clear that there was no need to unleash weapons of mass destruction against the civilian population of Japan on 6 and 9 August 1945.

If ending the war was not the reason for bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki what were the actual reasons? There were two key reasons for dropping “Little Boys” on Japan. One was to keep the Soviets from participating in the peace negotiations.

The second was to accede to the military industrial complex. The Manhattan Project “was too big to fail”. With over $2billion “invested” the weapons manufacturers demanded proof that their efforts would “deliver the goods”. We can see similarities in today’s conflicts where ever more lethal weapons are being produced and tested in Ukraine and Palestine.

Imperialism and mass murder are two sides of the same coin and today we solemnly remember the horrors unleashed by the USA 79 years ago.

Today the world is faced with the very real danger of another nuclear holocaust. With the NATO proxy war against the Russian Federation in Ukraine now in its third year we find two major nuclear powers face to face in a war that has already cost more than 500,000 dead, countless injured, and incredible destruction of infrastructure and the environment. We must acknowledge the very real dangers we are now facing.

In addition, there is the genocidal war against Palestine in Gaza and the West Bank unleashed by another nuclear power, Zionist Israel. This war has the very real possibility of extending to Lebanon, Iran, and the entire West Asia and it would be foolish to discount the possibility of escalation to a nuclear war.

In the Far East the USA and its NATO partners, including Canada, are intent on “containing China”. This is a dog whistle for interfering in Chinese domestic affairs concerning the island province of Taiwan. AUKUS, the trilateral military organization of Australia, Uk and USA, was created in 2021 for the express purpose to “push back against China”. Here again nuclear powers are in direct conflict with another major war on the horizon.

The Canadian Peace Congress recognizes the importance of remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the context of the current dangers facing human kind and the planet. We reiterate our principal demand for the complete elimination of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. We call for the elimination of all military blocs including NATO, NORAD, and AUKUS. Canada must exit the aggressive NATO military bloc and forge an independent foreign policy based on peace, disarmament, and solidarity. Canada must slash its war budget and transfer the billions wasted on weapons to the public services desperately needed by all peoples in the country.

On Hiroshima/Nagasaki Days we say:

NO to War! YES to PEACE and the PLANET!

CANADA OUT of NATO Now!

 

Executive, Canadian Peace Congress

July 10, 2024