Peace: What's in a Word?

"there are no good wars, and there is no bad peace"

these words echoed with me throughout the hiroshima peace memorial museum. set in what is now called peace park, the museum documents hiroshima in history, its use in the wars leading up to WW2, the dropping of the bomb, and the lives of victims following.

70000 lives in one day on 8:15, august 6, 1945. 70000 more by year end.

the war waged by japan was not going well by 1942 - america had begun to move the fight to the mainland from the pacific waters. by 1945, the allied powers knew that germany was going to fall. they had finished the bomb, but were unsure of using it (the physicists begged roosevelt not to use the bomb, as it could leave to incalculable death and demonstrate perhaps by reverse engineering its form to others, leading to an unforeseen arms race. hmm...). japan had yet to surrender. the soviets had not yet declared war on japan, but at the urging of the US and britain, stalin said that three months after the german surrender, he would declare war.

however, this frightened the US and britain - if the soviets entered the war and helped gain a japanese surrender, the soviets may broker a deal more amenable to their liking and come out with a greater post-war position. the US decided to use the bomb against japan. reasons included obtaining a surrender without soviet help, and, in demonstrating to the public that the 2 billion dollars and 120000-persons used in its development was not a waste. in april 1945, the US and britain issued the Potsdam Declaration to the japanese emperor. it demanded a surrender but did not offer to maintain the emperor:s power, a sticking point for the japanese. it also did not make a single mention of the bomb. documents show that truman and the military were urged by others to mention the bomb - by doing so surrender might be obtained without its use. reasons against? to be able to at least use the bomb, and to test its capability. indeed, one the qualifications for picking a bombing target was a city that had not been destroyed by air raids, so that the true nature of its power could be seen. hiroshima was chosen for that reason, for being away from a large body of water (that with a misfire could consume the explosion) and for not having american POWs.

the bomb dropped. the city decimated. burn victims with their skin hanging and dripping liek wax from their bodies. unable to to even drink water lest they die )internal organs so irradiated). black rain fell. even after the acute symptoms subsided, radiation caused cancer, birth deformities and other ills for years even until today.

there is a story of a girl named Sakuda who survived the blast without apparent injury. 10 years later, she came down with a severe form of leukemia that the doctors couldn't treat. getting worse and worse, she had heard that if you fold 1,000 paper cranes, you will be granted one wish. so, from her hospital bed, she folded over 1,000 paper cranes. it didn't work and she passed away. her story became widely known, and people from all over the world sent paper cranes to hirohsima in her remembrance. there is a children's memorial for her now in peace park (i can't recall the children death toll, but i do remember that on the day of the bomb, 2000 to 6500 children were made orphans).

crying through this exhibit, angered at the senseless destruction of innocent life and by today's unwillingness to abolish weapons (or even declare being a nuclear power, so as to avoid the comprehensive test ban treaty!), saddened by the personal stories presented, i was struck with something profound. peace park sits at the hypocenter of the bomb - where buildings and life were immediately burned into eternity. japan has a sullied history, especially in this century (sino-japanese wars, nanking, ww2), but hiroshima at least has put all of that front and center and said "yes, we know what was done. but now we can truly see the harm in war and the pure destructiveness of the nuclear age. it is a time for world peace."

and so, from the ashes, comes a monument the world that not only we do not forget, but that we also know that it is our goal to prevent the bomb's recurrence by destroying our weapons and making peace. Peace Park.

after a bit, all i could think of was the world trade center. on 9/11, america suffered a blow of callous violence; one that did not care at all for the value of human life. however, we have squandered the chance to make that an example to the world. and though there are many reasons why that is true, one that came into my mind is that instead of a public monument to peace and harmony and democracy, it is to be the world's tallest office building, called the Freedom Tower. freedom? from tyranny, or, of the world markets? the capitalist presence in what should have been a powerful moment in history strikes such a strong distinction against what i am seeing here.

bless you, hiroshima, and i am so terribly sorry for what happened here, words cannot express. i am moved to tears by your words, and i share with you your hope for world peace.