Wednesday, August 06, 2008

How to hide data about the effects of atomic bombs

NHK is showing a very interesting documentary tonight about the early studies done on the victims of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The first research was done during the US occupation, when there was no press freedom in Japan. Virtually no news about radioactivity and its damage were to be released to the public until after the occupation ended in 1952.

The early data from the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) said there was no evidence of any damage to humans from radioactivity. ABCC is now called The Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF). The 1947 ABCC Report is available here (pdf) but it appears to be heavily edited later. How easy it is to hide the truth about the terrible - no, worse: inhuman - effects that atomic bombs have on all living things.

Radiation Health Effects

What NHK is pointing out is that people who entered Hiroshima or Nagasaki after the bombings were also exposed to high doses of radioactivity. This was not accepted by the early legal frameworks for the hibakusha (victims of atomic bombings). Recently, finally, through prolonged efforts in Japanese courts, these victims are also able to get compensation for their suffering.
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2 comments:

Pandabonium said...

In the US, one radio talk show host made a point to remember the atomic bombings. Mike Malloy read a moving editorial written by Reggie at tvnewslies.org about his impressions as a kid of 10 years at the time of the bombings: The Bombs of August : In Remembrance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There were also phone calls. One man lost an aunt to thyroid cancer a few years ago as a result of the Hirohsima bomb. He told of the things his aunt had seen on that day. Another was a man who was in the US Navy during the Korean war and saw Nagasaki in 1951 - it had not yet been rebuilt. He was so shocked by the experience that it has haunted him the rest of his life. He is now 75 years old and can scarcely find the words to describe the devastation he saw, and was also angry at the horror of the Korean conflict.

The deniers will point to Japanese atrocities as some kind of justification. Those too should be viewed under the cold light of reason, but not as a kind of tit-for-tat excuse. All empires go to war and are guilty of crimes against humanity. We must objectively reject it all. It is all evil. The unnecessary atomic bombing of two civilian cities for the purpose of weapons experimentation and political one-upsmanship (which is what these events were) must rank among the most heinous crimes in history.

Thanks to decades of denial, America still has the "nuclear option" on the table. Worse, it is no longer reserved for countries who have actually attacked it, but may be used against any nation that its "decider" thinks may potentially be a threat.

Americans are still largely ignorant of their own victimization through nuclear test fallout and radiation and fluoride leaks from Manhattan project facilities.

This is a topic that we must never let up on until the truth is broadly understood.

9:16 pm, August 06, 2008
Martin J Frid said...

Thanks for the comment. Mike Malloy's radio program seems high quality. Wish we could hear that show over here as well!

tvnewslies.org is worth a visit for its exposure of how TV lies to ordinary people.

10:32 pm, August 06, 2008

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