Jacob G. Hornberger -- Why Aren’t Hiroshima and Nagasaki War Crimes?

Why Aren’t Hiroshima and Nagasaki War Crimes?

by Jacob G. Hornberger

May 12, 2016

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I don’t get it. On the one hand, we’re told that the intentional targeting of civilians in wartime is a war crime. On the other hand, we’re told that the intentional targeting of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear bombs was not a war crime.

Which is it?

The issue is back in the news with President Obama’s decision to visit Hiroshima. The question that is being debated is whether he should apologize for President Truman’s decision to order U.S. troops to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

If the targeting of civilians in wartime is okay, then clearly the decision to nuke the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not a war crime.

But if that’s the case, then why was U.S. Army Lt. William Calley prosecuted during the Vietnam War? He’s the officer who intentionally killed several defenseless women and children in a Vietnamese village. The military prosecuted and convicted him of a war crime. Why? If it’s not a war crime to intentionally kill women and children in wartime, then why was Calley prosecuted and convicted of war crimes?

The fact is that it is a war crime for troops to intentionally target non-combatants in wartime. Nobody disputes that. But then given such, why the pass on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Everyone agrees that Truman was targeting non-combatants — mainly women, children, and seniors — when he ordered the nuking of those two cities. How do defenders of Truman’s decision avoid the inexorable conclusion that Truman’s action constituted a war crime?

North Korea, United States Issue Threats as Deadline Approaches | North Korea Denuclearization -- Digest, December 11, 2019

North Korea, United States Issue Threats as Deadline Approaches | North Korea Denuclearization Digest, December 11, 2019

ARMS CONTROL NOW

Authored by Julia Masterson and Kelsey Davenport on December 11, 2019

North Korea, United States Issue Threats as Deadline Approaches

The window for negotiations between the United States and North Korea appears to be closing, as both sides are resorting to threats ahead of the end-of-the-year deadline for progress imposed by Pyongyang in April.

North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae Song cautioned Dec. 2 that “what is left to be done now is the U.S. option and it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will get,” likely referring to North Korea’s willingness to continue diplomacy if the Trump administration changes its approach to talks or the resumption long-range missile and nuclear tests if Washington does not.

In what appeared to be a signal of Pyongyang’s resolve to resume testing in 2020, North Korea tested a large rocket engine Dec. 7 at the Sohae Satellite Launch Site. In a Dec. 8 statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the Academy of National Defence Science said that test was a success and of “great significance.” The statement also said the test “will have an important impact on changing the strategic position” of Pyongyang.

U.S. President Donald Trump has discounted North Korea’s threats. He tweeted Dec. 8 that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has “far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way.” Speaking to reporters Dec. 3, Trump touted his relationship with Kim but appeared to make a veiled threat of his own if North Korea fails to abide by the 2018 Singapore declaration's commitment to denuclearization and tensions escalate on the Korean peninsula. He said “hopefully” the United States will not have to use “the most powerful military we have ever had,” but “if we do, we’ll use it.”

Fall 1941: Pearl Harbor and The Wars of Corporate America

Fall 1941: Pearl Harbor and The Wars of Corporate America

By Dr. Jacques R. Pauwels

Global Research, December 06, 2019

Global Research 11 December 2011

Region: Asia, Europe, USA

Theme: History

78 Years Ago. December 7,  1941. Japan’s Attack on Pearl Harbor

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Myth: The US was forced to declare war on Japan after a totally unexpected Japanese attack on the American naval base in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. On account of Japan’s alliance with Nazi Germany, this aggression automatically brought the US into the war against Germany.

Reality: The Roosevelt administration had been eager for some time to wage war against Japan and sought to unleash such a war by means of the institution of an oil embargo and other provocations. Having deciphered Japanese codes, Washington knew a Japanese fleet was on its way to Pearl Harbor, but welcomed the attack since a Japanese aggression would make it possible to “sell” the war to the overwhelmingly anti-war American public.

An attack by Japan, as opposed to an American attack on Japan, was also supposed to avoid a declaration of war by Japan’s ally, Germany, which was treaty-bound to help only if Japan was attacked. However, for reasons which have nothing to do with Japan or the US but everything with the failure of Germany’s “lightning war” against the Soviet Union, Hitler himself declared war on the US a few days after Pearl Harbor, on December 11, 1941.