I'm sorry that Japanese civilians sufferd so much from the atomic blasts because of their government. They were being ruled by fanatics would have used such a weapon on us with much less remorse. Doesn't justify anything, but lets place this thing in the proper context. And as far as military censorship is concerned, that's always been there. No surprise in the slightest.
--- Rick Archer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Read "The Hiroshima Cover-Up" By Amy Goodman and > David Goodman in today's > Baltimore Sun: > http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0805-20.htm > (the article is also included below) > > To thank the Baltimore Sun for running this piece, > please e-mail > [EMAIL PROTECTED] . If you would like your > letter to the editor > published, be sure to include contact information, > including full name and > day and evening phone numbers. > > = = = = = = = = = > > > Published on Friday, August 5, 2005 by the Baltimore > Sun > The Hiroshima Cover-Up > by Amy Goodman and David Goodman > > > A story that the U.S. government hoped would never > see the light of day > finally has been published, 60 years after it was > spiked by military > censors. The discovery of reporter George Weller's > firsthand account of > conditions in post-nuclear Nagasaki sheds light on > one of the great > journalistic betrayals of the last century: the > cover-up of the effects of > the atomic bombing on Japan. > > On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on > Hiroshima; three days > later, Nagasaki was hit. Gen. Douglas MacArthur > promptly declared southern > Japan off-limits, barring the news media. More than > 200,000 people died in > the atomic bombings of the cities, but no Western > journalist witnessed the > aftermath and told the story. Instead, the world's > media obediently crowded > onto the battleship USS Missouri off the coast of > Japan to cover the > Japanese surrender. > > A month after the bombings, two reporters defied > General MacArthur and > struck out on their own. Mr. Weller, of the Chicago > Daily News, took row > boats and trains to reach devastated Nagasaki. > Independent journalist > Wilfred Burchett rode a train for 30 hours and > walked into the charred > remains of Hiroshima. > > Both men encountered nightmare worlds. Mr. Burchett > sat down on a chunk of > rubble with his Baby Hermes typewriter. His dispatch > began: "In Hiroshima, > 30 days after the first atomic bomb destroyed the > city and shook the world, > people are still dying, mysteriously and horribly - > people who were > uninjured in the cataclysm from an unknown something > which I can only > describe as the atomic plague." > > He continued, tapping out the words that still haunt > to this day: "Hiroshima > does not look like a bombed city. It looks as if a > monster steamroller has > passed over it and squashed it out of existence. I > write these facts as > dispassionately as I can in the hope that they will > act as a warning to the > world." > > Mr. Burchett's article, headlined "The Atomic > Plague," was published Sept. > 5, 1945, in the London Daily Express. The story > caused a worldwide sensation > and was a public relations fiasco for the U.S. > military. The official U.S. > narrative of the atomic bombings downplayed civilian > casualties and > categorically dismissed as "Japanese propaganda" > reports of the deadly > lingering effects of radiation. > > So when Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter George > Weller's 25,000-word story on > the horror that he encountered in Nagasaki was > submitted to military > censors, General MacArthur ordered the story killed, > and the manuscript was > never returned. As Mr. Weller later summarized his > experience with General > MacArthur's censors, "They won." > > Recently, Mr. Weller's son, Anthony, discovered a > carbon copy of the > suppressed dispatches among his father's papers > (George Weller died in > 2002). Unable to find an interested American > publisher, Anthony Weller sold > the account to Mainichi Shimbun, a big Japanese > newspaper. Now, on the 60th > anniversary of the atomic bombings, Mr. Weller's > account can finally be > read. > > "In swaybacked or flattened skeletons of the > Mitsubishi arms plants is > revealed what the atomic bomb can do to steel and > stone, but what the riven > atom can do against human flesh and bone lies hidden > in two hospitals of > downtown Nagasaki," wrote Mr. Weller. A month after > the bombs fell, he > observed, "The atomic bomb's peculiar 'disease,' > uncured because it is > untreated and untreated because it is not diagnosed, > is still snatching away > lives here." > > After killing Mr. Weller's reports, U.S. authorities > tried to counter Mr. > Burchett's articles by attacking the messenger. > General MacArthur ordered > Mr. Burchett expelled from Japan (the order was > later rescinded), his camera > mysteriously vanished while he was in a Tokyo > hospital and U.S. officials > accused him of being influenced by Japanese > propaganda. > > Then the U.S. military unleashed a secret propaganda > weapon: It deployed its > own Times man. It turns out that William L. > Laurence, the science reporter > for The New York Times, was also on the payroll of > the War Department. > > For four months, while still reporting for the > Times, Mr. Laurence had been > writing press releases for the military explaining > the atomic weapons > program; he also wrote statements for President > Harry Truman and Secretary > of War Henry L. Stimson. He was rewarded by being > given a seat on the plane > that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki, an experience > that he described in the > Times with religious awe. > > Three days after publication of Mr. Burchett's > shocking dispatch, Mr. > Laurence had a front-page story in the Times > disputing the notion that > radiation sickness was killing people. His news > story included this > remarkable commentary: "The Japanese are still > continuing their propaganda > aimed at creating the impression that we won the war > unfairly, and thus > attempting to create sympathy for themselves and > milder terms. ... Thus, at > the beginning, the Japanese described 'symptoms' > that did not ring true." > > Mr. Laurence won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting > on the atomic bomb, and > his faithful parroting of the government line was > crucial in launching a > half-century of silence about the deadly lingering > effects of the bomb. It > is time for the Pulitzer board to strip Hiroshima's > apologist and his > newspaper of this undeserved prize. > > Sixty years late, Mr. Weller's censored account > stands as a searing > indictment not only of the inhumanity of the atomic > bomb but also of the > danger of journalists embedding with the government > to deceive the world. > > Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, and David > Goodman, a contributing > writer for Mother Jones, are co-authors of The > Exception to the Rulers: > Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the > Media That Love Them. > > � 2005 Baltimore Sun > > = = = = = = = = = > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! 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