A-bomb drop was justified
I AGREE with Ryu Iwase (South China Morning Post , December 7) that the proposal (now cancelled) by the United States Postal Service to release a stamp commemorating the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was distasteful and misguided.
I cannot agree, however, that 'there was no reason, no excuse and no justification for the use of the atomic bomb'. The Japanese showed every sign of fighting the Allies to the last, as the government had publicly promised.
Thousands of soldiers and airmen engaged in suicide attacks on Allied ships and troops.
On Saipan US troops sustained over 14,000 casualties, 15,000 at Leyte, 5,000 dead on Iwo Jima and 12,000 fatalities on Okinawa. Casualty estimates for the invasion of Japan ranged up to 500,000.
President Harry S. Truman - a man of some integrity and not without compassion - decided to unleash the atomic bomb upon Japan.
His justification was to save the lives of hundreds of thousands Allied soldiers at the cost of the deaths of a similar number of the enemy.
Within days his decision was vindicated as Japan's militarists sued for peace.
We should ensure that everyone, not just veterans as Mr Iwase suggests, understands the devastation caused by the atomic bombs. We should remember too the tens of millions who died under Japanese expansionism and ensure no country is allowed to perpetrate such atrocities.
A recognition of the suffering engendered by the victims of aggression, and of the anguish of the aggressors in defeat may give pause to those who control these terrible weapons and reduce the chance they will be used again.
PAUL STEPHENSON Tai Tam
