This week marks the 64th anniversary of one of the largest and most heinous acts of terrorism ever perpetrated: the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States of America, the only country to have ever used nuclear bombs to massacre civilians. The largest attack, also perpetrated by the U.S., was the firebombing of Tokyo five months earlier, killing 80 000 to 120 000 civilians in one day.
What I find particularly hard to contemplate is not that these events took place but that most Americans ever since have viewed these incredibly heinous crimes as necessary, effective and other than criminal and immoral, or at best necessary evils. This is to effectively believe that anything can be legitimate means, as long as it’s carried out by the Americans.
I doubt this kind belief and the survival of the human species are mutually inclusive.