[ninty]

I just watched a program on CBC about the Hiroshima bombing and I just thought I’d throw my in 2 cents in general about the bombings, not in response to anyone in particular.

First off, I think I’d have to say that I believe the bombings should not have taken place. It's really hard for me to justify bombing civilian populations whether it is Hiroshima, Dresden, London, Berlin or any other city.

Did it end the war? Probably. Did it save lives? Probably. But even after those ideas are considered, I still can't support bombing of civilian populations.

After watching the program, my opinion was reinforced even more. Some things I picked up for the program:

-Temps under the blast (the bomb did not go off on impact, rather it was on a timer and exploded above ground) were 4,000 degrees Celsius at the moment the bomb detonated. Anyone around the vicinity was immediately vaporized, or turned immediately to carbon.

-The heat was so intense that where people were standing on pavement, it left a shadow of their footprints in the pavement after they were vaporized.

-The exact number of instantaneous deaths from the explosion are not known, however are thought to be in the tens of thousands.

-Those that did survive went looking for water. There was one story of a nurse who crawled out to the back of the hospital where there was a pool of water. By the time she got there, there were many people crowded around the pool of water trying to drink it. However, others had climbed on top of those first people to try to drink, thus drowning the people underneath.

-Another story was one of a Dr who lived 4 miles from the blast. The shockwave threw him through his house, but he was OK enough to go toward the city to help. On his way he ran into something he called a "monster". People in Japan dress in white in the summer, but this monster was all in black. He collapsed near the Dr and he rushed to him. The doctor went to take his pulse, however there was no skin on his arm. The Dr looked at his face and his eyes were swollen shut. He had no nose and no mouth.

-Shortly after the bombing, the rising mushroom cloud mixed in with the humid air to create rain clouds. These clouds picked up dust and debris from the bomb. It started to rain, but the rain was black like oil. All the people on the ground started to collect the water, because it was all they had. However, they did not know that this water was dense with radioactivity, and those that drank the rainwater died.

For me, any way you slice it this is not justifiable.