http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-wrong-lesson-on-hiroshima-1463073226
The Wrong Lesson on Hiroshima
Obama’s visit will only reinforce the increasingly common but misguided view that America shouldn’t have used the atomic bomb.
A family offering prayers in front of a cenotaph at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park with viewing the atomic bomb dome (L) in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan in July 2015. ENLARGE
A family offering prayers in front of a cenotaph at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park with viewing the atomic bomb dome (L) in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan in July 2015. Photo: European Pressphoto Agency
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By
Michael Mazza
May 12, 2016 1:13 p.m. ET
7 COMMENTS
Later this month, President Obama will make a historic visit to Hiroshima, becoming the first sitting American president to visit either of the two sites on which the United States dropped an atomic bomb at the close of World War II.
Mr. Obama’s visit, to be accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will highlight the maturity and depth of the U.S.-Japan alliance. Despite the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Bataan Death March, the brutal combat on Iwo Jima and elsewhere, the fire bombings, and the atomic bombings on the home islands, the U.S. and Japan have since forged an enduring partnership—one that has greatly benefited both countries and the rest of Asia.
Even so, the Hiroshima visit is a mistake, not because the president will apologize (he won’t) or because of how it will be viewed in Japan or elsewhere in Asia, but because of how it may be received at home.
According to the White House, Mr. Obama will go to Hiroshima “to highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” This implies that the U.S. bombings played a role in ushering in a world that has become less peaceful and less secure.
That’s the wrong lesson to draw. The correct lesson is that it is sometimes necessary to employ great violence to root out great evil. Debating the ethics of the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki today makes for an interesting and important thought exercise, but this discussion is beside the point.
Japan’s crushing defeat was necessary to end the war in the Pacific. It was also needed to expunge the country’s racist and militaristic strain, which enabled systematic atrocities and nearly brought about Japan’s own destruction. Whether by atomic bombings or invasion of the home islands, achieving an ultimate victory was bound to be bloody.
Mr. Obama’s intended message will reinforce the increasingly common view among Americans that the U.S. shouldn’t have used atomic weapons in World War II. According to Bruce Stokes from the Pew Research Center, 85% of Americans approved of the atomic bombings in 1945. Last year, Pew found that this number had dropped to 56%, while 34% believed the bombings were unjustified, up from 29% in 1991. Perhaps most startling, last year only 47% of Americans ages 18 to 29 thought the bombings were justified.
This last statistic is especially troubling. It suggests an incomplete historical understanding of the war and hints at a broader skepticism toward applying American power to achieve just ends.
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, of course, isn’t the place for the president to issue a full-throated defense of Harry Truman’s decision to use atomic weapons. But threats to America and the U.S.-led liberal order are growing, and young Americans are increasingly likely to view the world in shades of gray. It is more important for Mr. Obama to remind Americans of the world they wrought in the wake of World War II, how they brought it about, and why they must strive to preserve it, than to make the case for global nuclear disarmament.
The point isn’t to disabuse Americans of their sober-mindedness toward using nuclear weapons. Americans should never be eager to resort to military force, let alone their strategic arsenal. But Mr. Obama should ensure that Americans can meet the challenges ahead. Seventy-one years after World War II, authoritarians are marching once again.
In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Mr. Obama conveyed an understanding for the world. “Make no mistake,” he said, “evil does exist in the world. . . . To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism—it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.” He explained that “the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace.”
Seven decades ago, Americans were willing to use the instruments at their disposal to ensure a peaceful world for future generations. Will their grandchildren and great-grandchildren be willing to do the same? Mr. Obama’s Hiroshima visit can only sow greater doubts.
Mr. Mazza is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
