THE nuclear atrocities committed on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 1945 took place not by accident but by intent, as the most reactionary forces in the world, led by the US, pursued their goals of domination of the Western Pacific in the post-war world.
An estimated 140,000 died in Hiroshima, half of them on the day the bomb was detonated. Thousands more were horrifically injured. The US government and military knew very well what they had done, yet three days later, in cold blood, unleashed nuclear devastation also on the people of Nagasaki.
Whatever the subsequent excuses, the aggressor’s prime motivation was clear — to prevent the USSR from gaining a foothold in Japan and greater influence in the region after its planned entry to the war in the Far East on August 8.
