Atomic Folklore

No, The Nukes Didn't End World War II

It’s nuclear bombing anniversary season again. Today in Nagasaki, Mayor Shiro Suzuki, speaking at a commemoration ceremony, made the obvious and ominous point that "Conflicts around the world are intensifying in a vicious cycle of confrontation and fragmentation…If we continue on this trajectory, we will end up thrusting ourselves into a nuclear war. This existential crisis of humanity has become imminent to each and every one of us living on Earth." In its report on the event, Fox News reminded its audience that “The U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan three days apart. The first was dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and the second was dropped on Nagasaki three days later, on Aug. 9.” As a reminder that it was all in a good cause, Fox felt the need to add: “The bombs decimated both cities, leading to Japan’s surrender on Aug. 15, 1945.”

Well, no, they didn’t lead to Japan’s surrender. A quarter of a million people died for nothing. For those who still subscribe to the official myth that nuclear weapons win wars, here’s what really happened.¹