The Smithsonian began restoring what was a rotting Enola Gay in the 1980s and planned to feature it an exhibition in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the war's end.
But the display was canceled after a firestorm of criticism from veterans and members of Congress, who argued that Smithsonian historians had revised history to portray Japan as the victim and U.S. soldiers in a negative light. (AlertNet.org, 08/05/05.)
Do you remember Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's song Enola Gay? On a related note, I saw the movie, Enigma, on television this evening.
UPDATE 08/06/05:
One thing I will always remember from school is when our teacher in history said: "It was necessary to bomb Japan." He gave a very good argument on why America had to use atomic weapons against the enemy. I bet today's teachers are not allowed to utter this kind of statement.
Here is an excerpt from Matt Krupnick's article, Nuclear threat persists.
"It's not clear where all those weapons are going to end up," said Gregory Jones, a researcher with the RAND Corp. "Pakistan seems like al-Qaida central these days. I'm worried about the next event in Manhattan being a nuclear explosion." (ContraCostaTimes.com, 08/06/05.)
From the Reason Roundup at the Charlotte Capitalist:
Dr. Hurd on Iran's nuclear weapons:
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, admitted that the problem of Iran's growing nuclear weapons capability has to be "dealt with." She didn't say exactly how or when, but later on in the interview she did comment, "there has to be a strong, united international front that says to the Iranians you cannot seek a nuclear weapon and be a member of the international community."
He has more. My view is that if we can't display the Enola Gay, (see above) let's use it again. (CharlotteCapitalist.com, 08/06/05.)
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