The dropping of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 was a momentous decision made by the United States government that changed the world forever. This act showed the dominance of the United States through one of the greatest scientific achievements to date. However, with this scientific achievement also came great destruction that before was unknown to mankind. While there has been debate for years about whether the bombs should have been dropped at all, what is overlooked is how the United States government hid the truth about the effects of the bombs from the American public. The government withheld information about the effects of radiation poisoning on survivors of the blasts along with stopping the public from being able to view pictures and video of destruction the bombs created. Through controlling what information and documentation left Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the truths about the effects of radiation, the United States government committed a large injustice by not telling the American people the truth about what happened in Japan. The United States kept control over information of the bombs destruction for years due to the occupation of Japan following the war. The improper actions of the United States government to withhold the hard truths about the damage the nuclear bombs was immoral and deceitful to an American public that deserved to know exactly what their government had done. 

While the American public knew of the general destruction to the cities, what they were unaware of was the destruction caused by the residual effects of radiation from the bombs. The radiation that the bombs produced at detonation effected many of the survivors of the blast and caused an increase in cancer rates in the area for many years following the war. This can be seen in an article that discusses the number of Japanese people that were treated for radiation poisoning in the years following the war. While anyone within a 1.5-kilometer range of the blast was killed, survivors of the bombs who were closest to the blast sights saw an increase the number of cancer cases by 30% (Jordan 3). These cases were mostly related to stomach, lung, female breast, and smaller increases in various other types of cancer. The relevance of this information is not only to prove that many Japanese people were effected by radiation poisoning, but also points out how the data that was collected after the war was kept classified by the United States government for several years. Another article which contains information about the treatment of those affected does a very good job of showing graphically how the people of these cities were treated from 1945 until the 1980’s. The article was published in the Radiation Research journal and gives very similar information to that of the Jordan article. Following a chart which reports the number of cases of radiation poisoning and tumors found in survivors of the blasts many years later the author states “The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Tumor Registries have HV rates of 67-84%, which are among the highest in Japan and are comparable to that of established registries in other countries” (Kato 59). Essentially this article is helpful for showing how the documentation from the Japanese hospitals where this information was obtained is legitimate for having such a high HV (histologically verified) percentage proving the data about radiation poisoning and tumors is correct after being released to the public years after the war was over. While thousands of Japanese survivors were being treated for radiation poisoning caused by the United States, the government made sure the American public was unaware of this for years. The information that is found in this article, driven largely by the HV percentage helps to appeal to logos and pathos by presenting data that also helps to evoke emotion for those affected by the bombs. While this information is available today, the moral thing for the government to do would have been to release this information directly after the bombs had been dropped. The United States was founded on the freedom of information and transparency between the government and its people. Withholding this information from the public goes against the exact principles that this great nation was founded upon. 

Withholding information about the destruction the atom bombs had on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was immoral on behalf of the American government because the public deserves to know the effects of the greatest destruction that the world had ever seen. The United States government was unable to be honest with the American public for fear of the reaction about the devastation that was brought to Japan. Janet Brodie describes how the government censored information out of Japan to hide the truth about devastation that took place for years after the war. Brodie interviews several high-ranking government officials involved with the Manhattan Project and describes the ways in which the government stopped the media from reporting on the truths behind the way the Allies won the war. In her article, Brodie describes how the government collected reports and documentation of findings after the bombs had been dropped “American officials confiscated Japanese reports, medical case notes, biopsy slides, medical photographs, and films. Much of the confiscated material was sent to the U.S. where some were translated into English; much remained classified for years (some for decades), stored at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C.” (Brodie 845). Clearly this is representative of how the United States wanted to keep secret what had really occurred in Japan due to their actions. Also in this article Brodie mentions how directly after the Nagasaki bombing a professor from Columbia University, Harold Jacobson, stated publicly in the New York Times that the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be radioactive for the next 70 years. However, this statement was retracted several days later “Newspapers printed Jacobson’s remarks but also immediately sought to quell public fears” (Brodie 846). While Jacobson’s remarks were exaggerated due to lack of accurate knowledge, this display still shows how the government was censoring information coming from Japan by releasing an article in the New York Times that stated the radioactive material from the bomb was gone within hours of the detonation which was later to be found untrue. Also, this quote is an excellent example of why the government did censor information out of Japan to “quell public fears”, if the government thought the American public could not handle the truth about the consequences of the bombs than perhaps the bombs should not have been dropped. This information of how the government was directly censoring the media appeals to pathos as many American’s would be irritate to discover what information is being undisclosed to them. Another document released years later was a transcript of the conversation amongst the highest-ranking officials of government and military including President Truman about the final decision on how the war will end. While this transcript does give a very keen first hand insight to the conversation leading up to a world altering event there is a very important piece of the conversation that appears to be missing. The words “atomic bomb” are never used in the transcript and the small article following the transcript gives explanation to this. There was never any documentation that said, “atomic bomb” due to the secrecy of the Manhattan Project and in fear that information would be discovered by the Axis powers (Stimson). Throughout the conversation, loss of life, damage, and logistics are discussed while the effects of radiation on survivors is never mentioned as a concern to this council. While the effects of radiation were not of consequence before the United States dropped the bombs it very quickly became a popular topic in ways of which to stop the American people from finding out about what had taken place. This shows how the government was acting immoral because while deciding to drop the bombs, consequences were not discussed and yet there were extensive measures taken later to deceive the American people of what happened in Japan.     

Arguably one of the worst consequences of the censorship by the government was that the American people were unaware of the suffering that many people in Japan were experiencing. Photos and videos of damage to homes and survivors of the blasts were not released for years following the war which kept the American public disillusioned about the reality of what happened. The ability of the American people to see the damage and not just hear about the destruction is an appeal to logos because seeing what happened leaves a much greater impact on the public. Hugh Gloster, a professor who came to Hiroshima to teach, gives a first-hand account of the destruction that occurred in Hiroshima as he moved to the city several years after the bomb had detonated. During his time in Hiroshima Gloster could see for himself the damage caused to the earth, the city, and most importantly to the people. Gloster reflects on what it was like to meet young women and discover operations they went under to fix disfigurations they acquired from the bomb “These girls, ranging in age from seventeen to thirty-one, underwent the operations for the removal of facial disfigurements which have been impediments to marriage and happiness” (Gloster 276). The strength of the bomb was so large that many people were physically affected and those who could receive corrective surgery were lucky as many others had damage to their bodies that could not be fixed. While the U.S. government wanted to protect matters of national security by not divulging information about the two largest bombs ever created or used in war, this does not make the censorship and control of information about what happened in Japan acceptable. In an article, “Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Eye of the Camera” author Barbra Marcoń describes how the only way to truly understand the devastation from Hiroshima and Nagasaki was to see it through pictures and video (Marcoń 787). Marcoń also gives in-depth detail of how the pictures and videos taken of the damage of the bomb for the ten days before the Americans came into the cities were then collected and held as confidential information by the government for years following the end of the war. The American public being told of the destruction can never be as effective as if they had seen a visual representation because seeing what devastation took place is much more descriptive than words could ever be. 

While the United States government was merely attempting to protect matters of national security in a time of war there is no justification for hiding the truth about what the atomic bombs did in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Choosing not to inform the public about the Manhattan Project and how the bomb was constructed and works is acceptable to keep American lives safe during a time of war. However, deceiving the American people about the truths of what the bombs had done to these two cities is an inexcusable and great injustice by the United States government. Censoring information concerning radiation poisoning, extensive damage and annihilation of two cities, as well as the effects on those who survived the blast was information that the American public had the right to fully know about. Had the government not been able to explain the effects of the bombs on these two cities than perhaps they should not have been dropped at all. The clear manipulation of power that the American government showed during this time following the end of World War II is an eye-opening representation of abuse of power through controlling what information the American public is and is not able to know. When looking at the morality of the government’s decision to decide what the American people do and don’t get to know, it is very clear that this is a wrongdoing by the government and those in charge of hiding this information from the public were not moral in their decision.      
