Letters

A-bomb justified during “˜total
war’

It’s August and time for the annual guilt-fest over the
U.S. use of the atomic bomb in World War II. But what seem to be
missed are the events leading to the bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in 1945 ““ the Japanese invasion of China in 1937,
the Rape of Nanking, the attack on Pearl Harbor without a prior
declaration of war (at a time when international law still meant
something), the Bataan Death March and the vicious Pacific island
battles in which neither side showed an inclination to
surrender.

There’s a real pathology at work among the atomic bomb
protestors. It’s as if they enjoy beating themselves with
guilt because the U.S. dared to win the war.

The fact is that the Axis powers unleashed a particularly
vicious form of total war on the Allies during World War II. If
there is a lesson to be learned from all this, then it is that
aggressive war and violations of international law will inevitably
lead to retribution. And by showing the destructiveness of modern
warfare, probably prevented another world war.

What if the protestors were sent back to the summer of 1945? I
am sure they would all cheerfully volunteer to be in the first wave
of Allied troops to hit the beaches on Kyushu. They could have
taken the place of the thousands of soldiers who would have been
slaughtered in the planned invasion ““ an invasion which never
had to take place because of the use of the atomic bomb.

Joseph Miranda

UCLA alumnus

Public bus shouldn’t cater to
minority

To please a small group of property owners, UCLA has rerouted
the buses from the terminal between Westholme Avenue and Wyton
Drive to the vicinity of Ackerman Union on weekends. Has no one
seen the irony in the fact that a major contributing factor to the
value and attraction of their homes is their proximity to UCLA?

They have already long ago succeeded in preventing us from
parking on their streets, and now again they have pressured our
institution to cater to a minority of privileged citizens who have
benefited from being adjacent to a prestigious public teaching
institution. It’s time to reconsider our priorities.

Bus passengers are inconvenienced by the change in weekend
venue, and in my case, it’s a long walk up the hill to my
office in Dodd Hall.

As a responsible citizen, I have consistently used alternative
means of transportation for over 30 years and deliberately refused
operating an automobile.

As a result of this recent change in bus routes, I am forced to
think of purchasing an automobile and abandoning the public
transportation system ““ contributing to the Westwood
congestion and greenhouse gases.

Considering the global-environmental issues surrounding fossil
fuels ““ global warming, the rising cost of gasoline and our
foreign policy in the Middle East ““ we should all be striving
to make public transportation more attractive and convenient.

It is reprehensible that the university, a public institution,
should be in the business of placating a handful of private
property owners instead of serving its broader constituency and the
greater good.

Albert Boime

Professor, art history