The 60th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 provides an opportunity to ask ourselves what kind of future we hope to build in our world to prevent such devastation from ever repeating itself. The recent bombings in New York, Madrid and London remind us again of the horror of military attacks against civilians and provide an opportunity for us to reflect on the justification for war and terrorism.

At 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, the crew of the Enola Gay dropped the bomb “Little Boy” over the central part of Hiroshima. The device, which contained 130 pounds of Uranium 235, exploded 2,000 feet above the city with a blast equivalent to the explosion of 13,000 tons of TNT. Eighty-thousand civilians were incinerated, blasted to pieces or died over the next several hours from severe burns and trauma.

Hospitals and public facilities were destroyed, assuring that civilians with relatively minor injuries would not receive medical care and would die from their injuries. By the end of 1945, 60,000 more people died, bringing the total killed in Hiroshima in 1945 to 140,000. Since then, thousands of others have died of radiation-related causes, resulting in a cumulative death toll of 237,000.

Three days later, at 11:02 a.m., the “Fat Man” bomb, containing 18 pounds of plutonium, exploded 1,500 feet above Nagasaki. Seventy-five thousand of Nagasaki’s 240,000 residents were killed, followed by a similar number in the following years from radiation sickness and injury.

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified by President Truman as a way to save American lives, and the 60-year debate over the necessity of the bombing is not likely to end soon. The uniqueness of nuclear weapons, however, is that their tremendous power and the resulting widespread contamination of the environment from radiation assures that civilians will comprise the bulk of casualties, and that deaths will continue long after the justification for the bombing no longer seems so compelling.

War against civilian populations and what we refer to as terrorism have an uncomfortable similarity.

The actor Peter Ustinov said in 2003 that “Terrorism is the war of the poor. War is the terrorism of the rich.” Those with power use war to achieve their ends; the powerless use terrorism because that is the only tool they possess. Through war or terrorism, violence against civilians has always been justified as serving a noble cause. The genocide of Native Americans, the Holocaust in Germany and the state-supported terrorism against African Americans in the United States were all justified as serving the greater good.

The Bush administration has done a masterful job of selling a war of aggression, which has killed up to 100,000 Iraqis and more than 1,800 American military personnel, and has cost $300 billion in the United States and countless billions in Iraq. Although we don’t read about it in our newspapers, the terrorists also justify their actions as their only means of defending themselves against U.S. aggression.

The Bush administration has meanwhile called for nuclear nonproliferation in other countries, while planning a new generation of nuclear weapons for the United States. So-called “bunker buster” and “battlefield nuclear weapons” are currently under development. A recent study by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that the spewing of radioactive debris could cause up to a million casualties from use of one of these weapons in a densely populated area. Unfortunately, that is exactly the policy the Bush administration is pursuing.

In the words of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, “… these policies encourage other nations, and they have encouraged North Korea and they have encouraged Iran – those are two of the nations suggested – to develop their own nuclear weapons, thereby putting American lives and our own national security interests at risk. We are telling the world, when it comes to nuclear weapons: Do as we say, not as we do. I object to that policy. It is hypocrisy.”

Sen. Olympia Snowe voted on June 30 in favor of continuing development of “bunker busters,” as she simultaneously joins in condemning the development of nuclear weapons by other countries. On the other hand, we should thank Sen. Collins for voting against the further development of these terrible weapons.

I plan to join other concerned citizens at 11:15 a.m. Friday, Aug. 5, in front of the Bangor Public Library to mark the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. The commemoration will include music by pianist Masanobu Ikemiya, as well as commemorative readings. After the tolling of bells by area churches,

Bangor Mayor Frank Farrington will read an excerpt from a talk given by the mayor of Hiroshima.

The event is sponsored by the Interfaith Response Alliance, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Bangor Chapter of Veterans for Peace, and the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine.

Peter Millard, M.D., is a family physician in Bangor.