25 July 1945

TO: General Carl Spaatz

Commanding General

United States Army Strategic Air Forces

1. The 509 Composite Group, 20th Air Force will deliver its first special bomb as soon as weather will permit visual bombing after about 3 August 1945 on one of the targets: Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata and Nagasaki. To carry military and civilian scientific personnel from the War Department to observe and record the effects of the explosion of the bomb, additional aircraft will accompany the airplane carrying the bomb. The observing planes will stay several miles distant from the point of impact of the bomb.

2. Additional bombs will be delivered on the above targets as soon as made ready by the project staff. Further instructions will be issued concerning targets other than those listed above.

3. Discussion of any and all information concerning the use of the weapon against Japan is reserved to the Secretary of War and the President of the United States. No communiques on the subject or releases of information will be issued by Commanders in the field without specific prior authority. Any news stories will be sent to the War Department for specific clearance.

4. The foregoing directive is issued to you by direction and with the approval of the Secretary of War and of the Chief of Staff, USA. It is desired that you personally deliver one copy of this directive to General MacArthur and one copy to Admiral Nimitz for their information.

(Sgd) THOS. T. HANDY

THOS. T. HANDY

General, G.S.C.

Acting Chief of Staff

http://www.dannen.com/decision/handy.html

It is important to note that this document does not order any protection for the civilian population. It does not specify that only military sites be targeted. It does order the bombing of commercial, industrial, and residential areas, including schools, churches, and hospitals. The U.S. rules of engagement now are basically the same as they were sixty years ago, on August 6, 1945.

The targeting of cities, which are large population centers, continues today. The pattern of slaughtering civilians remains unchanged. Victims of U.S. bombing campaigns during the last 60 years include civilians in China, Guatemala, Indonesia, Cuba, Congo, Peru, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Grenada, Libya, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Yugoslavia. Lancet estimates that more than 100,000 civilian deaths have resulted from the U.S. military campaign in Iraq. Now, as the war and occupation continue, the deaths of civilians continue.

No nation that has a history of such irresponsible use of any weapon system should remain unchallenged. The citizens of the U.S. must bring their government into compliance with International Law. Provisions of the Geneva Convention clearly prohibit the targeting of civilian populations. The use of WMD's against civilians is not an accident. History shows that it has been a deliberate, planned, consistent U.S. policy for more than 60 years. Cluster bombs, land mines, and the fire bombing strategy of shock and awe type campaigns are designed to terrorize the civilian population. The U.S. bombing of Iraq has occurred on a regular basis since 1991.

The deaths caused by the illegal, genocidal blockade of Iraq far outnumber the deaths at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is not meant to trivialize the deaths in Japan, but rather to show that the policy of using civilian deaths as a strategy of war continues to this day.

In May of 1996, on 60 Minutes, UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright stated that the deaths of a half million Iraqi children was "worth it". The Ambassador's statement has been heard around the world and, in part, explains why they hate us. Is there a U.S. citizen anywhere who would not be offended if someone from another country said that a half million of our children should be sacrificed for their political/economic agenda?

Perhaps the best way to honor the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be to challenge the U.S. policy, as stated by Albright, that the deaths of children are "worth it".