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How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

latimes.com

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Re: How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

#51

Post by newnewpdro »

There's a small hardcover book I found while rummaging through books taken out of circulation at a public library called "Bombs over Bikini" which documents the nuclear tests done over these islands and how the US deceived the Marshallese people.

Its size and format is targeted at children, and contains many photos from the era. It's a very surreal book to page through, leaving me speechless and curious why it would be taken out of circulation. I ended up buying it with a $1 "donation".

https://www.amazon.com/Bombs-over-Bikini-Disaster-Nonfiction...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18354016-bombs-over-biki...

Re: How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

#52

Post by thrower123 »

skrebbel wrote: post #6
cyberferret wrote: post #2

Why is it, when reading this article, all I can picture is that meme of the SS officer saying "Wait a minute... Are WE the baddies?". I am starting to interpret a lot of things I took for granted in my younger years with a different viewpoint, and I am increasingly horrified when I do, as the perceptions I've always had that most Western countries are the benevolent benefactors is tainted by stories such as this, whi…

It took me a long time to realize this, but now I recognize that which I think most of my fellow Europeans already know: yes, you're the baddies (I knew that already), but you're the best baddies of the baddies available. Our other options are to associate with eg China or Russia, and between those the US, even with people like Trump at the wheel, is splendid. Naturally, I think that the US should do a much bigger ef…

As much hate as the British get, the British Empire is one of the great forces of advancement and progress in the history of the world. It's unfortunate on a global scale that the US nor anyone else was able to effect a decent handoff when the Brits renounced all their possessions. Untold misery has been the result of that failed transition.

Re: How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

#53

Post by ianleeclark »

tekkk wrote: post #15
cyberferret wrote: post #2

Why is it, when reading this article, all I can picture is that meme of the SS officer saying "Wait a minute... Are WE the baddies?". I am starting to interpret a lot of things I took for granted in my younger years with a different viewpoint, and I am increasingly horrified when I do, as the perceptions I've always had that most Western countries are the benevolent benefactors is tainted by stories such as this, whi…

Well when you look down the history you'll find every nation did something horrible (if they have existed long enough). US itself is quite special case in its imperialism which happened much later than the others's (Spain, Netherlands etc). But coming back to present day, it's the actions that we do now that in my opinion matter the most. And US keeps failing on those still, time after time. European countries are in…

> US itself is quite special case in its imperialism which happened much later than the others's (Spain, Netherlands etc).

This happened because the US emerged and differentiated itself from a colonial power. Also, the imperialism of the US was there from almost the very beginning. A call-to-action of sorts for the colonies was when their British metropolitan counterparts attempted to limit their western expansion. There's a weird belief where people think the US only turned to imperialism around the time of the Spanish-American war, but this was only due to running out of western expansion within their own lands.

Re: How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

#54

Post by nradov »

gdy wrote: post #20
skrebbel wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It took me a long time to realize this, but now I recognize that which I think most of my fellow Europeans already know: yes, you're the baddies (I knew that already), but you're the best baddies of the baddies available. Our other options are to associate with eg China or Russia, and between those the US, even with people like Trump at the wheel, is splendid. Naturally, I think that the US should do a much bigger ef…

"Our other options are to associate with eg China or Russia, and between those the US, even with people like Trump at the wheel, is splendid." Russia has done nothing even remotely comparable to what the US has done in Middle East: after the second Iraq war the country still hasn't recovered, Libya is a mess, Syria is a mess, ISIS was a horror. After all that calling the US splendid compared to Russia is bizarre. May…

Most Finns, Poles, and Ukrainians would probably disagree with you regarding Russian benevolence. Considering how they were invaded and all.

Re: How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

#55

Post by evgen »

cyberferret wrote: post #8
chvid wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t win the war by being good. But if you win the war you get to write the history.

True that. Both my parents grew up near a POW camp in Malaysia during WWII. They said that yes, when the Japanese occupied Malaya, the treatment of the allied prisoners by the Japanese guards was brutal and cruel. But they also said when the tables turned later in the war, and the Japanese were prisoners in the same camps under British and US guards, the treatment dished out was every way just as bad.

[flagged]

Re: How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

#56

Post by [deleted] »

tekkk wrote: post #15
cyberferret wrote: post #2

Why is it, when reading this article, all I can picture is that meme of the SS officer saying "Wait a minute... Are WE the baddies?". I am starting to interpret a lot of things I took for granted in my younger years with a different viewpoint, and I am increasingly horrified when I do, as the perceptions I've always had that most Western countries are the benevolent benefactors is tainted by stories such as this, whi…

Well when you look down the history you'll find every nation did something horrible (if they have existed long enough). US itself is quite special case in its imperialism which happened much later than the others's (Spain, Netherlands etc). But coming back to present day, it's the actions that we do now that in my opinion matter the most. And US keeps failing on those still, time after time. European countries are in…

[deleted]

Re: How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

#57

Post by gdy »

Spooky23 wrote: post #37
gdy wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Our other options are to associate with eg China or Russia, and between those the US, even with people like Trump at the wheel, is splendid." Russia has done nothing even remotely comparable to what the US has done in Middle East: after the second Iraq war the country still hasn't recovered, Libya is a mess, Syria is a mess, ISIS was a horror. After all that calling the US splendid compared to Russia is bizarre. May…

I hear Grozny is lovely this time of year.

As a matter of fact, yes, it is [0].

Billions of roubles have been poured into rebuilding Grozny and development of Chechnya in general.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grozny#/media/File:Montage-of-...

Re: How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

#58

Post by Ididntdothis »

edorrington wrote: post #41
LatteLazy wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well that's fine too: the US will then need to deal with it's new colony's nuclear waste legacy! "Oh no, we lost and got everything we needed!" :) Isn't there an old film where a small island declares independence from the US, declares war on the US and then surrenders after 5 minutes to get aid? (Edited because I think it's actually colony's not colonies)

It’s a film called “The Mouse that Roared” with Peter Sellers; a very funny movie ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053084/ ).

I remember the buzzing of the Q bomb.

Re: How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

#59

Post by cvwright »

tekkk wrote: post #15
cyberferret wrote: post #2

Why is it, when reading this article, all I can picture is that meme of the SS officer saying "Wait a minute... Are WE the baddies?". I am starting to interpret a lot of things I took for granted in my younger years with a different viewpoint, and I am increasingly horrified when I do, as the perceptions I've always had that most Western countries are the benevolent benefactors is tainted by stories such as this, whi…

Well when you look down the history you'll find every nation did something horrible (if they have existed long enough). US itself is quite special case in its imperialism which happened much later than the others's (Spain, Netherlands etc). But coming back to present day, it's the actions that we do now that in my opinion matter the most. And US keeps failing on those still, time after time. European countries are in…

The US paid to develop and maintain those weapons to protect you from Russia for 50 years. Maybe you Europeans could pick up the tab for the clean-up?

Re: How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster

#60

Post by [deleted] »

evgen wrote: post #55
cyberferret wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True that. Both my parents grew up near a POW camp in Malaysia during WWII. They said that yes, when the Japanese occupied Malaya, the treatment of the allied prisoners by the Japanese guards was brutal and cruel. But they also said when the tables turned later in the war, and the Japanese were prisoners in the same camps under British and US guards, the treatment dished out was every way just as bad.

[flagged]

[deleted]
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