Justified bombing

Sir: A.N Wilson’s suggestion that the 1945 nuclear bombing of Japan was “without any military or moral justification” (The Spectator 15 August 2015) is at best simplistic. The war in the Pacific cost hundreds of thousands of mostly American lives, as the Allied forces fought battles such as Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Peleliu places and conflicts that are in all likelihood unknown to Mr Wilson. The Japanese defence was characterised by its brutality to captured Allied soldiers, and there was abundant evidence that the Japanese would literally fight to the death. In mainland Japan, the militarist government had every intention of mobilising every single citizen against any land invasion.

The decisions to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki were complex, informed by the strategic information available at the time, and coloured by the bloody losses of the Pacific War. It is naïve, disrespectful and somewhat Eurocentric to describe them as ‘monstrous’ and unjustified.
Stephen Sasse
Glebe, NSW, Australia

Blind side

Sir: I do not disagree often with Peter Baldwin (‘Blind Wendy’, 8 August), but it appears that Blind Wendy is now being matched by Blind Peter. Baldwin says several good things about Israel and Palestine, but the picture he paints is flawed by too much one-sidedness and crucial oversimplification of the historical context of Middle Eastern political disputes.

In any serious comment on Palestine and Israel in particular, it is always necessary to state certain key facts, which Peter fails to do, rather than simply blame one side or the other. For example:

It was neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis who created their lasting tragedy, but the major European powers in earlier decades plus the United States since then, each and all pressing for political and economic advantage.

Hamas and the PLO/Palestinian Authority claim and say silly things, but the fact remains that Israeli Governments (it is wise not to equate them with the Israeli people in general) have totally ignored more than 50 requests from the UN General Assembly, especially with regard to the illegal settlements on “Arab land”.

Israel has the strongest and best trained military forces in the region, with the damaging added threat of nuclear capability always lurking in the background, plus the solid assurance that the US would come quickly to its aid if necessary.

Moreover, US Administrations (and indeed some of its Allies) need to improve and demonstrate their willingness to support (with boots on the ground if necessary) all UN efforts to bring about any reasonable measure of peace and cooperation between Palestine and Israel

With Baldwin being as astute as he is, it is a shame that he appears to think that what the ALP and Coalition in Australia say about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is of any real consequence. Even the famous Blind Freddy can see that that is more delusional than ever.
Alfred P Zarb
Leura, NSW

Lathamstein

Sir: I read today, with much dismay but little surprise, that Mark Latham has ceased writing for the Australian Financial Review.

I was wondering if there were any chance of him making a return to the Speccie Oz, where he’d find tolerance & free speech, if not always agreement. Which is of course, what the interaction between op-ed authors and audiences SHOULD be about, but no longer is.
David Gerber
East Lindfield, NSW

Dodecanese solution

Sir: Taki is of course right when he says that ‘poor, craggy’ islands in the eastern Aegean, the Dodecanese, cannot possibly deal with the influx of migrants from Turkey (High life, 15 August) . But things are made worse by their anomalous situation. The islands’ natural hinterland is Anatolia, but they are part of ‘Europe’ and Schengen, and therefore a natural target for migrants who can paddle to them by boat. The islands are, in any event, expensive, because they get their water, electricity (and tax privileges) from the mainland, not Turkey; and then there is the ‘defence’ expenditure (for what?). The Turks now have money, but face tiresome visa restrictions. Would it not make sense for these islands, with Chios and Lesbos, to be declared a special zone, exempt from Schengen, where Turkish tourism and investment could be encouraged? One of the islands, maybe Karpathos, could even be used as a holding camp for the migrants while they are sorted out, and prevented from swamping Europe. Greek nationalists might wail about surrender to, as Taki puts it, ‘vile’ Turkey (does he really mean that?). But even they might see that a higher national interest is involved.
Norman Stone
Bilkent University, Ankara

Shame on Hugh

Sir: Hugh Anderson (Commander RN (Rtd)) doth protest too much when he claims to favour scrapping the RAF (Letters, 15 August). His mother brought him into this world in a wonderful RAF hospital in Cyprus and he lived very happily with us there and in RAF houses for several years. He loved watching the planes on many RAF airfields and only in his late teens did he decide the Royal Navy was for him — and he did well. As his father, I still wonder how much better he might have done had he joined the RAF.
Roger Anderson Squadron Leader RAF (Rtd),
Chagford, Devon

Girl talk

Sir: Mark Mason isn’t alone (‘Old boys’ network’, 15 August). I still call myself and friends ‘girls’, and I haven’t decided what to do when I grow up. (I was born in 1934.)
Celia Cameron
Edinburgh