learning from the past

I was reading about the atomic bomb because the 60th anniversary of hiroshima is this saturday right? So it was a BBC article quoting 3 of the guys that were part of dropping the bomb. Well, 2 out of the 3 were like "I don't regret anything I did, I think they deserved it", and that they were thinking that this was going to end the war, but they knew exactly how much damage the bomb could do before they dropped it. Do you think they have to say that so that they can live with themselves? Do you think they can actually believe it?

At the same time I was reading an article about japanese school children who were going to visit the Hiroshima Peace Park and listen to stories of people who were there. They talked about how the children weren't taught about anything leading up to the bomb being dropped, but just how horrible it was when it did. None of the horrible things that were done by Japan during that time.

Is there something wrong with this picture? Where is the learning from the past that needs to come from such a horrible event? Sigh.

Maybe I can be consoled and say that the lesson learned is shown in the fact that there has been no atomic bombs dropped since then. Hopefully that learning will hold up. Lord have mercy.