Editor:
Mike Kirwan posits the oft-repeated propaganda that the A-bomb ended WWII by making an invasion of Japan unnecessary, when in fact the bomb could have been dropped on an unpopulated mountainous area (not Mount Fuji) and followed by a naval blockade ("V for victory," Aug. 6, Letters to the Editor).
The U.S. was in a hurry to preempt Japan from surrendering to the Soviets in Manchuria, and to justify testing the bomb on civilian populations.
The "Chain Reaction" sculpture represents the old progressive People's Republic of Santa Monica (similar to various monuments in other cities). Conrad intended the original as a symbol of peace, but reactionaries like Kirwan can choose to regard it as a symbol of America's military might. The rendering of Paul Conrad's Pulitzer Prize political cartoon looks more like a seal balancing a beach ball.
City Hall could easily raise funds to subsidize the building of a larger, more realistic and sturdier sculpture by selling off each link. (For higher donations spray the links bronze, silver, gold or platinum.) It should be centrally located in the new park at the Village and raised on a pedestal (like the Statue of Liberty) and surrounded by a fountain, to prevent children from climbing it.
Jon Mann
Santa Monica
