Wouldn't it be simple if all the world's ills could be solved by waving a few banners in the High Street (August 7).

The high street protesters seemed to be linking the renewal of Trident with the morality of dropping the atomic bombs on Japan.

This is misguided, especially as one placard said the bombing was unnecessary.

The decision was right at that time and avoided even more bloodshed.

Japan was killing some 200,000 people every month during that final year of the war.

In Japan there was a fanatical hard core military element opposed to surrender, even though many members of the Japanese Government wanted peace.

Between the dropping of the first bomb on Hiroshima and the second one on Nagasaki the Japanese were offered the opportunity to surrender, but the military refused .

It took the Nagasaki bomb to make them see sense.

We should always avoid raking up the past. However, it becomes necessary when Johnny-come-latelies criticise the dropping of the bombs, but brush aside the facts the Japanese used chemical and bacteriological warfare in China in 1937.

Four million Asians died as a result of Japanese atrocities and forced labour along with 16,000 Allied Prisoners of War.

World War II was awful, but neither this nation, America or our Allies started it.

Our leaders had the terrible responsibility of ending it and preserving our way of life. No placard waving would ever have achieved that victory - only the courage of those who could face up to the hideous realities of life and, like President Harold Truman, carry the personal burden of that decision to drop the bomb. Trident will act as a deterrent.

S Askham
Elmsleigh Drive
Leigh