Usual disclaimers apply and then some. Having seen the Enola Gay exhibition yesterday, I can only say that the display of "official history" made me sick. The first panel, which says that material about the decision to drop the bomb was removed and that now the artifacts "speak for themselves," was a total crock. Or rather, 50% crock. Interpretive material was indeed removed, but the artifacts hardly "speak for themselves." On the contrary, subsequent text clearly states that the bomb ended the war; that an invasion would have been fiercely resisted, etc. And it leaves no room for dissent. I have no position on the historical issues surrounding the decision to drop the bomb; at any rate, no informed position; which is exactly the point. How can we reach an informed position if debate is suppressed? This is not about whether the Japanese had it coming to them in 1945, nor is it about whether American veterans get enough respect. It's about whether ordinary present-day Americans who go to the Mall can expect to see something more than official mythography. And clearly, the anwer is no. Andy Finch [log in to unmask]