ABSTRACT
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki provided the theoretical basis for the massive "shock and awe" air strikes the United States (US) government waged against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. The connection between the US war on Iraq and the world's only "shock and awe" atomic attack by the US epitomizes the omnipresence emanating from the dawn of the atomic age. The use of shock and awe tactics in Iraq has seen the toll of those dead and wounded mount and US officials struggling to rebuild a nation in ruins. The news media are immediately responsible for the formation of the post-atomic world. An investigation into news coverage of US nuclear weapons testing and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki reveals significant omissions about the longevity and hazards of radioactivity. More than any other newspaper in the pre-television era, The New York Times was influential in drafting the history of the atomic age.
