Posted on 08/03/2020 7:06:21 AM PDT by Kaslin
It is August, 2020, now seventy-five years since the end of America's World War II hostilities with the nation then known as the Empire of Japan. August 6 and 9 are the historic anniversary dates of the first and only use of nuclear weapons in warfare. In the ensuing three quarters of a century, the attacks of 1945 on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — their usefulness and their rectitude — have been the subject of vigorous debate over their military, scientific, political, historic, and moral significance.
Schools of thought regarding yes-or-no justification generally break down as follows:
Yes. The European and Pacific wars were already too costly in lives and property. A quick end was mandatory.
No. The European war was already over, and the Pacific conflict was winding down. The Soviet Union, free from battling Germany, was soon to engage in hostile action against Japan.
Yes. There were no good options. This was the least bad alternative.
No. Regardless of military considerations, the attacks were a crime against humanity for the massive carnage of Japan's innocent civilian population, and Japan was presumably about to capitulate. America should apologize to Japan.
Yes. Western notions of chivalry, honor, and humane treatment of vanquished opponents were alien to Japan's ruthless, barbarous, and sadistic military culture. A powerful checkmate was required, and Japan should apologize to the world.
The atomic attacks by the United States Army Air Force on the two Japanese cities undeniably were horrific tragedies. Abstracted from historical context, by themselves, they do suggest extravagant cruelty in a purely vengeful act by this nation. And they provide ready ammunition for the "Shame America" movement, now in high gear over America's history of slavery, accusations of endemic racism, and other assorted offenses.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Was not the rape of Nanking a horrific tragedy?! And many other Japanese atrocities throughout the war? Let's not get carried away here.
Indeed.
If the Japs had the bomb, would they have hesitated to use it on San Francisco or LA?
Absolutely not.
Is is August already? Time for this again?
Leaving aside the expected US casualties from a US invasion of the Home Islands, the Japanese Military was preparing a full mobilization of the civilian population. It would have been necessary for the US soldiers to kill millions and millions of militarized civilians.
The death toll of the bombings, while horrific, was a small fraction of the inevitable death toll amongst the Japanese civilian population if an invasion of the Home Islands had become necessary.
Escort carriers had the designation CVE. The joke was they were
Combustible
Vulnerable
and Expendable...
They have been justified because they HAPPENED! Time has justified them.
There are no do overs with nuclear bombs.
Justified or not, the point is moot.
THEY attacked US. They LOST we WON!
Just had an epiphany!
So, like 75 years ago we dropped the bombs. More than 100 years before that, we had slavery.
Do the Japanese HATE US? Are Japanese people rioting and looting and burning down our cities? Are Japanese Americans persecuted and incarcerated disproportionately ( Blacks are incarcerated disproportionately because they commit CRIMES disproportionately) ?
NO! Why is that. Seems like the Japanese people could understandably hold a grudge.
BECAUSE IT WAS SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO!
GET OVER IT!
My Dad was on the troop ships headed to the invasion. I thank God we ended the war before he landed on the Japanese shores.
The Japanese got what was due to them. It’s as simple as that.
My dad was in the Army Air Corps. There was no US AIR FORCE then. He served in MacArthur’s Army Air Corp in New Guinea and the invasion of Luzon. He was on the beach when Dug Out Doug walked across the water and said “I have returned”.
My father was shot twice on Luzon and came home in a hospital ship.
When I read about these stupid second guessing articles I always ask how many US service men & women and Japanese died on Okinawa? Multiply by a factor of at least 10 fold. This was the southern most homeland island of Japan. Of course, we should have dropped the Atomic bombs. Doing so saved millions of lives.
His response to all the second-guessing and armchair generalship: They never had their balls on the anvil.
I read the article. Well balanced and presented both sides very well. It was done so well that the author reaffirmed my belief that it was the right thing to do.
At the time of the decision I do not think the policy markers know that the Soviets stole the information.
“Here we go again. Why do we do this every August?”
I know, right?
Let’s instead divert to THIS August’s centennial question:
“How would things be different if there was no 19th Amendment?”
Japan had already set in motion a plan to execute every prisoner of war, about 130,000 men and women, on August 22. Had we not used the atomic bomb, we would have lost those 130,000, because Japan would not have surrendered until much later. Most people aren’t aware of Japan’s final strategy plan, Operation Ketsu-Go. Even at the beginning of August 1945 Japan’s leadership thought they could crush an invasion force and stop the allies from conquering the home islands. It was a delusional plan when you consider the Soviet factor, but even at the beginning of August the government of Japan was desperately trying to keep the Soviets out of the war via diplomatic channels. But any way you look at it, those two bombs ended the war, saved 130,000 POW lives and kept the Soviet Union from occupying most of Japan. So was it worth it? You bet it was.
he drove a Toyota later in his life.
= = = = = = = = = = = =
The ‘real’ poser could/would be
Did ‘they’ give it to him?
Which brings up the enigma
Compare Hiroshima & Nagasaki in 1940-1945-1975-2015 with Detroit or quite a few other American downtowns.
The enigma being which causes the more lasting devastation to your town/city,
Nuclear Attack or LIBERAL Pols?
The pics should speak for themselves (of course a lot of ‘unknowns’ involved)
Saw an interview with some Japanese citizens and they were surprised (and did not believe) that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. So we are not the only country to approve of a certain biased confusion of our history — if it serves some modern narrative.
My uncle Mx was a cook with MacArthur’s troop return to the P.I.
He was a Master Sgt...
Like it has been said
Had it not been for Pearl Harbor, our action probably would never had been needed.
I first went to Japan in 1957 and have marveled about how well they treated us - Considering we tried to wipe them off the face of the earth 12 years earlier.
I also realized that WE were the source of money and a lot easier to relieve us of our money by being nice rather than hateful.
(In a lot of circumstances, it was easier for US to converse with the Japanese Nationals then,
than it is with some of our ‘in house’ aliens that ‘serve’ the public TODAY here)
Got to figure how - had the tables been reversed - say Japan Nuking San Diego & San Francisco how ‘we’ would have accepted them some short time later.
Can only speculate but how many would Japan have ‘slaughtered’ had they won, based on their ‘Bushida’ rules.
I have often thought of what would the results have been had the German ‘brain’ and Japanese ‘ingenuity’ ever had really merged and if figuring the ‘Axis’ wins, would they have been satisfied with Germany/Europe and Japan/Pacific Asia or would it have been an inevitable clash?
My Grandfather, at 36, was told to leave the jungle in the Phillipines and report with his platoon to Manilla harbor. There, all of their existing uniforms and tents were burned, and they were issued new materials. Then, he loaded a transport for the invasion of Japan. They were aboard ship, ready to go, when he was informed that he would be in the first wave. He wrote a goodbye note to his wife and children. They dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, and they stayed on ship until the second bomb. The Japanese surrendered, and they disembarked from the harbor. He was sent back into the interior of Luzon.
He told me that the Atomic bomb saved likely 500,000 American lives, and probably the Japanese completely. He had no doubt that it would have been like Phillipines or Okinawa.
Hell Yes!
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