Posted on 08/09/2014 1:11:12 AM PDT by right-wing agnostic
Saturday marks the 66th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima – devastating acts that helped bring World War Two to a close. (Three days after Hiroshima, Nagasaki was similarly battered).
The attacks – the only time nuclear weapons have ever been used in world history to date – killed tens of thousands of people and shocked the planet with the scale of their destruction.
There has been much controversy over the decision to bomb Japan and some speculation that it might have been racially motivated (given that the U.S. military did not drop such weapons on European civilian targets).
Anti-Japanese discrimination was widespread in the United States long before the war, as exemplified by immigration restrictions the government imposed upon the Japanese (as well as other Asians).
However, the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii by the Imperial Japanese military threw that animosity into overdrive that lasted well after the second world war.
About 120,000 Japanese-Americans were rounded up into internment camps during the war, while propaganda was mass- produced that depicted the Japanese as subhuman and extremely cruel and depraved.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.com ...
And anyone who doesn’t think so is either completely ignorant of the history of the Pacific War, especially events at Okinawa, or is a Big Liar who just wants to drag the USA down, a la Zinn.
If Hitler had continued with Germany’s own atomic experiments and developed an a-bomb, he would have most certainly used it on Britain or Russia. The V-2 rockets were destructive enough, and there was no defense against them. Doubtless, Hitler would have armed some with a-bombs and aimed them at London.
After the millions of Chinese and other countries civilians slaughtered by Japanese troops, it’s difficult for me to work up a lot of tears for Japanese civilians dead from our bombing raids. In fact, some of our non-nuclear raids killed over 100k Japanese civilians...about as many as the a-bomb blasts. And we knew they were going to die in large numbers from the fires burning out of control due to the many wooden houses. Were those Japanese civilians any less dead than the civilians from Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The Japanese should have thought of that before they started the war.
Wow, I guess this proves it. I bet this woman led the Death Valley Death March of March 1942. When all the Japanese Americans were rounded up and forced to March through Death Valley with no food or water. If someone fell down they were bayoneted or shot or kicked to death. Americans only fought back after Pearl Harbor because we were racists.
They’re desperate to find racism, now that there is very little racism coming from Whites. They dig in the past, they revise the past, they condemn team names, and see racism in everything a White says.
That animus had nothing to do with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, however.
Invading the home islands by ourselves, without the assistance of the Soviets and the British like we had in Europe, would have been a much more costly necessity than D-Day.
We would have lost twice as many men in WWII as we did if we had gone conventional.
Race was a factor, another factor was that neither the Germans nor the Italians had attacked American soil the way the Japanese did, another factor was that German Americans had roots going back to the colonial period, another factor was that something like 80% of Japanese Americans lived in one region (Southern California) and it was an area essential to the war effort.
I see clothing and food. They don’t look malnourished or injured. I said it was wrong but it was the expedient thing to do. How many of them died? How many were raped or tortured? Gimme some facts to back up your emotion. Had they been American Japanese in Japan would they have been allowed to go freely about their lives along the eastern coast of Japan?
That is correct.
For those who wonder if dropping two bombs actually saved lives of Americans AND Japanese here are a few facts and a suggestion.
Take a trip to Okinawa and visit Peace Prayer Park.
It's easy to find. It's right next to the Suicide Cliffs just down the road a ways from the Japanese Naval Underground Headquarters.
There you will see the names of 200,656 men, women and children inscribed on black marble slabs who died on that tiny island in the last battle of World War II.
Japanese 188,136
From other prefectures (soldiers and civilian employees) 65,908
From Okinawa (soldiers and civilian employees) 28,228
From Okinawa (civilians fighting in battles) 56,861
From Okinawa (non-fighting civilians) 37,139
Americans 12,520
Following the battle there was not one thing on the island growing or man-made that was over 24 inches high. The entire population of the island was 574,368 and there were 4.72 artillery shells fired per person during the battle.
While you are there be sure and view the Naval Underground Headquarters. While there you will see a room where the high command filed into a room with hand grenades and pulled the pins on themselves rather than surrender. Of course, this was only days after the Japanese soldiers there had bayoneted the babies of civilian employees to keep them from crying and giving away their position to the Americans.
Be sure to enjoy the crystal clear waters under the Suicide Cliffs. They were not always so clear. In June of 1945 civililians and soldiers alike jumped to their deaths rather than surrender to the Americans.
Then consider that not one but two bombs had to be dropped before the Japanese surrendered and how many lost their lives compared to Okinawa without one American casualty.
Oh! By the way. The civilians who died on Okinawa. They were not a part of any industrial base either. But they fought, and died, just as energetically as their cousins on the main Japanese islands would have.
Most of the 120,000 persons removed for reasons of ‘national security’ were school-age children, infants and young adults not yet of voting age. Fact .
Don’t confuse sushiman with facts. He obviously was educated in public schools so that he could learn how wrong the US was to protect itself against a cowardly sneak attack. I don’t like FDR or Truman, but this was a war and they allowed the military to win it. I Thank God that Obama was not in the white house on December 7, 1941.
“There has been much controversy over the decision to bomb Japan and some speculation that it might have been racially motivated (given that the U.S. military did not drop such weapons on European civilian targets)”
We didn’t have them yet moron. They should be thankful. If I were president in 1945, the only place you would find a Japanese today would be a history book.
Good point.
I would also that one major use of the atomic bomb has prevented more severe versions of it from being used against people. How many lives has that saved?
At least until the muzzie terrortards fire one off.
OK we should have separated the children from their parents and let them fend for themselves. That would have been a great plan. If you live in California, run for public office as a democrat. You have some great ideas.
So was Nidal Hasan.
How’d that work out for us?
Some rounded up were citizens some weren’t, did that fact go over your head.
BTW, some Germans were rounded up.
There wasn’t any potential of Germany or Italy invading us, there was with Japan.
Had the Japs tried an invasion of the west coast, a lot of innocent people would have been slaughtered just because of the way they looked. The roundup was a much for their protection as ours.
Same with my uncle, who served on a battleship and was bombed numerous times. 12 years ago, I wasn't exactly proud to show him my brand new 2003 MR2 Spyder (in fact, I didn't even mention it), but he saw it was very nice about it. My esteem for him grew even more that day, and my value for my little red girlie car, lessened.
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