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The A-Bomb as lifesaver
Boston.com ^ | August 7, 2005 | Jeff Jacoby

Posted on 08/07/2005 5:40:42 AM PDT by Boston Blackie

THE 60TH anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has arrived with little of the fury that accompanied the 50th. A decade ago, a bruising battle broke out over the Smithsonian Institution's plan for an exhibit suggesting that the American use of atomic weapons had been a racist war crime and served no legitimate military aim.

With a restored Enola Gay -- the B-29 that delivered the first bomb on Aug. 6, 1945 -- as a centerpiece, the Smithsonian's curators had intended to tell a story of American brutality and Japanese victimhood. ''For most Americans," their original script declared, ''this war was fundamentally different from the one waged against Germany and Italy -- it was a war of vengeance. For most Japanese, it was a war to defend their unique culture against Western imperialism." Such slanted revisionism pervaded the text, which The Washington Post rightly summed up as ''incredibly propagandistic and intellectually shabby."

(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: abomb; hiroshima
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1 posted on 08/07/2005 5:40:43 AM PDT by Boston Blackie
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To: Boston Blackie

If any one believes the dropping of the A-bomb was wrong, check this out:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8141/downfall.html


2 posted on 08/07/2005 5:44:28 AM PDT by Perdogg
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To: Perdogg

Those who condemn the atomic raid on Japan, should remember the atrocities and brutality of Japanese Imperial Army in China, Korea, Burma, Singapore, Philipines and the rest of south asia.

Ah, I need to mention their brutal treatment of Allied POWs and Western civilians too.


3 posted on 08/07/2005 5:46:41 AM PDT by F14 Pilot (Democracy is a process not a product)
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To: F14 Pilot

I'm looking forward to seeing the movie "The Great Raid".


4 posted on 08/07/2005 5:48:02 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: Boston Blackie

Oh it would have been much better for us and Japan if the war dragged on into 1946. /sarcasm


5 posted on 08/07/2005 5:49:27 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan

I watched "The Empire of the Sun" last nite


6 posted on 08/07/2005 5:50:35 AM PDT by F14 Pilot (Democracy is a process not a product)
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To: F14 Pilot

Recommend it?


7 posted on 08/07/2005 5:51:29 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan

Spielberg's movie!

But it showed how Japs treated British civilians in Hong Kong and Shanghai!


8 posted on 08/07/2005 5:52:22 AM PDT by F14 Pilot (Democracy is a process not a product)
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To: Boston Blackie

The left is not happy about us dropping the bomb because it was American lives saved.


9 posted on 08/07/2005 5:52:53 AM PDT by OldFriend (MERCY TO THE GUILTY IS CRUELTY TO THE INNOCENT ~ Adam Smith)
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To: mainepatsfan

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1458584/posts


10 posted on 08/07/2005 5:52:59 AM PDT by F14 Pilot (Democracy is a process not a product)
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To: Boston Blackie
Mark Steyn made the same point in an article appearing in the Jerusalem Post. War is hell and its no place to be squeamish or politically correct. Its much easier to rebuild a fully devastated society than it is to rebuild one that hasn't registered the enormity of its defeat. The atom bomb saved millions of life and brought about a quick end to World War II. President Harry Truman made the right decision. If we had exercised the same degree of brutality in Iraq, there would be no insurgency troubling us and perhaps we would have been out of there by now. Weakness and mercy in war is for fools. Strength and a resolve to win is what makes for a clean aftermath. That's the lesson of August 6th, 1945.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
11 posted on 08/07/2005 5:53:15 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: F14 Pilot

amen.


12 posted on 08/07/2005 5:54:11 AM PDT by Perdogg
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To: F14 Pilot

A lot of books have written about what Europe would have looked like under a victorious Third Reich but I don't know of any that have focused on Asia under a victorious Japanese empire.


13 posted on 08/07/2005 5:54:43 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: F14 Pilot

The invasion of Japan, circa. November, 1945 would have been one of the biggest messes in history and many, many books would have been written since about its horrors.


14 posted on 08/07/2005 5:55:57 AM PDT by JustDoItAlways
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To: JustDoItAlways

Germans were different than vicious Japanese!


15 posted on 08/07/2005 5:57:01 AM PDT by F14 Pilot (Democracy is a process not a product)
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To: Perdogg

Very interesting article, thanks for posting the link.


16 posted on 08/07/2005 5:57:14 AM PDT by Vor Lady (Mr. Pitt, Mr. Idol called, he wants his hair back!)
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To: OldFriend

That and it kept the Soviets from occupying part of Japan.


17 posted on 08/07/2005 6:01:46 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: JustDoItAlways

Books have been written trying to guess what would have happened but thankfully we didn't have to find out for real.


18 posted on 08/07/2005 6:03:16 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: OldFriend
The same p*ssants who, if it came to invading Japan, would have called for environmental impact studies for the landing beaches, sensitivity training in multiculturalism for the landing troops, and further endless negotiations, before declaring that they wouldn't fight in a war to establish U.S hegemony, and a U.S takeover of Japanese rice wine.
19 posted on 08/07/2005 6:04:40 AM PDT by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
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To: PzLdr

For the Japanese it was partly a war about oil.


20 posted on 08/07/2005 6:09:50 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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