Posted on 08/06/2010 1:23:08 AM PDT by neverdem
It's not a perfect essay, but it's worth a gander, IMHO.
the bomb is da bomb!
Having read through this, I dare venture that point #10 is going to be sorely tested by Islam getting the bomb. They are the kids who never played well with others. They have no ideological problem with an apocalypse like what the (roughly) Judeo-Christian-Hindu-New Age-atheist axis has.
Well, 65 years after the event as we move further and further away from that amazing climactic end of WWII people seem to be more and more ignorant about how the world arrived at that point in 1945. People, kids and the population in general read far less and know less about that terrible time in history.
At least Hollywood has taken it upon themselves to make more films about WWII and inform the current generation, (e.g., Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, The Pacific, etc.).
I visited Hiroshima in 2002 and was shocked to see how the Japanese present that event in thier museum. To sum up, it seems that for some unkown reason on a warm August morning in 1945 a shiny, single B-29 appeared in the sky and dropped this horrible, ihumane weapon on these quiet, tranquil and peace-loving Japanese civilians. The rest is history. What I failed to see in that museum was how we all arrived at that point (1931-1945) and how viscious the Japanese were in their conquest of Asia. This was missing and it scared me to see them collectively deleting this Militarist part of their history. So now they’re all pacifist...
I would be nonplussed too. The Japanese themselves seem to know better, at least now they do. What war did it stop if it never started?
Another picky point, omitted in most popular accounts, is that Truman had scruples about the potential kill from these primitive, multi-kiloton bombs. So much so, that he had Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and several other surrounding cities leafleted with warnings that they might be bombed. (He didn’t say how.) He warned them it would be best to “get out of Dodge” so to speak. Those who defied and stayed, paid the price, but they shouldn’t complain that they were surprised.
Happy Birthday!
They just renamed themselves Democrats.
Happy Birthday!! It’s my daughter’s 18th as well.
Believe it or not, I have a Japanese brother-in-law. He’s 60 years old and grew up in a very pacifist society/generation.
When we were dining in Kyoto he admitted that the use of the bomb was probably a necessity because, he said, they never would have surrendered. That’s real candor for you.
Should be restated: "6) Nuclear Weapons Have Till Now Guaranteed the Survival of Israel."
The deterrent effect that has protected Israel to date depends on the rationality of the attacker. Iran gets a bomb and delivery mechanism and this effect may go out the window.
That is why President Obama, the UN, the IAEA and a host of other “peace-seeking” organizations and bodies are doing their utmost to halt the Iranian bomb...right? (snicker, snicker).
It’s sad because it shows that the so-called “international community” (who sat by idly while the Nazis exterminated the Jews and others) have NOT LEARNED ANYTHING FROM WWII and therefore should be ignored. Israel is alone yet again.
bookmark
Using the carnage of Iwo Jima and Okinawa as a yardstick, estimates of our casualties for the invasion of Japan were one million. Probably double or triple that for Japanese. So the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs saved a heckuva lot of lives.
Divine intervention:
By the grace of God, the united States was the nation that developed the atom bomb.
If Germany or Japan would have developed thw atom bomb the whole world would be living under tyrannical rule.
During WW II, would Japan have used the atomic bomb on America if they were able? YOU BETCHA!
- Anil Kakodkar, architect of India's nuclear weapons programme.
100% Correct!
As one who grew up a military brat, especially during the Cuban Missle Crisis, being told by a 2-star general in a mid-day school auditorium lecture, that to never mind the drills, (since our base was a strategic defense missile base), that we wouldn’t feel a thing, if we saw a bright flash.
It is the one weapon that has commanded men to pause, before letting them loose, because there would be others coming back upon them. (In a sense, like the three fingers pointing at you, when you point one at them!)
All of those born after the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, do not really understand how sharp the precipice was, that we stood near. They do not understand, and I do not think that any film, book, or comic can rightly portray the psyche of The Cold War.
I’ve got my “Rumsfeld Thank You” letter, and my RVN Campaign medals, but my America is dying, and for what?
Made in Amelika by razy Amelikans. Tested in japan.
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