[tlozo]

On Hiroshima attack anniversary, survivors share history’s lessons

I visited the museum at Hiroshima. The display stated that the US dropped the atomic bombs because they had to justify the enormous costs of the Manhattan Project and as a warning to the Soviets. It never stated the enormous casualties invading mainland Japan would have incurred, both on the US and the Japanese.

[Alberta's Child]

I never understood this silly rationale for dropping atomic bombs on civilian populations: “Invading Japan would have cost millions of lives.”

For one thing, this can only be justified using 20/20 hindsight. What if the Japan didn’t surrender after the second atomic bomb was dropped? If you keep using them, then you will eventually reach the point where the death toll in the “mass destruction” scenario exceeds your “invasion” scenario estimates anyway.

Secondly … If the estimated casualty count of an invasion is too high, then don’t invade at all. It’s not like Japan was located on the U.S. border and would be a threat to the U.S. indefinitely. Its ability to project military force over long distances had ended long before August of 1945.

[Georgia Girl 2]

My Dad who was in Hiroshima 6 weeks after the bomb told me if they had had to invade those fortified beaches the US would have lost at least 500,000 men.

[A_Former_Democrat]

You should demand a refund

With interest and penalty

Shame on those losers They are lucky Tokyo wasn’t targeted and Hirohito by firing squad

And Japan split like Germany

F them

[Gay State Conservative]

My girlfriend in a Korean American who went to school in Korea and lived there until she was in her 30s. She absolutely *hates* the Japanese. Her hatred has many facets,one of which is that Japan has never truly apologized for the oppression to which they subjected Korea for 50+ years of occupation.

I've heard some in the West also claim that they've never shown proper contrition for WWII.

[kosciusko51]

There is also a faction of historians that claimed Japan surrendered when they did due to the Soviet Union entering the war against Japan.

[Rummyfan]

The display stated that the US dropped the atomic bombs because they had to justify the enormous costs of the Manhattan Project and as a warning to the Soviets.

The first I totally dismiss. The second was an ancillary benefit.

[shotgun]

For all that Japan has accomplished since they surrendered, they have never really fully acknowledged their total destruction and horror they released on Asia and US. Why they still get away with it is beyond me.