Iwo Jima - A stupid Mistake?

LA TImes ^ | March 10, 2005 | Max Boot

[rcocean]

Our awe at the bravery of the Marines and their Japanese adversaries should not cause us to overlook the stupidity that forced them into this unnecessary meat grinder. Selective memories of World War II, which record only inspiring deeds and block out all waste and folly, create an impossible standard of perfection against which to judge contemporary conflicts.

[reagan_fanatic]

Bush's fault.

[theDentist]

Monday morning quarterbacking. bumparooo for later reading.

[Pyro7480]

I didn't say that, rcocean did.

[R. Scott]

I wonder if the thousands of American Airmen who made emergency landing at Iwo and therefore saved their lives thought it was a mistake.

[Coop]

More than two months before the actual assault, Iwo Jima was softened up by bombing raids. For the three days prior to the attack, six American battleships launched a continuous barrage on the island.

Very good, detailed article here.

[tkathy]

All democrat started wars (WWII, VIETNAM, KOREA, KOSOVO) were run by idiots.

[Al Gator]

Hindsight is 20/20.

At the time, it did seem like the necessary thing to do.

Remember, they still were gearing up for an invasion of the main islands. Staging points were the order of the day.

No one, no one in military at all, knew that the bomb was going to change things.

[gridlock]

This is complete BS. Look at a map of the Pacific. There is not a lot of land out there. What land their was, we wanted a US Flag flying from it. If there was to be an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands, Iwo Jima and Okinawa would have been the crucial staging grounds.

Of course, our use of nuclear weapons made that unnecessary. But I'm sure this author dedicates a column in August to whining about that as well.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

We should have waited for satellite photos, GPS and laser guided bombs and cruise missiles before attacking Iwo Jima.

[Coop]

From Max Boot, I doubt it.Saying a military operation was a mistake does nothing to subtract from the honor and admiration we have for those who fought.

Maybe not. But posting what I regard as nonsense concerning a lack of "softening" bombardment - which I, a complete novice, recognized immediately - makes me seriously doubt that this author knows what he's talking about. Or he's ignoring inconvenient facts to promote an agenda.

[RicocheT]

Iwo Jima was necessary for its location and airfield. The bombardment was as good as possible.

The real scandal is the Peleliu landing and battle. That island could have been bypassed and the Philippine landings moved forward with the addition of those soldiers tasked for Peleliu.

[R. Scott]

… how does the author expect that Nimitz would have known of this defensive strategy?

Why, with satellite imaging, U 2, SR 71 and UAV surveillance flights of course!
I wonder how old the writer is?

[Monterrosa-24]

Taken as a whole, the U.S. island hoping strategy saved the lives of countless soldiers and marines. It left seasoned Japanese troops cut off and isolated without anyone to shoot their shiny bullets at. But of course the article could not give any credit.

The entire thrust of the article is wrong as are the details.

[gridlock]

Happily, the senator was only a little boy in that year.

He had not yet even learned to drive...

[Michael.SF.]

How many people were inspired, perhaps to enlist or to join in the war efforts by this famous photo of the second flag raising at Iwo Jima?

There is some measure of value in that.

[Leatherneck_MT]

What that numbnuts fails to realize is, Iwo Jima was necessary in order to provide a landing strip for the bombers returning from runs on the Jap mainland.

The number of airmen it saved in the long run was worth the price our Country paid to take it.

The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years.

James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy; 23 February 1945

[r9etb]

Max should stick to waht he knows best, whining.

Well, I guess that explains this article....

[IGOTMINE]

I suspect that you would have a different opinion if you were on the crew of the "Dinah Might".

[Brilliant]

Of course it was a mistake. Letting the Japanese run our country from Tokyo would not have been so bad. It was the wrong war, at the wrong time, and Roosevelt was the worst President in history. Besides, Japan had no weapons of mass destruction, and Pearl Harbor was a rightwing conspiracy that was used as an excuse for an unnecessary war. Afterall, why did the Jews not go into work that day?

[Coop]

Doubt know the validity of this statistic, but it certainly gives one more food for thought:

After the capture of Iwo Jima, more than 30,000 American Airmen's lives were saved when more than 2,400 disabled B-29 bombers were able to make emergency landings at the Iwo Jima Airfield after making bombing flights over Japan.

http://www.webtravels.com/iwojima/battle.htm