"There have been some people outside Hiroshima who have written letters complaining after my appointment got into the national press. But really very few," he said.
Maybe we can work on that....
The link doesn’t seem to take me to any article; instead, it takes me to a page of article summaries, and I didn’t notice the referenced article there in the summaries.
I tried a second time, and it does this time. Sorry for any confusion.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Everybody except the Japanese. Even after the atomic bombing of two Japanese cities, the military still did not want to surrender. Only the emperor was able to stop the military, and only just barely.
Leeper is just another "war never solved anything" nut.
They did not, of course, know that we didn't have a lot more such bombs but they did know everything they needed to know about both kinds to manufacture them themselves (given sufficient time).
They simply didn't have enough time but knew we had immense capacity if we could build both kinds.
Remember, they had their own atom bomb program, a good deal of which was located in what is now North Korea.
History rewritten.
“Everyone knows”? Anyone who knows the character of Truman also knows that he ordered the bombing only after Japan refused to surrender after being warned of the consequences - and with great reluctance.
And “everyone” seems to have forgotten Pearl Harbor.
The author Bussewitz, for instance, asserts "Leeper shares the view of most Japanese: that Japan had already lost the war and that the bombing of Hiroshima, and of Nagasaki three days later, was wrong and unnecessary" but doesn't bother to give a single statistic supporting that very broad assertion about all Japanese citizens' beliefs.
From looking at her web page at Berkeley, the author appears to be a recent graduate of Berkeley's Journalism School:
Experience Intern, PBS/Frontline, Berkeley, CA, June 2005-present
Wrote article for Frontline website about information sharing between local and federal law enforcement. Conducted investigative research on government restructuring, prepared questions for on-camera interviews, did background research and checked facts, shot digital photos for website, and assisted with shoots for documentary.
Freelance Journalist, Berkeley, CA, September 2005-present
Contributed features and articles to the Oakland Tribune and East Bay Daily News. Produced television packages for UCTV on the rising cost of water, the growth of parolees in the trucking industry, and an annual quest for love. Logged, digitized and transcribed tapes for Frontline/World.
Politics Intern, NY 1 News, New York, NY, June 200 -September 2004
Cut video montages and sound bytes, wrote teases and short stories for nightly political news program, assisted reporters in field, contributed research, guest ideas and production assistance during 2004 presidential campaigns and conventions.
Reporting Intern, City/State Dept., The Village Voice, New York, NY, January 2003-May 2003
Conducted interviews and research as lead intern for investigation into union benefits funds, compared bid documents, analyzed campaign contributions and government policies, covered press conferences, filed FOIL letters, obtained court files and public records, contributed reporting for weekly column on city and state politics. Earned special reporting by-line for work on series.
Community Reporter, The Independent, New York, NY, May 2002-October 2002
Reported and wrote articles on community gardens, open space, sexual harassment, and community issues. Contributed photos, edited copy, and conducted outreach and distribution
Paralegal, Kaye Scholer LLP, New York, NY, November 2002-July 2005
Managed paralegals, medical analysts, local counsel in discovery phase of multi-party litigation.
Research Assistant, Young and Rubicam, New York, NY, September 1999-November 2001
Coordinated international study of brand personality, analyzed data to report changes in consumer behavior utilizing personality tests and statistics, spent three months in London office.
Education University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism
MJ expected May 2007
Syracuse University, Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs
BA, English; BA, Policy Studies, 1997
Awards Chancellor's Award for Public Service in Community Service Leadership, Syracuse University, 1997; Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors, 2003-present
Skills FinalCut Pro, Panasonic DSR, Sony PD 150, Lexis-Nexis, Microsoft Office References Wayne Barrett, Senior Editor, The Village Voice
Robert Hardt, Politcs Director, NY1 News
Rob Gunnison, Director of School Affairs, UC Berkeley Graduate School of JournalismLast updated: February 08 2007.
In the long run...probably the best thing that happened to Japan. Look at it now!
I don’t suppose that the huge number of American deaths that would have resulted from an invasion means anything to him?
Hey, whats a million or so dead American men anyway?
We killed far, far more people and destroyed more cities during the fire bombings earlier that year (Mar-April) yet the two a-bombing are the ones that still upset them the most.
"Everybody knows on the left and the right that Japan was finished at the time the bomb was dropped," Leeper said.
Steven Leeper is a liar, plain and simple. Between the time Truman became President and the dropping of the bomb on Hiro, about four months, the United States suffered nearly half of its total casualties in the Pacific Theater. After the bombing of Nagasaki the largest air raid of the war was flown against Japan on the 14th because they refused to surrender. If Tojo had gotten his way we would have had to invade.
Everybody knows on the left and the right that Japan was finished at the time the bomb was dropped,” Leeper said.
Really,well I heard there were about 1 1\2 million American GI’s and Marines who were NOT looking forward to invading Japan proper. I guess they weren’t as smart as Leeper !!!
IF the Atomic bomb had NOT been dropped, the Japanese people would of been virtually exterminated by bombing, pestilence and disease.
The Japanese islands could not support their population. With the bombing and the sub warfare the transportation net was gone. Japanese civilians would of died in the 10s of millions suffered from famine and disease.
Also, if we had gone for a siege instead of dropping the bomb or invaded not only would the Japanese civilian death toll been hugely higher, given the sorts of collateral civilian damage caused by the military technology of the time but the Stalin would invariably used the opportunity to invade the northern part of Japan. Instead of Korea, Japan would of been partitioned with all the horrors that has brought for Korea for 63 years and counting. Both the author, and the subject, are idiots studying to be morons....and failing. The ONLY humane thing to do in 1945 is to drop the atomic bombs and end the war quickly. Any other action by the allies would of been barbaric.
How theoretical nuclear weapons would be had they not been used in combat.
Leeper shares the view of most Japanese: that Japan had already lost the war and that the bombing of Hiroshima, and of Nagasaki three days later, was wrong and unnecessary."Everybody knows on the left and the right that Japan was finished at the time the bomb was dropped," Leeper said.
Bull! 'Everybody knew' the Japs were finished when we hit Okinawa too. Look what the (blank) occurred there.
Over 250,000 people lost their lives. Approximately 150,000 Okinawans, about a third of the population, perished. At the battle's end, somewhere between a third and half of all surviving civilians were wounded. No battle during the Second World War, except Stalingrad, had as massive a loss of civilian life. The stakes were high. The Japanese, determined to fight to the last man, almost achieved their objective, but in defeat 100,000 Japanese combatants died rather than surrender. In the end, fewer than 10,000 of General Mitsuri Ushijimas's Thirty-Second Army were taken prisoner.United States loss of life was staggering as well. The United States Navy sustained the largest loss of ships in its history with thirty-six lost and 368 damaged. The Navy also sustained the largest loss of life in a single battle with almost 5,000 killed and an equal number wounded. At Okinawa, the United States Tenth Army would incur its greatest losses in any campaign against the Japanese. The Tenth Army, which initially was made up of 183,000 army, navy, and marine personnel. During those eighty-two days, the Tenth Army would lose 7,613 men and over 30,000 men would be evacuated from the front lines for a minimum of a week due to wounds. Moreover, the largest numbers of U.S. combat fatigue cases ever recorded would occur on Okinawa.
The invasion of the mainland would have been Okinawa 10x you moron.
It is easy to construct some alternative history long after the events.
Perhaps it would have been better to drop the first bomb on Mount Fuji, as a demonstration for the Japanese.
However, those who made the decision were under pressures that, as time passes, become less easy to understand, but they made the best and most benevolent decision that they could under the circumstances.
What future generations must remember is how horrible nuclear weapons are.
To remember this is a powerful force for peace and love.
For example: it prevented the Cold War from deteriorating into all-out war, and it finally ended it.
My father's wise, decent, and supremely benevolent brother--a highly successful man, in business and in every other phase of his life--once told me:
This is wise advice on a personal or an international level. In fact, this very principle guided American leaders in their behavior toward Japan.
Still more proof that liberalism is a dark theology focused on America’s “sins”