Do you feel it was shameful for America to pardon Japan's Unit 731 for info?

[markg91359]

There were many decisions made by the allies that have great moral implications and it can be argued they were wrong.

For example, we had broken German codes. If some of the information that was known from this had been relayed to some units of our armed forces, undoubtedly casualties could have minimized in some operations. A deliberate decision was often made not to relay this information because it might have signaled to the Germans that their codes were broken. Dresden, Germany was the victim of a huge firebombing campaign that killed thousands of innocent noncombatants right at the end of the war. By February of 1945, it was clear the allies were on the verge of winning the war. Japan was virtually on its knees in July of 1945 when we dropped the atomic bombs.

We have the benefit of hindsight though. The people at the time did not. It wasn't known that the war in Europe would end in April of 1945 when Dresden was bombed. It wasn't known that relaying information obtained from German codes to our armed forces probably would not lengthen the war or increase overall casualties. On the other hand, it was correctly assumed that if the atomic bombs were not used that the Japanese would go on fighting even if the Japanese mainland was invaded.

General MacArthur had reasons for making the deal he did to get the information from Unit 731. Right or wrong, he made a judgment call and our country stood by it.

[BobNJ1960]

Unit 731 should have been executed once the info we needed was obtained.

[victimofGM]

Question,…are the actions of this unit taught in Japan similar to how Germany teaches about what Nazi Germany did in the same era?

[Dave Davis]

Originally Posted by markg91359

Dresden, Germany was the victim of a huge firebombing campaign that killed thousands of innocent noncombatants right at the end of the war. By February of 1945, it was clear the allies were on the verge of winning the war. Japan was virtually on its knees in July of 1945 when we dropped the atomic bombs.

The allies had not even crossed the Rhine when Dresden was bombed. Many allied deaths came between February 1945 and May 1945. They were still sending planes over England to launch V1s. Dresden was a rail junction. It is about time the British and Americans stopped apologizing for this legitimate bombing. By the time of Dresden it was clear Germany was finished. They never gave up, keeping up the fight when they knew they could not win. Their call.

The Japanese again would not surrender, but were putting out feelers via the USSR to negotiate. Was it a ruse or delaying tactic? Could the Japanese be trusted?

Liverpool's, domed classic Custom House. The area was destroyed by the Germans. Why should we care about Dresden?