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If Japan did not surrender after the second atomic bomb and the US was to invade to end the war the invasion plan had the use dropping 7-9 additional atomic bombs at invasion points ahead of landing craft.
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved millions of Japanese lives and hundreds of thousands of American lives.
If Japan did not surrender after the second atomic bomb and the US was to invade to end the war the invasion plan had the use dropping 7-9 additional atomic bombs at invasion points ahead of landing craft.
I think you've been given some bad information. After Nagasaki, the US nuclear inventory consisted of exactly one implosion core and would remain at that level for the rest of 1945.
No, he said the bomb was something we hoped to never use again. The mistake was war in and of itself. Not the use of the bomb itself.
Even that analysis doesn't help much. If we forswore ware we'd be saying that Nazi Germany and Tojo's Japan would have to be left undisturbed since the only way to dislodge them would be by war. We'll see if it turns out better with Iran and the JCPOA. I doubt it will. War must be an option and one used too often. The most virulent thugs don't know or care that the world would be a better place to live if they came to the negotiating table in good faith. Human animals are not made that way.
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Originally Posted by dsjj251
I get that the speech is about 24 minutes long, but you should watch it.
Watching 24 minutes of Obama is a bit much, unless of course on an empty stomach.
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Originally Posted by dsjj251
Also, you define FDR as a good Democrat, he was to the left of Barack Obama by a mile.
I think you've been given some bad information. After Nagasaki, the US nuclear inventory consisted of exactly one implosion core and would remain at that level for the rest of 1945.
It is not me with bad information.
Colonel Lyle E. Seeman reported that at least seven Fat Man-type plutonium implosion bombs would be available by X-Day, which could be dropped on defending forces. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oper...uclear_weapons
Operation down fall was the invasion plan for Japan starting October that same year Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed.
99% of this trip was just to reaffirm the alliance and send a big FU to China since America is losing in the Western Pacific and will eventually cede that region to China in the next 30 to 50 years. A Republican president would have done the same trip to Hiroshima btw since traditionally Republicans have a better relationship with Japan than Democrats. Posters also forget that a Democrat dropped the bombs and that some of the most fervent opponents to the atomic bomb are far right conservatives. The opponents of the atomic bomb tend to be a motley crue of far right conservatives and far left liberals. This visit is being politicized for no reason really just like everything Obama does.
Even that analysis doesn't help much. If we forswore ware we'd be saying that Nazi Germany and Tojo's Japan would have to be left undisturbed since the only way to dislodge them would be by war....
What Obama was saying is that Mankind should outgrow both the desire and need for war. That there are other ways of settling issues between countries. The reason for war does not matter, they should all be stopped before they get started.
Colonel Lyle E. Seeman reported that at least seven Fat Man-type plutonium implosion bombs would be available by X-Day, which could be dropped on defending forces. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oper...uclear_weapons
Operation down fall was the invasion plan for Japan starting October that same year Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed.
No offense to colonel Seeman, but he seems to be in the minority - and I have not been able to find a source for his statement.
For instance, this article from the Federation of Atomic Scientists beg to differ: Stockpile article
Another, more detailed article (if Google Books is recalcitrant, try searching "Bulletin of the atomic Scientists, May 1982". Article by David Rosenberg).
Pertinent bit(s) - my transcription, so if there are errors, I am happy to be corrected:
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The newly released figures indicate there were two plutonium-fueled "Fat Man" imposion weapons as of June 30th, 1945.
...there are serious problems with the June 30, 1945 date provided by the Department of Energy.
... The Department of Energy's historian suspects that the two-bomb figure refers to the end of the 1945 calendar year on December 31 rather than the June 30 fiscal year.
So - I'll eat crow on there being one, the number appears to have been two.
Later in the article, the author lists the weapons available on June 30, 1946:
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On that date, there were only nine implosion nuclear components... in existence.
I'd also suggest picking up a copy of "Command and Control" (good book) and read David Lilienthal's shocked reaction on taking over as head of AEC shortly post-war. Short version: There wasn't a stockpile. Perhaps one bomb could be built at short notice. Nuclear weapons in 1945 were science experiments fit in steel casings. Handcrafted, unique, no interchangeable parts - put together by people who knew they were implementing something very much on the edge of their knowledge.
And before you argue that bunch of civilians wouldn't know, recall that the Manhatten project was put under the control of the DoE immediately after WWII, which makes them the custodians of the archives. And, of course, if there were indeed seven cores ready in the fall of 1945 - where did they go?
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