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73 years ago today, on August 5, 1945, the first atomic bomb used in war was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. (In Japan it was August 6, since they are across the International Date Line from us.)
Three days later, the second atomic bomb used in warfare was flown to its primary target of Kokura, Japan. They found the city obscured by clouds and smoke, and so flew to the secondary target of Nagasaki instead and dropped the bomb there.
Shortly afterward, Japan realized they had no way to stop the Americans from dropping bomb after bomb, wiping out city after city until the Japanese islands became uninhabitable. It also helped that Russia declared war on Japan that day. Japan surrendered, and WWII was over.
Japan didn't know at the time, that those were the only two complete atomic bombs the Americans had been able to produce at that time (plus one more set off in July as a test in New Mexico). They could eventually produce more of the needed fissile material, but it would have taken months or years, so the Americans kept quiet.
The Army estimated that those two bombs, which killed approx. 150,000 Japanese, saved the lives of between 500,000 and 1 million Americans who would no longer have to invade the Japanese home islands to force a surrender, plus saving a million or more Japanese who would have defended their homes to the death.
It did save lives, overall. My Uncle was stationed in Burma at the time, & his life was saved, along with all the other soldiers who were going to be sent in. Japan was not going to surrender. The war in Europe was already over.
TRANSLATION: I hate it when you tell the truth so bluntly.
Quote:
It kind of had to be done,
"Kind of"??? Now who's "gilding the lily"?
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but we certainly did Japan no favors by dropping the atom bomb on them twice.
We did them the greatest "favor" it was possible to do. Thought strictly speaking we didn't do it "for them", we did it to minimize horror and death on our side. The fact that it also hugely reduced the amount of horror and death on their side too, is a side benefit for them.
We had a choice:
1.) Killing 500K to 1M Americans plus 1M to 2M Japanese by invading Japan to end the war, or
2.) Killing 0 Americans and 150K to 200K Japanese by dropping the Bomb to end the war.
3.) There was no Choice 3. WE HAD NO OTHER CHOICE. Only those two.
Your mewling that we should have taken Choice 1 instead of 2, makes me wonder about your mental acuity, if not your outright humanity.
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The horrors of that bomb were not "for their own good" like distasteful medicine.
Correct. They were for OUR good. The huge benefit to the Japanese (saving more than a million of their lives that we would otherwise have killed) is a side benefit that just got tossed in.
You seem typical of the trembling cowards who cry that when someone is killing us, we should not shoot back because our gun makes too loud a BANG, and is too scary for you.
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 2 days ago)
35,587 posts, read 17,927,273 times
Reputation: 50620
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roboteer
TRANSLATION: I hate it when you tell the truth so bluntly.
"Kind of"??? Now who's "gilding the lily"?
We did them the greatest "favor" it was possible to do. Thought strictly speaking we didn't do it "for them", we did it to minimize horror and death on our side. The fact that it also hugely reduced the amount of horror and death on their side too, is a side benefit for them.
We had a choice:
1.) Killing 500K to 1M Americans plus 1M to 2M Japanese by invading Japan to end the war, or
2.) Killing 0 Americans and 150K to 200K Japanese by dropping the Bomb to end the war.
3.) There was no Choice 3. WE HAD NO OTHER CHOICE. Only those two.
Your mewling that we should have taken Choice 1 instead of 2, makes me wonder about your mental acuity, if not your outright humanity.
Correct. They were for OUR good. The huge benefit to the Japanese (saving more than a million of their lives that we would otherwise have killed) is a side benefit that just got tossed in.
You seem typical of the trembling cowards who cry that when someone is killing us, we should not shoot back because our gun makes too loud a BANG, and is too scary for you.
Nooope.
It kind of had to be done. We needed to end that horrid war, and better them than us, but it's not sincere to say that was a positive for the Japanese. Awful, horrible toll on civilians, and children, and people who had no say whatsoever in the war, were vaporized or worse, left to tell.
It kind of had to be done. We needed to end that horrid war, and better them than us, but it's not sincere to say that was a positive for the Japanese. Awful, horrible toll on civilians, and children, and people who had no say whatsoever in the war, were vaporized or worse, left to tell.
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 2 days ago)
35,587 posts, read 17,927,273 times
Reputation: 50620
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roboteer
What would you have done instead?
Nothing different, probably.
But while I was doing it, I wouldn't be thinking I was doing Japan a favor.
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