Poll

Were the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Necessary?

Yes70%70% - 134
No29%29% - 57
Total: 191
Spark
liquid fluoride thorium reactor
+874|7123|Canberra, AUS

Kukulcan wrote:

No , they WEREN'T necessary. USA could have invaded the japan , he did it with france and germany why couldn't they do with japan. They had the soldiers , they had the tanks , they had all they deserved to a full scale invasion.

I mean : war is a bad thing but i'm speaking about the difference ok deads between soldiers and civs. Launching the a.bomb has saved many soldiers' lives but killed thousands of civilians. A full scale invasion probably would have killed many more soldiers but maybe it would have saved some civs life and years of nuclear fallout and a part of the reconstruction.

The USA judged their soldiers lifes more important than the civs' ones.... that's not right , what right they had to do this? The japan was on their knees , they were weak  , probably in 3 months they would have felt.

The a.bomb condemnde the 2 regions for long time with nuclear fallout , still now japan people are paying for that mistake. The cancer rate is very high out there for example , i speak as a medic now.

If they did to ''quick the war times'' why didn't they do that also europe? I'm happy they didn't , cause i'm italian but i don't find an explanation to this.... they already had the projects ( stolen from germany ) .
Incorrect. The most exaggerated of atomic bomb casualties estimates puts the figure at 200 000. The conservative estimate for an invasion of Japan (given the insanely extreme Japanese attitude) was several million. And you can't drop in Europe, as the war was over in Europe well before the completion of the bomb.

I think it is imprudent to attempt to judge the actions of the people back then, after 6 years of the most devestating and brutal war mankind has ever seen. Had the bomb been publicised, it would've found overwhelming support amongst the public. As far as they were concerned, the Japanese were cruel and heartless animals who deserved nothing less than complete annhilation, and dropping the bomb would've found such support amongst the public due to the simple fact that it saved hundreds of thousands of American lives.


Bottom line. .  .

If either the Germans or the Japanese got the bomb, they would have used it!! no doubt about it. . .

We just happen to get it first, used it, and ended the war. . . .what is so wrong about that?

America is damned if we do and damned if we dont!! Jesus Christ! Those who say the bombs werent for the ultimate benefit of the world ARE CRAZY!!

War is hell, no one here is saying it isnt!! It's (war/death that comes with it) the true shame of humanity, unfortunatly its necessary. . . .
Probably the first time I have agreed with you. If you ran the tape of history again from, say, 1910, the chance becomes alarmingly high that Germany would get the bomb first, all that would be required is for James Chadwick (?) to discover the neutron a tad faster than he actually did. The bomb would then be developed in Europe, at the place with the most advanced and biggest war machine - Germany. The bomb would most likely be dropped on London during the Battle of Britain and Britain would have lost (as the rest of the Luftwaffe would have continued to beat the RAF's airbases to a pulp, as they came very close to doing. This would've resulted in the fall of the RAF, the clearing of Operation Sea Lion and the eventual fall of Britain.)
The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
~ Richard Feynman
mcjagdflieger
Champion of Dueling Rectums
+26|6759|South Jersey
did you not read anything i posted? they didnt surrender, should we have walked away, ok we got you guys good, we're done now, no. theyre still in the war, still fighting, if we let them go, do you honestly think theyd also give up and not try to retaliate later? i dont think we would have used nukes on germany after hitler surrendered, or at all for that matter. practically the only one who wanted to keep fighting was hitler, but then he killed himself. did we try and bomb the shit out of the rest of germany after he died? it was mostly ground fighting, pushing them back, and taking POW's at that point. were the japanese giving up and surrendering? no. it was still a full on war.
mcjagdflieger
Champion of Dueling Rectums
+26|6759|South Jersey

Kukulcan wrote:

incoherent babble
i think your mistaken on a japanese "civilian" during WW2. sure, theyd take a US invasion as a blessing, as did european countries, woudlnt they? yea. my mistake.
Kukulcan
Member
+6|6749|The Battlefield

Spark wrote:

Kukulcan wrote:

No , they WEREN'T necessary. USA could have invaded the japan , he did it with france and germany why couldn't they do with japan. They had the soldiers , they had the tanks , they had all they deserved to a full scale invasion.

I mean : war is a bad thing but i'm speaking about the difference ok deads between soldiers and civs. Launching the a.bomb has saved many soldiers' lives but killed thousands of civilians. A full scale invasion probably would have killed many more soldiers but maybe it would have saved some civs life and years of nuclear fallout and a part of the reconstruction.

The USA judged their soldiers lifes more important than the civs' ones.... that's not right , what right they had to do this? The japan was on their knees , they were weak  , probably in 3 months they would have felt.

The a.bomb condemnde the 2 regions for long time with nuclear fallout , still now japan people are paying for that mistake. The cancer rate is very high out there for example , i speak as a medic now.

If they did to ''quick the war times'' why didn't they do that also europe? I'm happy they didn't , cause i'm italian but i don't find an explanation to this.... they already had the projects ( stolen from germany ) .
Incorrect. The most exaggerated of atomic bomb casualties estimates puts the figure at 200 000. The conservative estimate for an invasion of Japan (given the insanely extreme Japanese attitude) was several million. And you can't drop in Europe, as the war was over in Europe well before the completion of the bomb.

I think it is imprudent to attempt to judge the actions of the people back then, after 6 years of the most devestating and brutal war mankind has ever seen. Had the bomb been publicised, it would've found overwhelming support amongst the public. As far as they were concerned, the Japanese were cruel and heartless animals who deserved nothing less than complete annhilation, and dropping the bomb would've found such support amongst the public due to the simple fact that it saved hundreds of thousands of American lives.


Bottom line. .  .

If either the Germans or the Japanese got the bomb, they would have used it!! no doubt about it. . .

We just happen to get it first, used it, and ended the war. . . .what is so wrong about that?

America is damned if we do and damned if we dont!! Jesus Christ! Those who say the bombs werent for the ultimate benefit of the world ARE CRAZY!!

War is hell, no one here is saying it isnt!! It's (war/death that comes with it) the true shame of humanity, unfortunatly its necessary. . . .
Probably the first time I have agreed with you. If you ran the tape of history again from, say, 1910, the chance becomes alarmingly high that Germany would get the bomb first, all that would be required is for James Chadwick (?) to discover the neutron a tad faster than he actually did. The bomb would then be developed in Europe, at the place with the most advanced and biggest war machine - Germany. The bomb would most likely be dropped on London during the Battle of Britain and Britain would have lost (as the rest of the Luftwaffe would have continued to beat the RAF's airbases to a pulp, as they came very close to doing. This would've resulted in the fall of the RAF, the clearing of Operation Sea Lion and the eventual fall of Britain.)
A nuclear explosion never brings good things.... standard war is hell but at least everyone can fight for his life. In another 3ad somoene was about  ''war honour'' saying that a sniper that hits target from afar isn't hounourable. Well , what about this? this WAS honourable?

Apart the people died for the explosions theirselves... you condemnded a whole nation. What about this? STILL NOW people die for that decision , and japan is no more enemy of us.
Kukulcan
Member
+6|6749|The Battlefield

mcjagdflieger wrote:

Kukulcan wrote:

incoherent babble
i think your mistaken on a japanese "civilian" during WW2. sure, theyd take a US invasion as a blessing, as did european countries, woudlnt they? yea. my mistake.
Neither in Japan everyone has a Arisaka under the bed... in Iraq you're fighting although you don't have all the civilan support , so what's the matter?

I think soldiers can take down an armed civilian without any fucking training.

Last edited by Kukulcan (2007-02-02 00:10:58)

mcjagdflieger
Champion of Dueling Rectums
+26|6759|South Jersey
im pretty sure we're talking about WW2. i dont think we should be in iraq in the first place. absolutely no relevance. two completely different subjects. thats like me saying, your italian so your country joining the axis was bad. no relevance dude.

after u edited urs...so a soldier is supposed to go up to an armed civilian, one with a gun, and use his magical army training to submit him and put him in cuffs? totally illogical.

Last edited by mcjagdflieger (2007-02-02 00:19:16)

fadedsteve
GOP Sympathizer
+266|6939|Menlo Park, CA

Bubbalo wrote:

So, you're telling me that the US was on the verge of defeat when they dropped the nukes?
No thats not what anyone is saying. . .

WE TOLD THE JAPS TO SURRENDER. . .THEY DIDNT!! WE TOLD THEM THAT WE WILL BRING THE PAIN OR ELSE!!!

They didnt LISTEN!! THEREFORE, THEY GOT FUCKING BOMBED!! Sorry but if you dont give up when your defeated then you suffer the consequences. . .

Does it make sense to send hundreds of thousands of troops to die invading the mainland of Japan?? No it doesnt. . .
Spark
liquid fluoride thorium reactor
+874|7123|Canberra, AUS
A nuclear explosion never brings good things.... standard war is hell but at least everyone can fight for his life. In another 3ad somoene was about  ''war honour'' saying that a sniper that hits target from afar isn't hounourable. Well , what about this? this WAS honourable?

Apart the people died for the explosions theirselves... you condemnded a whole nation. What about this? STILL NOW people die for that decision , and japan is no more enemy of us.
Should the invasion have taken place you might as well have cut off the last three words of your post - 'japan is no more'.

I'm sorry, I cannot reconcile with those who say that 200 000 (this is an Exaggeration made by ME. The official figures are around two-thirds that) people died for an unforgivable cause yet ignore the 5 - 10 million who would've died as a result of an invasion. Also those who judge those from WWII when they have no idea what the war did to their mindsets are abhorrent to me.
The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
~ Richard Feynman
mcjagdflieger
Champion of Dueling Rectums
+26|6759|South Jersey
and as for people still dieing from nuclear fallout, um, i wouldnt move to a city thats been nuked. is it our fault that theyre still there? thats like blaming parents for having a deformed or challenged child. except even thats not as bad as some jackass living in a nuked city. if new york city was nuked 60 years ago, i sure as shit wouldnt live there. nor i doubt anyone knowing it was would. if theyre dieing today from having been there or near then when it happened, you cant blame us now for that. thats still a casualty and consequence from what happened then. your arguements lack any and all logic.
bob_6012
Resident M-14 fanatic
+59|7103|Lancaster Ohio, USA

Vilham wrote:

bob_6012 wrote:

I believe that it was necessary to drop the bombs. Japan was not going to surrender even if we knew they were defeated, they had too much pride and would have rather died than suffered the humiliation of defeat, the same reason the kamikaze existed, it's part of their Bushido code I believe, death over defeat. If we would have invaded Japan it would have made Normandy look like a picnic, with estimated casualties of over 1 million just on the invasion. You have to realize that it would have been like Iraq is today, only worse, every able citizen would have been armed and would have put up a fight. They even trained people to run little wooden boats laden with explosives into our landing craft in suicide runs. Now I'm not saying that the bombs weren't horrific, because they were, I hope that I never see nuclear warfare in my lifetime, or anyone else's for that matter, but I believe that it was one of the things that helped bring the end of the war to a speedy conclusion, and that's what counts, speed.
I kinda agree with most of it other than the 1 million figure, which tbh is pure bullshit. That figure was made by politicians and not military commanders, ie the figure was made by people who had not much of an idea of war.
Ok, I did a little digging, sorry I should have done so to begin with and here's what I found on the casulties estimate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_ … r_Downfall
Spark
liquid fluoride thorium reactor
+874|7123|Canberra, AUS

fadedsteve wrote:

Bubbalo wrote:

So, you're telling me that the US was on the verge of defeat when they dropped the nukes?
No thats not what anyone is saying. . .

WE TOLD THE JAPS TO SURRENDER. . .THEY DIDNT!! WE TOLD THEM THAT WE WILL BRING THE PAIN OR ELSE!!!

They didnt LISTEN!! THEREFORE, THEY GOT FUCKING BOMBED!! Sorry but if you dont give up when your defeated then you suffer the consequences. . .

Does it make sense to send hundreds of thousands of troops to die invading the mainland of Japan?? No it doesnt. . .
Remember that for the Japanese death is a far better alternative to surrender. There are many instances of Japanese soldiers killing themselves so they wouldn't be captured. So ALL the Japanese (civilians included) would've fought - and they were being trained to fight in the final stages of the war.
The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
~ Richard Feynman
BVC
Member
+325|7143

Kmarion wrote:

Pubic wrote:

Null vote.

But no.

The invasion would have cost more lives than the nukes, but the allies could have just nuked a little base/island/whatever, and sent a note to Hirohito saying "Look at XXX island, this is what we'll do to you if you don't surrender"
Yea but what if it was a dud... doh
Well the allies would have looked really stupid then

By that stage in the war they wouldn't have had much of a defensive capability left, so we could of just parked up a bunch of battleships and destroyers, and used cloud aiming to shell their airfields and Defgun spawns until their tickets ran out, anyway.  Maybe a few wingwalkers to lay Expaks round some of their harder to reach spawn points...
mcjagdflieger
Champion of Dueling Rectums
+26|6759|South Jersey
kuku, using your logic and tactics, how do you suggest we take out iraqi civilians charging us troops with suicide bombs? we are obviously not there attacking the civilians. should soldiers run around them, conk them on the head and call it a day? the best way to deal with a "civilian" charging with explosives is to enjoy the recoil knowing he wont blow up all your buddies. oh and by that i mean shoot him in the head. if you hit him anywhere else, he can still go, click, then BOOM.
Recoil555
A God Amongst Men
+26|6900|UK

mcjagdflieger wrote:

and as for people still dieing from nuclear fallout, um, i wouldn't move to a city thats been nuked. is it our fault that they're still there? thats like blaming parents for having a deformed or challenged child. except even thats not as bad as some jackass living in a nuked city. if new york city was nuked 60 years ago, i sure as shit wouldn't live there. nor i doubt anyone knowing it was would. if they're dieing today from having been there or near then when it happened, you cant blame us now for that. thats still a casualty and consequence from what happened then. your arguments lack any and all logic.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

I'm sorry i don't think you understand radiation very well its not Residual radiation thats doing the real damage its the fact that the people 60 ago years where caught in the radiation are reproducing as their right as human beings and because they were irradiated they have genetic defects and so do their sperm and eggs and the reason they come out deformed is not Residual radiation it is due to genetic mutation though generations from the original irradiated person. So therefore your logic is flawed and damn right inconsiderate if you still thinks its their fault then i cannot explain to you anymore why its not.


On top of that it didn't just effect people that were in the war its killing their children prematurely years later and cutting the life span of these people and for what ? someone here give me good justification on killing and deforming children years after a war ? ffs the war was won they just wanted to know what it really did.


Ill get my own dirty bomb and stand you two miles away and say run, its you own fault if you get caught radiation ?

Last edited by Recoil555 (2007-02-02 01:22:22)

Spark
liquid fluoride thorium reactor
+874|7123|Canberra, AUS

Recoil555 wrote:

mcjagdflieger wrote:

and as for people still dieing from nuclear fallout, um, i wouldn't move to a city thats been nuked. is it our fault that they're still there? thats like blaming parents for having a deformed or challenged child. except even thats not as bad as some jackass living in a nuked city. if new york city was nuked 60 years ago, i sure as shit wouldn't live there. nor i doubt anyone knowing it was would. if they're dieing today from having been there or near then when it happened, you cant blame us now for that. thats still a casualty and consequence from what happened then. your arguments lack any and all logic.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

I'm sorry i don't think you understand radiation very well its not Residual radiation thats doing the real damage its the fact that the people 60 ago years where caught in the radiation are reproducing as their right as human beings and because they were irradiated they have genetic defects and so do their sperm and eggs and the reason they come out deformed is not Residual radiation it is due to genetic mutation though generations from the original irradiated person. So therefore your logic is flawed and damn right inconsiderate if you still thinks its their fault then i cannot explain to you anymore why its not.


On top of that it didn't just effect people that were in the war its killing their children prematurely years later and cutting the life span of these people and for what ? someone here give me good justification on killing and deforming children years after a war ? ffs the war was won they just wanted to know what it really did.
The war was not won. The war would not be won until Japan surrendered, as long as they did not, they were a severe threat in the region.
The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
~ Richard Feynman
Recoil555
A God Amongst Men
+26|6900|UK

Spark wrote:

Recoil555 wrote:

mcjagdflieger wrote:

and as for people still dieing from nuclear fallout, um, i wouldn't move to a city thats been nuked. is it our fault that they're still there? thats like blaming parents for having a deformed or challenged child. except even thats not as bad as some jackass living in a nuked city. if new york city was nuked 60 years ago, i sure as shit wouldn't live there. nor i doubt anyone knowing it was would. if they're dieing today from having been there or near then when it happened, you cant blame us now for that. thats still a casualty and consequence from what happened then. your arguments lack any and all logic.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

I'm sorry i don't think you understand radiation very well its not Residual radiation thats doing the real damage its the fact that the people 60 ago years where caught in the radiation are reproducing as their right as human beings and because they were irradiated they have genetic defects and so do their sperm and eggs and the reason they come out deformed is not Residual radiation it is due to genetic mutation though generations from the original irradiated person. So therefore your logic is flawed and damn right inconsiderate if you still thinks its their fault then i cannot explain to you anymore why its not.


On top of that it didn't just effect people that were in the war its killing their children prematurely years later and cutting the life span of these people and for what ? someone here give me good justification on killing and deforming children years after a war ? ffs the war was won they just wanted to know what it really did.
The war was not won. The war would not be won until Japan surrendered, as long as they did not, they were a severe threat in the region.
As won as it needed to be in my opinion. but that isnt even the point im trying to make the poster i qoute says its their fault they got irradiated ? you believe that too ? if they didnt drop the  A bombs on  japan could they have beaten all the allied force by that point no, meaning they were losing.

Last edited by Recoil555 (2007-02-02 01:28:44)

Spark
liquid fluoride thorium reactor
+874|7123|Canberra, AUS

Recoil555 wrote:

Spark wrote:

Recoil555 wrote:


NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

I'm sorry i don't think you understand radiation very well its not Residual radiation thats doing the real damage its the fact that the people 60 ago years where caught in the radiation are reproducing as their right as human beings and because they were irradiated they have genetic defects and so do their sperm and eggs and the reason they come out deformed is not Residual radiation it is due to genetic mutation though generations from the original irradiated person. So therefore your logic is flawed and damn right inconsiderate if you still thinks its their fault then i cannot explain to you anymore why its not.


On top of that it didn't just effect people that were in the war its killing their children prematurely years later and cutting the life span of these people and for what ? someone here give me good justification on killing and deforming children years after a war ? ffs the war was won they just wanted to know what it really did.
The war was not won. The war would not be won until Japan surrendered, as long as they did not, they were a severe threat in the region.
As won as it needed to be in my opinion. but that isnt even the point im trying to make the poster i qoute says its their fault they got irradiated ? you believe that too ?
Of course I don't believe that. However, no one knew that radiation poisoning would be that bad - therefore, blame is useless. For example, if a drug company makes a drug, and the first time it is tested the testee throws up, do you really blame the drug company for making a bad drug?

Plus, I don't want to sound too asshole-like here, but your opinion on when the war was won is irrelevant.
The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
~ Richard Feynman
Recoil555
A God Amongst Men
+26|6900|UK

Spark wrote:

Recoil555 wrote:

Spark wrote:

The war was not won. The war would not be won until Japan surrendered, as long as they did not, they were a severe threat in the region.
As won as it needed to be in my opinion. but that isnt even the point im trying to make the poster i qoute says its their fault they got irradiated ? you believe that too ?
Of course I don't believe that. However, no one knew that radiation poisoning would be that bad - therefore, blame is useless. For example, if a drug company makes a drug, and the first time it is tested the testee throws up, do you really blame the drug company for making a bad drug?

Plus, I don't want to sound too asshole-like here, but your opinion on when the war was won is irrelevant.
Not when you brought it up and the fact you clearly think it wasn't won by that point not to be an "ass hole" ffs

Was the drug designed to kill people if its not then that is just the worst comparison in the world especially because the fucking drugs tester has to fucking consent to be given a drug they weren't just bombed out the blue.

Last edited by Recoil555 (2007-02-02 01:37:30)

mcjagdflieger
Champion of Dueling Rectums
+26|6759|South Jersey
um, i never said that it was their fault for being bombed...i said its there fault if they were there afterwards, i have some trouble understanding that guys english.  and we also, i think, did not yet realize long term effects of a nuclear bomb, as is obvious, IT WAS JUST INVENTED. your right, we wanted to damn the people for years to come. no, i think not. and on a horrible, yet true note, would you really have children knowing the possibility for them to be deformed? im not denying their human right to reproduce or anything, but there were plenty of warning signs.  it sucks, but its true. what can we do? and i repeat, i didnt say it was their fault for being irradiated. no one ever saw that coming, but they were in this country in a time of war, when there homeland was being bombed. there is some risk in that. not much they could do, im sure. i dont know why your argueing this shit, its war, was war, nothing they could do, nothing you can do, nothing i can do. hate me for being me, it doesnt really matter.

and um it wasnt won, as won as it could be in your opinion? like ive said time and time again, it was an enemy that was still fighting. what else could be done. tell me, what would you have done? think you could do better? please tell me. and not just, well i wouldnt nuke them.

Last edited by mcjagdflieger (2007-02-02 01:53:50)

some_random_panda
Flamesuit essential
+454|6839

America chose to bomb Japan to, ironically, save lives and to show the world it's new toy.

Through the suicidal and fanatic fighting experienced at Iwo Jima, the approaches to Japan's mainland and Kamakazie attacks, it was reasoned at the time that a land invasion would cause countless (up to a million) further deaths ON AMERICA'S SIDE ONLY.  Coupled with that of Japan, the results would be catastrophic.  America then chose to use their atomic bombs to force Japan to surrender and in that process, killed a few hundred thousand people, mostly innocent civilians.  This was no where close to the predicted casualties resulting from a land invasion.  (Immediate casualties, that is, not counting later deaths and deformations resulting from left over radiation).

I don't like nuclear weapons, and I don't necessarily agree with America's actions, but ultimately it did shorten the war and so saved lives.

Last edited by some_random_panda (2007-02-02 02:03:02)

Spark
liquid fluoride thorium reactor
+874|7123|Canberra, AUS

Recoil555 wrote:

Spark wrote:

Recoil555 wrote:


As won as it needed to be in my opinion. but that isnt even the point im trying to make the poster i qoute says its their fault they got irradiated ? you believe that too ?
Of course I don't believe that. However, no one knew that radiation poisoning would be that bad - therefore, blame is useless. For example, if a drug company makes a drug, and the first time it is tested the testee throws up, do you really blame the drug company for making a bad drug?

Plus, I don't want to sound too asshole-like here, but your opinion on when the war was won is irrelevant.
Not when you brought it up and the fact you clearly think it wasn't won by that point not to be an "ass hole" ffs

Was the drug designed to kill people if its not then that is just the worst comparison in the world especially because the fucking drugs tester has to fucking consent to be given a drug they weren't just bombed out the blue.
You are totally missing the point, you are bringing up points completely irrelavent to the debate at hand.

Of course the bomb was designed to kill people, IT'S A FUCKING WAR. NEWSFLASH: PEOPLE DIE IN WARS. I just think that two points need to be brought up:

1. However terrible the deaths of several hundred thousand people are, it pales in comparison to the deaths of a few million - which was the alternative.

2. No-one, and I mean NO-ONE knew about the severity of radiation poisoning. Certainly not the scientists of the Manhattan project, and certainly not the common man - radioactive substances were a common ingredient in cosmetics of the time. Therefore, to criticize them for something they did not know about is irresponsible.
The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
~ Richard Feynman
Kukulcan
Member
+6|6749|The Battlefield

Spark wrote:

A nuclear explosion never brings good things.... standard war is hell but at least everyone can fight for his life. In another 3ad somoene was about  ''war honour'' saying that a sniper that hits target from afar isn't hounourable. Well , what about this? this WAS honourable?

Apart the people died for the explosions theirselves... you condemnded a whole nation. What about this? STILL NOW people die for that decision , and japan is no more enemy of us.
Should the invasion have taken place you might as well have cut off the last three words of your post - 'japan is no more'.

I'm sorry, I cannot reconcile with those who say that 200 000 (this is an Exaggeration made by ME. The official figures are around two-thirds that) people died for an unforgivable cause yet ignore the 5 - 10 million who would've died as a result of an invasion. Also those who judge those from WWII when they have no idea what the war did to their mindsets are abhorrent to me.
Why should have you killed so many civilians in a ''standard'' war against japan? I bet there would surely have been also in this way , many civilians dead.... but much less. You aren't counting the MILLIONS of japanese people that have their life ruined by some cancer or whatever still nowadays. And anyway , a nuclear bomb has as target CIVILIAN TARGETS .. not military one. If us wanted to hit military targets primarly , they would have launched the bomb on a base or something , not AT THE CENTER OF A CITY.

It's the concept itself that is wrong , not the bomb itself. I mean... a strategic nuclear bombing on enemy positions is really useful... but nuclear-bombing a city is just a ''TERROR TACTIC'' it has no military  value at all.

Why take it to the civilian ? The enemy of the us was the japan empire , the governament , not the japanese people.... i think , however.
Karbin
Member
+42|6743
Were the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?

Unfortunately, yes.

The Japan of today is NOT the same as the Japan of the 1930's and 40's.
Was highly militaristic and governed by the code of Bushido, the way of the warrior.
Japan then, believed it was it's destiny to be THE power in Asia and the Pacific.
Being resource poor was a hindrance to that destiny so, rather then trade they looked to
conquest to get these resources.

Under the Code of Bushido, ones honor is everything. One owes the state all that it asks.
The Code view's surrender as dishonor. No warrior would bring such dishonor to themselves,
their family's or their nation.
Death was THEE ONLY way to avoid such dishonor.
Surrender was so abhorrent to them that even when the Emperor, for the first time, addressed the
nation by radio he did not use the word surrender.
Not once.

The Atomic bombings, in the end, saved lives. American and Japanese.
If the U.S. had invaded they were looking at upwards of 1 million, killed and wounded.
The Japanese as a nation would have been all but wiped out.
You only have to look at how many POW's the U.S.captured at places like Guadalcanal, Tarawa,
The Philippines, Iwo Jima or Sipan to know how bloody an invasion of the Home Islands would have been.

Remember, the garrison on Iwo was told that each men MUST kill five American's before he was killed.

Now, was Hiroshima a legitimate military target?
Yes
The home port for the U.S. Pacific fleet wasn't Pearl, it was San Diego.
Hiroshima was the same for the the Japanese as San Diego.
A Fleet Base.
Nagasaki was, I think, a Army town along the lines of Fort Brag.

Tokyo was off the list of targets for the Atomic missions. As it was the seat of government and home of the
Emperor.
In fact, the missions flown on Tokyo, had orders for the White House NOT to bomb near the Imperial Palace.
It was felt that if the Emperor was killed then Japan would NEVER surrender.

It has been debated since the war, that a blockade of the Home Islands would have ended it.....in about a year.
If this had been done, how many would have starved to death?
What about the POW's in Japan being used as slave labor?
Would they have been killed out of hand?
I believe, yes.
Look at what happened to the members of the Doolittle raid that the Japanese captured.

Revisionist history is a great thing.
It lets generations that were not there, decide if people with out the benefit of all the information, made the right decision.
We have the benefit of knowing, Japanese war plans for the defense of the Home Islands. The state of war projects.
The people that made the call on dropping the bomb didn't.
Fact
The Japanese were working on two Atomic bomb projects. Two different ways of refining Uranium.
Fact
There was an attempt to get a "Test drop" for the Japanese, as has been suggested in this thread.
"We have it and we'll show you"
This was over ruled. First and fore most was the reason, "It's a new weapon, if it doesn't go off, we just gave them a bomb to
figure out and use against us".
The first bomb dropped, Little Boy, was nothing more then two blocks of Uranium inside a artillery barrel.

Rumor
The Japanese had detonated a Atomic bomb. This test area in now in North Korea and no one has been able to go there and check this
rumor out fully.
Japanese service personal in the area have told stories of what sounds like a Atomic detonation.

So we have the question, is it better to A-bomb two cities then to:
Starve a nation to near extinction
Or
Invade, possibly with the loss of life on BOTH sides being in the millions?
mcjagdflieger
Champion of Dueling Rectums
+26|6759|South Jersey
jesus read my crap. i already said...point me to a military installation the size of a city as an alternative target. one does not exist. there will be civilian casualty. and a civilian that would attack a soldier in the event of an invasion is a soldier in my eyes, if you want to put it that way.  the japanese people were behind their governent. not everyone can be a soldier, you need civilians to power the military. the debate here is the loss of human life, be it civilian or soldier. tell me where in history only the military was involved.  there are not soldiers working in factories.  we say loss of human life was less with the nuclear strikes.  you say otherwise. it is documented by people who know their shit, professionals, historians, all of them, that the human loss would be more extreme if nukes werent used.  how are you still debating that the overall loss of human life is greater now that nukes were used? give me some official documentation.  our proof is there, yours is not.  there have not been millions of deaths because of this. horrible as it is, whatever. OVERALL HUMAN LOSS
Recoil555
A God Amongst Men
+26|6900|UK

Spark wrote:

Recoil555 wrote:

Spark wrote:

Of course I don't believe that. However, no one knew that radiation poisoning would be that bad - therefore, blame is useless. For example, if a drug company makes a drug, and the first time it is tested the testee throws up, do you really blame the drug company for making a bad drug?

Plus, I don't want to sound too asshole-like here, but your opinion on when the war was won is irrelevant.
Not when you brought it up and the fact you clearly think it wasn't won by that point not to be an "ass hole" ffs

Was the drug designed to kill people if its not then that is just the worst comparison in the world especially because the fucking drugs tester has to fucking consent to be given a drug they weren't just bombed out the blue.
You are totally missing the point, you are bringing up points completely irrelavent to the debate at hand.

Of course the bomb was designed to kill people, IT'S A FUCKING WAR. NEWSFLASH: PEOPLE DIE IN WARS. I just think that two points need to be brought up:

1. However terrible the deaths of several hundred thousand people are, it pales in comparison to the deaths of a few million - which was the alternative.

2. No-one, and I mean NO-ONE knew about the severity of radiation poisoning. Certainly not the scientists of the Manhattan project, and certainly not the common man - radioactive substances were a common ingredient in cosmetics of the time. Therefore, to criticize them for something they did not know about is irresponsible.
I know blatantly that people die in war i was saying that the people how got nuked didnt deserve it and i didnt say people didnt die in a war i said that you cant compare this with a drugs tests which i believe still stands.

Im not missing the point at all, i just disagreed a dont think it would have cost millions of lives to invade japan. I think that they would probably surrended anyway.

Last edited by Recoil555 (2007-02-02 03:07:53)

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