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No Apologies For Hiroshima or Nagasaki (from an email)

Discussion in 'Atomic Bombs In the Pacific' started by Ken The Kanuck, Aug 8, 2015.

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  1. bronk7

    bronk7 Well-Known Member

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    that was exactly my point..sorry for any confusion
     
    bronk7, Aug 17, 2015
    #81
  2. steverodgers801

    steverodgers801 Member

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    If any of those revionists can explain how we were going to get Japan to surrender without killing millions of additional civillians instead of 200k they Ill be interested in their idea.
     
    steverodgers801, Aug 17, 2015
    #82
  3. Takao

    Takao Ace

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    No...No confusion, you just grossly overestimated the Chinese blast...There is a world of difference between a ton of TNT and a Kiloton of TNT.
     
    Takao, Aug 17, 2015
    #83
  4. Takao

    Takao Ace

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    They can't...That's one of the problems with their argument.
     
    Takao, Aug 17, 2015
    #84
  5. KodiakBeer

    KodiakBeer Member

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    Did we try sending flowers?
     
    KodiakBeer, Aug 17, 2015
    #85
  6. Takao

    Takao Ace

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    Yes...But, they turned out to be only mushrooms.

    Sorry, couldn't resist.
     
    Takao, Aug 17, 2015
    #86
    USS Washington likes this.
  7. bronk7

    bronk7 Well-Known Member

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    good call-..I knew it was mere tons vs Kilotons..I forgot a few zeros..tango yankee
     
    bronk7, Aug 17, 2015
    #87
  8. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    I've told you guys a thousand times, DON'T EXAGGERATE!
     
    OpanaPointer, Aug 17, 2015
    #88
  9. Takao

    Takao Ace

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    That would be funnier with alcohol.
     
    Takao, Aug 17, 2015
    #89
  10. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    It was.
     
    OpanaPointer, Aug 17, 2015
    #90
  11. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    An interesting and reasoned essay on the topic.

    Should the United States apologize for the nuclear bombing of Japan at the very end of World War II? The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 70 years ago this month, killed as many as 250,000 people, most of them civilians. For many of the victims, it was a horrible, excruciating death, and for many others, the effects of burns and radiation, although not immediately lethal, produced years of agony. Should we say we’re sorry?

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/no-apologies-necessary/2015/08/17/a0899906-450a-11e5-8e7d-9c033e6745d8_story.html
     
    LRusso216, Aug 18, 2015
    #91
  12. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    We would have had a third atomic bomb ready for use by August 19th. I dare say it would have been used to greatest effect. People talk about a demonstration bomb? Perhaps on top of Meiji Jingu?
     
    OpanaPointer, Aug 18, 2015
    #92
  13. steverodgers801

    steverodgers801 Member

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    Let Japan formally apologize for their atrocities first and then they can complain. Besides the millions of civilians killed, they also conducted medical experiments in China of various types killing apx 12,000 people.
     
    steverodgers801, Aug 18, 2015
    #93
  14. WW2HistoryGal

    WW2HistoryGal Member

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    I liked that Washington Post article. Well done.
     
    WW2HistoryGal, Aug 18, 2015
    #94
  15. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    The Japanese estimated 20,000 military died at Hiroshima. Fair play.
     
    OpanaPointer, Aug 18, 2015
    #95
  16. Takao

    Takao Ace

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    Don't get me started with the I'm sorries...

    I'm sorry the Japanese leadership decided to fight a war they had no hope of winning.
    I'm sorry the Japanese decided to bomb Pearl Harbor, at the same time they were attempting to make peace.
    I'm sorry the Japanese did not surrender even when they knew the war was lost.
    I'm sorry the Japanese decided to fight on when they knew the war was lost.
    I'm sorry my uncle had to go through the hell of Guadalcanal.
    Etc.

    Yeah, there is a lot I am sorry for here, but Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not on the list.
     
    Takao, Aug 18, 2015
    #96
  17. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    I agree with you. Cohen sees no reason to apologize to the Japanese. The best information that was available pointed toward its use. I feel the same way, with 70 years of hindsight.
     
    LRusso216, Aug 18, 2015
    #97
  18. USS Washington

    USS Washington Active Member

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    The A-bomb saved more lives than it took in the long run, both Allied and Japanese, and brought an end to the war, we don't owe Japan shit, end of story!
     
    USS Washington, Aug 18, 2015
    #98
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  19. harolds

    harolds Member

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    I'm not sure if I've read everyone's post, but I haven't seen anything on the effect of the USSR's decision to attack the Japanese had on their decision to capitulate. They went through the IJA like a hot knife through butter and provoked wholesale surrenders. Plus, I'm also not sure if the government in Tokyo actually truly understood exactly what had taken place in those two cities. The destruction caused by just one A-bomb was totally out of most human's conception at the time.Japanese communications were bad and the country was screwed up from the conventional fire-bombing. If I were Truman, and I knew what I knew today, I would still drop the bomb-at least on Hiroshima. However, I'm not sure that the bombs were the only things that made the Japanese surrender. IMO, the Soviet attack probably did as much to bring the Nippon to the table as the bombs.
     
    harolds, Aug 19, 2015
    #99
  20. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    The government sent people to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The reports over highly similar damage to both cities confirmed the nature of the attack to Shushō and the rest of the War Cabinet.

    As for the Soviets, we wanted them to at least keep the troops in Manchuria busy so they couldn't be withdraw to the home islands. On July 26th MacArthur told Marshall that everything should be done to encourage the Sovs to invade Hokkaido to draw troops away from Kyushu. As Lt. Gen. Swing said, "Everybody wants the Roosh."

    The Soviet declaration of war was not a surprise to the Japanese, they fully expected to have to fight in Manchuria as well as on the home islands. The bomb was mentioned specifically by the Emperor with good reason, it was the tie-breaker between the war and peace parties.
     
    OpanaPointer, Aug 19, 2015
    #100
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