Do you think that it was wrong for the U.S. to drop the A-bomb?

[WorldIsMine]

America is a fascistic state, if not fully fascistic, by the definition used by many political theorists use and have used it. It has a strong, centralized executive government with a great deal of control over businesses, legal organizations and municipal government through direct regulations and controls as well as subsidies. It has a huge military-industrial base.
Anything which is not anarcho-capitalism is statist. Fascism and socialism are simply two forms of statism, mainly different in rhetoric and what sector of the population it appeals to. Under the fascist state the economy is totally controlled with owners as mere pensioners of the government. Under socialism, managers are pensioners of the government.
The fascistic nature of the American government has been observed as far back as 1925, and while the US Government may not be a fully fascistic state yet - there is some freedom of economic life and minor impositions against executive power - but it is a simple fact that the US President has been able to, for most of this century, to unilaterally declare war with or without congressional approval. This is a huge expansion of executive power which is clearly in the direction of an absolutist, centralized oligarchy or autarchy.

http://mises.org/story/2450

 

[ulu]

it ended the war

 

[sdmsanjose]

The lowest extimates by the experts were 100,000 American killed in the invasion of the mainline Japan. The bomb saved LOTS of American lives. War is not the time to try and act all moral. War is win or die; end the war then you can preach morality

 

[GutenbergPrintPress1454]

It's wrong in the action, it's also wrong in choosing Nagasaki.
Nagasaki was a city with high % of Christians.

This shows that USA is a traitor of the Christian world.
Apart from that, USA also betrayed Taiwan...

 

[mafwons]

The lowest extimates by the experts were 100,000 American killed in the invasion of the mainline Japan. The bomb saved LOTS of American lives. War is not the time to try and act all moral. War is win or die; end the war then you can preach morality

Droping the bomb did more than commit genocide against the Japanese it let the world know we had the bomb. It was tactically stupid as well as immoral.

 

[mafwons]

it ended the war

Seems a fleeting reason.

 

[Archivist]

Seems a fleeting reason.

Hardly a "fleeting reason" if you were among the Japanese or American troops who would have died fighting on the landing beaches. Hardly a "fleeting reason" if you were one of the Japanese civilians who would have starved to death as a result of the American blockade. Hardly a "fleeting reason if you were a Korean or Chinese civilian in occupied territory about to be murdered by the Japanese military.

The atomic bomb saved lives. Why can't you accept that?

 

[mafwons]

Hardly a "fleeting reason" if you were among the Japanese or American troops who would have died fighting on the landing beaches. Hardly a "fleeting reason" if you were one of the Japanese civilians who would have starved to death as a result of the American blockade. Hardly a "fleeting reason if you were a Korean or Chinese civilian in occupied territory about to be murdered by the Japanese military.

The atomic bomb saved lives. Why can't you accept that?

Because it is untrue. Killing saved lives how very 1984. Shall we destroy to build. Let us take to give, and enslave to free.

 

[Archivist]

Because it is untrue. Killing saved lives how very 1984. Shall we destroy to build. Let us take to give, and enslave to free.

But it is true. An invasion of Japan would have cost many more lives than those lost to the atomic bombs. A blockade might have resulted in fewer US deaths, but many more Japanese deaths, not to mention the deaths of Chinese and Korean civilians.

 

[mafwons]

But it is true. An invasion of Japan would have cost many more lives than those lost to the atomic bombs. A blockade might have resulted in fewer US deaths, but many more Japanese deaths, not to mention the deaths of Chinese and Korean civilians.

Japan had no more fight left theynwould have surrendered. They were ready to surrender in May 1945 under that the emperor stay, and not be tried for war crimes, we only wanted unconditional surrender, do you know how that turned out?

 

[keith99]

Droping the bomb did more than commit genocide against the Japanese it let the world know we had the bomb. It was tactically stupid as well as immoral.

I was not aware we wiped out the Japanese people. Or even made a significant dent in their population.

 

[Archivist]

Japan had no more fight left theynwould have surrendered.

Actually they had 18 divisions ready for the defense of defense of Kyūshū, plus suicide boats and planes. They had already shown a determination that they would fight to the death, and the Americans had every reason to believe that determination would be greater in a defense of the home islands.

BTW, you do know that after the Japanese surrender was announced elements in the military attempted to overthrow the government and keep the war going.

They were ready to surrender in May 1945 under that the emperor stay, and not be tried for war crimes,

The victors set the surrender terms, not the losers.

we only wanted unconditional surrender, do you know how that turned out?

Yes. We won. Unconditionally.

 

[KWCrazy]

It is a soldier's job - an duty - to fight with the risk of being killed. It is not the duty of a civilian. And I think it's very telling that you cite the Americans deaths first and foremost

There were the enemy.
Is it strange to care more about your neighbors that a nation that attacked them on a Sunday morning without a declaration of war and who committed numerous atrocities?

The ignorance of this generation is amazing! They try to second guess things they don't understand. They try to take the "high road" against the bomb with no context about how many JAPANESE casualties it prevented.

 

[KWCrazy]

The atomic bomb saved lives. Why can't you accept that?

Cite the failings of our education system and outright lies that get re-told so many times they are believed. I think right now that about 60% of our educators should be cleaning the houses of real teachers. This is serious ignorance being passed off as "enlightenment."

 

[Panzerkamfwagen]

Droping the bomb did more than commit genocide against the Japanese it let the world know we had the bomb. It was tactically stupid as well as immoral.

Japan started a war that one of their most brilliant strategists knew that they could not win...

In the first six to twelve months of a war with the United States and Great Britain I will run wild and win victory upon victory. But then, if the war continues after that, I have no expectation of success.

Really.

The Japanese employed large scale biological weapons against civilian targets. They also engaged in large scale atrocities against civilians. Japanese military culture was so fanatical that soldiers refused to surrender until decades after the war ended.

IIRC, the US struck 600,000 purple hearts for Operation: Downfall, and up until recently, had been using those medals to award wounded soldiers. The US government prepared for casualties that exceeded the number in every war that the US military has been involved in since World War 2. Even in a worst case scenario for the US, of a 1 to 1 casualty rate, you're still talking about at least 1.2 million deaths. The highest estimate for deaths from the atomic bombings is 246,000. My estimate here does not include the casualties that would have resulted from continued Japanese military operations in China, either. If hostilities continued to drag out, how many more people would have died in China?

Of course, the ultimate moral responsibility for the deaths caused by the US use of atomic bombs must rest with the Japanese. It was Japanese who started the war with the United States, a war that they could not win and who created a military culture that refused to surrender. The casualty reports from the Pacific bear this out. The Japanese would rather die than surrender, and the US needed a way to wake them up, and to make them realize that they could not win.

 

[Alive_Again]

Your heart goes out to all people who lost loved ones, or to just those who suffered, as a result of the enemy working through people.

It was Japan's idea to wage war against the US. They didn't even do it in the usual way (if there really is one). They acted diplomatically as though we were ok. That gave them a greater element of surprise. We (US) usually declare war on a country.

The numbers are all different, so it seems more unrighteous to affect the number of people in a nuclear blast, compared to slugging it out, usually in lands that are not the country of origin. The US, in the fight against unparalleled tyranny against the Axis powers, gave up their sons and employed their parents and daughters in the war effort for 4 years.

The Japanese, if memory serves, were warned in each city before the bombing. Just think if they had done the same in Pearl Harbor. After the first blast, the Emperor still didn't capitulate. The non-combatant people suffered because of the leadership (as is often the case). The people were generally supportive of making war against the US, and the countries along the way in the Pacific. They even started against the Chinese (we helped there too). The Japanese were guilty of horrible war crimes in China.

The way Japan conducted themselves throughout the war, the manner in which they enslaved populations, murdered and tortured prisoners, etc., went way beyond US/European behavior (at least what we condone). If you look at the oriental people and their cultures as a whole, that is historically the case. Sorry orientals people. That has largely changed, for the better.

I seriously got into WWII history in the 80's and found out a lot of stuff we generally didn't know prior to that (because the cover on it expired). The Japs were working on a bomb as well. In fact, they were far along. Between the Germans and the Japanese, they might have developed (and used) the bomb first, if it had been available.

IMO, the bomb was justly used, timed before the enemy's doing the same. It saved countless lives and saved a lot of money (not as important as people, but you can't presume to take over an entire country's economy to defend yourself indefinitely.). The Emperor could have saved many lives, but for national pride, led to the ruin of his nation and their people.

What a wonderful work was done to do away with the Emperor and for the US to help in the rebuilding process (just like Europe) and to set up a democracy where we are now friends. I can't think of two more friendlier nations working together. Too bad Vietnam didn't work out the same way.