Were the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Justified?

[Panzerkamfwagen]

Yes they were.

How else were we going to scare the Japanese into surrendering?

 

[AmericanSamurai]

Experts predicted the continued fighting would've produced far more casualties of war had the bombs not been dropped.

Of course though you will always have the camp that feels "All we are saying, is give peace a chance".

 

[Panzerkamfwagen]

Experts predicted the continued fighting would've produced far more casualties of war had the bombs not been dropped.

Of course though you will always have the camp that feels "All we are saying, is give peace a chance".

The US military is still using purple hearts manufactured for operation downfall.

 

[Uphill Battle]

I love how the thread has started with absolutely no facts to back it up.

 

[MachZer0]

I love how no facts have been presented to refute the thread OP

 

[Metal Minister]

I love how no facts have been presented to refute the thread OP

Did you honestly expect any?

 

[Uphill Battle]

I love how no facts have been presented to refute the thread OP

I was actually working on putting together a cogent argument.

But you hilighted a point for me. It would be an utter waste of time.

here. Read it. Or don't.

Was Hiroshima Necessary?

 

[Metal Minister]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1708051/posts
Those bombs probably saved around 4 million lives...

 

[Uphill Battle]

How the Atomic Bomb Saved 4,000,000 Lives
Those bombs probably saved around 4 million lives...

Seeing as Japan had made multiple attempts to surrender prior to the bomings, I find that highly unlikely.

 

[MachZer0]

Seeing as Japan had made multiple attempts to surrender prior to the bomings, I find that highly unlikely.

Japan wanted a conditional surrender which was completley unacceptable

 

[Uphill Battle]

Japan wanted a conditional surrender which was completley unacceptable

why?

 

[Panzerkamfwagen]

Seeing as Japan had made multiple attempts to surrender prior to the bomings, I find that highly unlikely.

How would the Department of Water Purification and Epidemic Prevention have fared in those overtures?

 

[MachZer0]

why?

Those were the terms. Japan was a brutal, vicious nation and letting them surrender yet save face would only allow them to keep their options open for future brutality

 

[Uphill Battle]

How would the Department of Water Purification and Epidemic Prevention have fared in those overtures?

Irrelevant, because you are shifting the goalposts so far that they aren't even in the stadium any more. Unless you are forwarding the point that "well, the Japanese military did some horrible things, so those Japanese civilians had it coming to them."

 

[Uphill Battle]

Those were the terms. Japan was a brutal, vicious nation and letting them surrender yet save face would only allow them to keep their options open for future brutality

Do you even know what the terms WERE?

 

[MachZer0]

Do you even know what the terms WERE?

Doesn't matter. The terms available were unconditional surrender or utter defeat

 

[MachZer0]

Irrelevant, because you are shifting the goalposts so far that they aren't even in the stadium any more. Unless you are forwarding the point that "well, the Japanese military did some horrible things, so those Japanese civilians had it coming to them."

The civilians were collateral damage living near a military target who ignored the warnings of the coming destruction

 

[Uphill Battle]

Those were the terms. Japan was a brutal, vicious nation and letting them surrender yet save face would only allow them to keep their options open for future brutality

And you don't consider firebombing and Nuking civilians to be an act of brutality?

Doesn't matter. The terms available were unconditional surrender or utter defeat

then let me fill you in. The terms of surrender that were eventually accepted, were pretty much identical to the ones that Japan sought.

The civilians were collateral damage living near a military target who ignored the warnings of the coming destruction

I know you believe this, but it's nonsense. It was wholesale slaughter of innocents.

 

[Blackguard_]

then let me fill you in. The terms of surrender that were eventually accepted, were pretty much identical to the ones that Japan sought.

Yeah, weren't the terms pretty much that the Emperor could remain on the throne, which was granted anyway?


I think a better question would be "was Roosevelt's policy of 'unconditional surrender' to the Axis powers justified?"

It didn't just lead to the atomic bombings (or alternately to Operation Olympic and Downfall), but also to the Soviet Union taking over eastern Europe.

In the context of "unconditional surrender", th bombings were justifiable as they saved more lives than they cost.

But were hundreds of thousands in the atomic and fire bombings or millions of lives in an invasion worth refusing surrender terms we'd later grant anyway?

 

[Uphill Battle]

Yeah, weren't the terms pretty much that the Emperor could remain on the throne, which was granted anyway?

more or less. The Imperial Japanese view of the diety of their emperor in all. their fear was his mistreatment, and nothing more.

The Bombings didn't save lives in the slightest. They were pressing forward with unleashing the nukes regardless. They needed an example to the "red" threat that would be coming post war.

And in doing so, sparked a cold war scenario that was truly frightening.