Greatest American Presidents...

[shawnbm]

Good points made by EquineAnne. This was not the first time civilians were killed in war--it had been a part of total war for centuries, albeit this was a different kind of thing like Guernica was different and the Armenian genocide was different. All of those occurred during and because of war. It turns out that the radiation did have far-reaching effects on people of those areas, but USA did actively assist in the rebuilding of Japan under General MacArthur. It is always difficult in the moment and the effects into the future are not known. Still, nobody has dropped an atomic or nuclear weapon on anyone since then and that is a good thing.

 

[Horsa]

Good points made by EquineAnne. This was not the first time civilians were killed in war--it had been a part of total war for centuries, albeit this was a different kind of thing like Guernica was different and the Armenian genocide was different. All of those occurred during and because of war. It turns out that the radiation did have far-reaching effects on people of those areas, but USA did actively assist in the rebuilding of Japan under General MacArthur. It is always difficult in the moment and the effects into the future are not known. Still, nobody has dropped an atomic or nuclear weapon on anyone since then and that is a good thing.

Thank you very much. The fact that atom bombs were a new invention is a point I missed out. W.W.2 really advanced military warfare because not only was the atom bomb invented then but Barnes-Wallace invented the bouncing bomb too. Without Barnes-Wallace the Dambuster's raid wouldn't have occurred either. It was good that America helped to rebuild Japan. Like you said it's very hard making life-changing split second decisions & with new inventions people don't always know the effects of them. I also think it's brilliant that this was the 1st & last time atomic weapons have been dropped.

 

[Federberg]

I don't really disagree much with the above points about Truman bombing Japan, but lets be clear about one thing. Truman didn't use the nuke because he was concerned about ending the war quickly. The Japanese were close to total collapse anyway. It was done with Stalin in mind. For that reason one might reasonably argue it was an even more evil act than it appeared to be (if one is disposed to consider mass annihilation as an act of evil). But it's certainly a good argument to look at the counter-factual and what would have happened if the bomb wasn't used then. Think of it, the first time it might have been used instead could have been against another nuclear power. No one wants that...

 

[Horsa]

I don't really disagree much with the above points about Truman bombing Japan, but lets be clear about one thing. Truman didn't use the nuke because he was concerned about ending the war quickly. The Japanese were close to total collapse anyway. It was done with Stalin in mind. For that reason one might reasonably argue it was an even more evil act than it appeared to be (if one is disposed to consider mass annihilation as an act of evil). But it's certainly a good argument to look at the counter-factual and what would have happened if the bomb wasn't used then. Think of it, the first time it might have been used instead could have been against another nuclear power. No one wants that...

O.K. Points taken. I didn't look at the Russian side or realise that Japan was close to losing anyway so thought that he just wanted the war to be over as soon as possible. Sorry. I agree with you then that it was a wicked thing to do but like you said if it hadn't been used then & the secret about how to make nuclear bombs got out or discovered by other people at the same time & nuclear power was used against nuclear power the amount of damage caused could have been on an unimaginably large-scale.

 

[Federberg]

O.K. Points taken. I didn't look at the Russian side or realise that Japan was close to losing anyway so thought that he just wanted the war to be over as soon as possible. Sorry. I agree with you then that it was a wicked thing to do but like you said if it hadn't been used then & the secret about how to make nuclear bombs got out or discovered by other people at the same time & nuclear power was used against nuclear power the amount of damage caused could have been on an unimaginably large-scale.

the secret was definitely coming out. US Intelligence knew that the Russians had captured a lot of German scientists so it was inevitable that they would be developing their own bomb in short order

 

[Horsa]

the secret was definitely coming out. US Intelligence knew that the Russians had captured a lot of German scientists so it was inevitable that they would be developing their own bomb in short order

In that case if the U.S. hadn't bombed Hiroshima then & other countries knew how to make atom bombs & used them against each other later the world could have seen total carnage as a result. Thank you very much for the extra information. :0) I wasn't aware of the extra points you came up with.

 

[shawnbm]

Yes, there was certainly the ancillary effect of letting Stalin know what the USA possessed and how powerful it was, but it likely would not have been used but for the ferocity and resiliency of the Japanese. Even if the war was taking its toll, there remained a lot of fighting and death ahead to get the result the two bombings accomplished in short order. There often is a spillover effect on other powers, like our "ally" under Uncle Joe.

 

[Horsa]

Yes, there was certainly the ancillary effect of letting Stalin know what the USA possessed and how powerful it was, but it likely would not have been used but for the ferocity and resiliency of the Japanese. Even if the war was taking its toll, there remained a lot of fighting and death ahead to get the result the two bombings accomplished in short order. There often is a spillover effect on other powers, like our "ally" under Uncle Joe.

I have to agree that the Japanese were very brutal because of how they treated the nurses let alone soldiers & they were definitely tough & didn't give up without a tough fight. I think some of this was due to the fact that some of them still had the samurai spirit that they would fight their hardest & they would rather kill themselves rather than fall to the sword of their enemy or be taken prisoner. I agree.