As someone who has studied this a good amount, the current idea is that the Japanese war machine was already on the verge of collapse by the time of Hiroshima/Nagasaki. The "the A-bomb actually saved lives" argument is typically found in older texts that came out within the first decades after the end of war.Razada said:Stop talking about the nukes like they were payback. Go read some history, I know it sounds contraversial but the nukes saved lives overall (Go do some research into the predicted casualty figures if the states had invaded japan + the measures the japanese government was taking in preparation for that eventuallity. Once you know at least half as much as I do, troll away) I know it was horrible but on some levels it was jutified. (I dont hate the Japanese. And I am British, just throwin that out there, not some gun-toting american patriot).
I think so......cyrogeist said:Dude...people are assholes and besides...weren't the NUKES payback?
What would you say to atomic bombs being dropped on your home town since they "were not as bad as people seem to think"? Have your parents turned into little more than silhouettes irradiated into walls?Razada said:Wrote a 4,000 word essay on the subject and I still believe that it saved lives. On some level.IvoryTowerGamer said:As someone who has studied this a good amount, the current idea is that the Japanese war machine was already on the verge of collapse by the time of Hiroshima/Nagasaki. The "the A-bomb actually saved lives" argument is typically found in older texts that came out within the first decades after the end of war.Razada said:Stop talking about the nukes like they were payback. Go read some history, I know it sounds contraversial but the nukes saved lives overall (Go do some research into the predicted casualty figures if the states had invaded japan + the measures the japanese government was taking in preparation for that eventuallity. Once you know at least half as much as I do, troll away) I know it was horrible but on some levels it was jutified. (I dont hate the Japanese. And I am British, just throwin that out there, not some gun-toting american patriot).
Plus there is the whole question of the Soviets. Then again, this particular branch of history (What If) history is a bit pointless on many levels. They were dropped, they ended the war, they might have saved lives, they might not have, more people died in the firebombing of Tokyo then in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, concentrating only on the atomic bombs makes people ignore the carpet bombing of other civilian areas.
I still believe that an American land invasion would have ended incredibly badly for both sides, mainly the japanese. And that the bombs shortened the war.
I guess I have just aruged for and against my own point. I guess what I am trying to say is the atomic bombs were not as bad as people seem to think, casualty wise (Whilst still being horrific) and it is a fact that the dropping of said bombs caused the Japanese to surrender.
Yes, you are right about the firebombing vs atomic casualties. That's actually part of the argument that Japan was already on the verge of collapse before the US dropped the bomb.Razada said:Wrote a 4,000 word essay on the subject and I still believe that it saved lives. On some level.
Plus there is the whole question of the Soviets. Then again, this particular branch of history (What If) history is a bit pointless on many levels. They were dropped, they ended the war, they might have saved lives, they might not have, more people died in the firebombing of Tokyo then in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, concentrating only on the atomic bombs makes people ignore the carpet bombing of other civilian areas.
I still believe that an American land invasion would have ended incredibly badly for both sides, mainly the japanese. And that the bombs shortened the war.
I guess I have just aruged for and against my own point. I guess what I am trying to say is the atomic bombs were not as bad as people seem to think, casualty wise (Whilst still being horrific) and it is a fact that the dropping of said bombs caused the Japanese to surrender.
No the nukes were a "IOU"cyrogeist said:Dude...people are assholes and besides...weren't the NUKES payback?
I like you, Drakulea. You seem to have a bit of sense in your head.Drakulea said:What would you say to atomic bombs being dropped on your home town since they "were not as bad as people seem to think"? Have your parents turned into little more than silhouettes irradiated into walls?Razada said:Wrote a 4,000 word essay on the subject and I still believe that it saved lives. On some level.IvoryTowerGamer said:As someone who has studied this a good amount, the current idea is that the Japanese war machine was already on the verge of collapse by the time of Hiroshima/Nagasaki. The "the A-bomb actually saved lives" argument is typically found in older texts that came out within the first decades after the end of war.Razada said:Stop talking about the nukes like they were payback. Go read some history, I know it sounds contraversial but the nukes saved lives overall (Go do some research into the predicted casualty figures if the states had invaded japan + the measures the japanese government was taking in preparation for that eventuallity. Once you know at least half as much as I do, troll away) I know it was horrible but on some levels it was jutified. (I dont hate the Japanese. And I am British, just throwin that out there, not some gun-toting american patriot).
Plus there is the whole question of the Soviets. Then again, this particular branch of history (What If) history is a bit pointless on many levels. They were dropped, they ended the war, they might have saved lives, they might not have, more people died in the firebombing of Tokyo then in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, concentrating only on the atomic bombs makes people ignore the carpet bombing of other civilian areas.
I still believe that an American land invasion would have ended incredibly badly for both sides, mainly the japanese. And that the bombs shortened the war.
I guess I have just aruged for and against my own point. I guess what I am trying to say is the atomic bombs were not as bad as people seem to think, casualty wise (Whilst still being horrific) and it is a fact that the dropping of said bombs caused the Japanese to surrender.
People like you are the reason why history repeats itself.
"So the USA carried out atomic terrorism ( i.e. deliberate murder of civilians and non-combatants to achieve political ends ). Big deal."
Yes, it IS a big deal. The USA is the only nation on Earth that used nukes, for all its Holier Than Thou posturing. And it used those nukes on a nation that was defeated and that, moreover, sought terms of surrender!.
I don't know what the hell you wrote in your 4,000-long war crime apologia, but it's all a bunch of ultra-nationalist crap.
Tell me,were you aware of this?
"The consensus among scholars is that the bomb was not needed to avoid an invasion of Japan and to end the war within a relatively short time. It is clear that alternatives to the bomb existed and that Truman and his advisers knew it."
J. Samuel Walker, "The Decision to Use the Bomb: A Historiographical Update," Diplomatic History, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Winter 1990), pp. 97-114. (Quoted in Gar Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995,)
You might want to check out those books, lest your brains explode from the realization that your fascistoid "USA is sinless" dogma is pure crap.
Remember, this is the USA. The nation which jailed Japanese citizens for the CRIME of being Japanese . ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment ) ( yes, it's a well-sourced article if you bother to look )
And the Americans have the GALL to preach to others about democracy,freedom and tolerance.
It's people like you that encourage, tolerate and then minimize the Einzatsgruppen-like rampages of American Warriors of Freedom (pah), the Mai Lais, the Hadithas and the FOB Ramrod kill teams.
Yeah we can close the thread now. Thats all people need to remember.cyrogeist said:Dude...people are assholes and besides...weren't the NUKES payback?