Was it Wrong to Drop the Atom Bomb on Japan?

[Steven Yeadon]

Strategic warfare is not inherently wrong. The atomic bombs served a purpose that ended the wars faster with no need for an invasion of Japan. If I had been there, I likely would have recommended the destruction of Japanese cities through firebombing and atomic bombing as well in order to win the war.

 

[Squire Robertsson]

Here are two videos by an Austrian YouTuber:
Why not blockade Japan into Surrender? (feat. D.M. Giangreco)
and
Why the Japanese Military wanted to fight on after(!) the 2nd Nuke (feat. D.M. Giangreco)

 

[just-want-peace]

Here are two videos by an Austrian YouTuber:
Why not blockade Japan into Surrender? (feat. D.M. Giangreco)
and
Why the Japanese Military wanted to fight on after(!) the 2nd Nuke (feat. D.M. Giangreco)

Very interesting!! A great movie re: the 2nd video is (IIRC) "The Last Bomb". It notes that the emperor had decided to surrender and the army brass tried to stop the announcement; to no avail, thank goodness!!

 

[Squire Robertsson]

FYI, the Austrian host is named Bernard. He specializes in WW2.

 

[Maverick]

No, I would have dropped it on Tokyo or close enough where the Emperor could have seen it. If we had a third, I would have dropped it on Berlin had they not surrendered. War is Hell and the more Hell you make it for your enemy the sooner they will decide to quit or be annihilated. Peace comes either way.

 

[Squire Robertsson]

The emperor didn't need convincing after the second bomb. He was willing to surrender. It was factions of the military that were unwilling. In fact, there was an unsuccessful coup whose goal was to prevent the broadcast of the emperor's surrender message.

No, I would have dropped it on Tokyo or close enough where the Emperor could have seen it.

 

[Squire Robertsson]

Some of the facts I took away from the interviews were:

• No Japanese unit ever surrendered during the war until the emperor told them to stop fighting. The Japanese forces fought to the last man and the last bullet.
• Japenese topography is different from that of North Africa and Europe. It doesn't have the wide open spaces armored warfare requires. IOW, no Normandy breakout.
• Regarding the efficacy of a naval blockade, the Japanese were already existing on 60 percent of a normal diet. And the Navy could not give an end date when the blockade would force a surrender.

 

[Baptist Believer]

• Regarding the efficacy of a naval blockade, the Japanese were already existing on 60 percent of a normal diet. And the Navy could not give an end date when the blockade would force a surrender.

Much of the opposition to the atomic bomb drops is based based on the idea that an enormous number of people died. A naval blockade would have killed MANY more people in a slow and systematic way. Continuing the fire bombing would kill more Japanese civilians than the bombs — there were larger casualty numbers for the firebombing of Tokyo during the time the atomic bombs were dropped than for either one of the bomb attacks.

Moreover, the Normandy invasion was extremely difficult and could have easily failed, and that was only across a relatively narrow channel. Landings across hundreds and thousands of miles of water, not to mention the supply lines that would need to be maintained were going to be of a difficulty that is hard to overstate.

And beyond all of that, Japan’s was still extended throughout much of the Pacific Theater, doing harm to innocents and prisoners alike. Doing nothing and waiting out the Japanese would be sentencing enormous numbers of people in China, Korea, and the Pacific islands to death.

The atomic bombs provided an opportunity to stop the killing, save Japan, save countless lives (including Japanese lives) and resolve the war.

 

[RighteousnessTemperance&]

Inferring that I am revisionist or pacifist aside (and no, not necessarily either,except in the true sense that all Christians should be peacemakers) you do make some good points. There were better targets. That was one of my points. More importantly, it was no longer necessary to bomb them at all. My quotes to that effect do not make me a revisionist. I taught history for ten years in two Christian schools. I started out with the "America-can-do-wrong" A Beka texts. But each year, as I studied on my own (just as i did in my theology) I began to see other sides of the traditional narrative I had earlier assumed. Eventually I lost my job because of this. (A blessing in disguise).

The issue here is not just the position of the POTUS but all Americans. To say (as many here have said) that the bombing was necessary to save AMERICAN lives is to overlook the foundation of Christ's "Love thy neighbor". We end up saying, like the Pharisees did, "Who is my neighbor"?

It is the wrong question, begging for the wrong answer.

Your representation is far from fair, ignoring factors others have pointed out. Since you chose to criticize, you should have started by condemning Japan for starting the war as they did. But even worse, they invaded other nations and brutalized civilians.

When Japan finally surrendered, they were not treated in kind, but kindly. They kept their culture and laws; they have grown prosperous; they are treated as an ally.

Anti-American propaganda may be popular many places in the world, even among some in the US. It looks correct when comparing to imaginary national ideals, but it fails miserably when comparing to other actual countries.

 

[Yeshua1]

Your representation is far from fair, ignoring factors others have pointed out. Since you chose to criticize, you should have started by condemning Japan for starting the war as they did. But even worse, they invaded other nations and brutalized civilians.

When Japan finally surrendered, they were not treated in kind, but kindly. They kept their culture and laws; they have grown prosperous; they are treated as an ally.

Anti-American propaganda may be popular many places in the world, even among some in the US. It looks correct when comparing to imaginary national ideals, but it fails miserably when comparing to other actual countries.

Just compare how we treated captured Nazi and Japanese soldiers, and how they treated ours that were captured!

 

[asterisktom]

Your representation is far from fair, ignoring factors others have pointed out. Since you chose to criticize, you should have started by condemning Japan for starting the war as they did. But even worse, they invaded other nations and brutalized civilians.

When Japan finally surrendered, they were not treated in kind, but kindly. They kept their culture and laws; they have grown prosperous; they are treated as an ally.

Anti-American propaganda may be popular many places in the world, even among some in the US. It looks correct when comparing to imaginary national ideals, but it fails miserably when comparing to other actual countries.

Japan was in the wrong to start the aggresson. Good grief. That is obvious
But they are not - as we claim to be -a Christian nation . All your other comments likewise are beside the point. The issue is whether we were right to drop the bombs on those two cities. Many of those we killed were totally innocent.,Some were even Christians.

So sad to see Christians brainwashed on this subject. But I have come to expect it.

 

[Squire Robertsson]

In mentioning the Normandy Landings, my focus wasn't on the landings themselves. Yes, they had their difficulties. And Eisenhower at one point on June 6 was ready to order a withdrawal. My focus was on the push inland. Some folks do not have a grasp of Japanese topography. "Rural" Japan is ill-suited the American technological advantage (tanks and other bits of mechanized warfare). What isn't mountainous is divided up by rice paddies that exceed the Normandy bocage in their multiplying of the defense.

Moreover, the Normandy invasion was extremely difficult and could have easily failed, and that was only across a relatively narrow channel. Landings across hundreds and thousands of miles of water, not to mention the supply lines that would need to be maintained were going to be of a difficulty that is hard to overstate.

 

[RighteousnessTemperance&]

Japan was in the wrong to start the aggresson. Good grief. That is obvious
But they are not - as we claim to be -a Christian nation . All your other comments likewise are beside the point. The issue is whether we were right to drop the bombs on those two cities. Many of those we killed were totally innocent.,Some were even Christians.

So sad to see Christians brainwashed on this subject. But I have come to expect it.

That’s right--Japan was wrong to start it, and doubly wrong not to end it, or to heed the warnings. It would have been great if they had surrendered when defeated. What the US had to do to end it is nothing to be proud of, but much was at stake. I do not like war; it is terrible. It is no justification, but most regrettably innocents die in war. The Japanese government did not care. Many of the Japanese innocents committed suicide as a result of their own government propaganda. You cannot prove how many would or would not have died similarly. Your stance is supported by propaganda, and wishful thinking, or do you have some “statistics”?

 

[asterisktom]

That’s right--Japan was wrong to start it, and doubly wrong not to end it, or to heed the warnings. It would have been great if they had surrendered when defeated. What the US had to do to end it is nothing to be proud of, but much was at stake. I do not like war; it is terrible. It is no justification, but most regrettably innocents die in war. The Japanese government did not care. Many of the Japanese innocents committed suicide as a result of their own government propaganda. You cannot prove how many would or would not have died similarly. Your stance is supported by propaganda, and wishful thinking, or do you have some “statistics”?

You are asking for statistics for a moral and spiritual assertion??

Some things cannot be tallied or weighed. They have to be felt.

Or not.

 

[RighteousnessTemperance&]

You are asking for statistics for a moral and spiritual assertion??
Some things cannot be tallied or weighed. They have to be felt.
Or not.

Exactly. Your stance is how you feel about it; it is not based on actual facts. You expect one nation to be better than another. Well, the US was far better, you just don’t feel it was enough better. You feel the outcome would have been better had it been handled another way. God only knows for sure, but with the way the war was being conducted overall, and compared to outcomes where the US did not occupy, I feel you are wrong. So we disagree.

But, no, I was not asking for statistics, just emphasizing the above.

 

[RighteousnessTemperance&]

Japan was in the wrong to start the aggresson. Good grief. That is obvious
But they are not - as we claim to be -a Christian nation . All your other comments likewise are beside the point. The issue is whether we were right to drop the bombs on those two cities. Many of those we killed were totally innocent.,Some were even Christians. So sad to see Christians brainwashed on this subject. But I have come to expect it.

One final point, which perhaps should have been the very first. I could wish the US were a Christian nation in the sense you are speaking of, but it is not. For that practically every citizen would need to be a Christian, or at least agree to abide by the Bible and the Holy Spirit as the main guides, with mature Christians as the leaders.

As Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini called on Christians in the US (and other countries) to overthrow the government(s) like Muslims had just done in Iran. He obviously did not realize how antithetical that idea is to the Bible. Given the historical European model, his misperception is understandable. As it stands now, the US looks more and more like the Great Satan they view it. Do not be surprised if one day the call is for Muslims to overthrow the US (and other) government(s). From the look of things, one could surmise the movement is already taking shape in some places, and they are getting plenty of help.

 

[asterisktom]

One final point, which perhaps should have been the very first. I could wish the US were a Christian nation in the sense you are speaking of, but it is not. For that practically every citizen would need to be a Christian, or at least agree to abide by the Bible and the Holy Spirit as the main guides, with mature Christians as the leaders.

As Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini called on Christians in the US (and other countries) to overthrow the government(s) like Muslims had just done in Iran. He obviously did not realize how antithetical that idea is to the Bible. Given the historical European model, his misperception is understandable. As it stands now, the US looks more and more like the Great Satan they view it. Do not be surprised if one day the call is for Muslims to overthrow the US (and other) government(s). From the look of things, one could surmise the movement is already taking shape in some places, and they are getting plenty of help.

I certainly agree with your last sentences. I believe events will bring things to a head, forcing Christians to some really hard choices .

I do not any longer view our nation as a Christian one. It never really was, though it was closer before. My concern is for Christians as a whole, and our testimony before the world.

 

[robycop3]

OF COURSE it was right to drop the bombs ! We were AT WAR with Japan then !

Anyone believe Japan wouldn'ta used it if they'd had it ?

The first firebombing of Tokyo killed more people than either nuke, only it didn't leave any lingering radiation behind.

HOWEVER...

We were more-than-generous with Japan after the war. It began very shortly after their surrender when Nimitz told his admirals to not call then "Japs" or "Nips" any more. (Japan calls itself "Nippon".) and MacArthur was very firm but very fair as Shogun. He immediately began making every effort to get adequate food to all Japan, & set decommissioned military men to work building homes, cleaning up bombing rubble, distributing food, clothes, & medicine. We supplied materials for the rebuilding of Hiroshima & Nagasaki soon as the decrease in radiation permitted. And the occupying military was almost always courteous & fair, with very few crimes committed against the people.

The US was responsible for the rapid rebuilding of Japan, but it took somewhat longer to rebuild Germany, maybe because it's larger & had more people.

No large nation was ever forced to surrender in war & then treated as fairly as Japan was treated by the US !

 

[Hollow Man]

Imagine for a moment what the world would be like today if the other side had won the war.

There's actually a show about that on Amazon Prime called "The Man In the High Castle". Not a bad show.

 

[HankD]

Was it Wrong to Drop the Atom Bomb on Japan?

NO.