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A Famous Man We All Know


Razors Edge

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48 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

...or, at least, I hope we do:

image.thumb.png.dd09e9ab05ded5d7582d06e612618011.png

 

Interesting read.  I scanned the article but plan to give it more time later.

Not sure how I feel about this... The suffering by innocent civilians is horrific but the a bombs caused the Japanese to surrender saving thousands of American & Japanese lives.  

My parents had a deep hatred for the Japanese due to the atrocities they faced 1st hand during the occupation of Indonesia.   Their take on the bombing was good, you got what’s coming to you.  

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4 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

the a bombs caused the Japanese to surrender saving thousands of American & Japanese lives.  

a position I've subscribed to in the past.  But current events have me rethinking a lot of things.  The victors write the history.  Wouldn't be the first time we were given a justification that later turned out wrong.

Sure, it could be true.  But I don't know enough about it.  Were the Japanese already on the run?  Would they have surrendered soon anyway with far fewer lives lost?  Did we need the second bomb to prove the point?

Conversely, did the horror of those two early and not very powerful bombs convince the world not to use any of the newer, far more powerful bombs since then?

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6 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Interesting read.  I scanned the article but plan to give it more time later.

Not sure how I feel about this... The suffering by innocent civilians is horrific but the a bombs caused the Japanese to surrender saving thousands of American & Japanese lives.  

My parents had a deep hatred for the Japanese due to the atrocities they faced 1st hand during the occupation of Indonesia.   Their take on the bombing was good, you got what’s coming to you.  

Yep, that's the nature of it.  An eye for an eye? Two wrongs making a right? A simple difference in perspective? A truth we tell ourselves to sleep at night?

It scares me to think that "good, you got what’s coming to you." is still in use today - and often by folks doing bad things against Americans and thinking it is par for the course.  There were a LOT of unknowns for Truman and his generals & advisors to consider, and that decision was surely a tough one.  The weight of 70,000+ civilian deaths (some "slave" laborers, many women and children), followed by another 40,000 a few days later would weigh on anyone's soul.

Have you read Hiroshima?  It's worth a read.  I find Night by Elie Wiesel and Hiroshima by Hersey as essential reading on WWII.

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13 minutes ago, 12string said:

Conversely, did the horror of those two early and not very powerful bombs convince the world not to use any of the newer, far more powerful bombs since then?

That the horror led to the development of far more powerful bombs suggests the answer to your question is no. 

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8 minutes ago, roadsue said:

That the horror led to the development of far more powerful bombs suggests the answer to your question is no. 

I'd say the ability to equally hit back is the difference.  An "absolute" non-retaliatory strike option would likely still give leaders at least a willingness to consider these newer bombs, but the reality that the other guy (or his proxy or protector) can hit back with equal or greater force keeps things from going too far.  Sort of why North Korea with it's insane leadership will continue to cause headaches on how to contain them.

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12 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Have you read Hiroshima?  It's worth a read.  I find Night by Elie Wiesel and Hiroshima by Hersey as essential reading on WWII.

My most recent read on the subject was David Sedaris's "When Engulfed in Flames".  He has an essay on his move to Hiroshima and there was an extensive, sobering section on the long term health effects on the survivors.

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1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

Yep, that's the nature of it.  An eye for an eye? Two wrongs making a right? A simple difference in perspective? A truth we tell ourselves to sleep at night?

It scares me to think that "good, you got what’s coming to you." is still in use today - and often by folks doing bad things against Americans and thinking it is par for the course.  There were a LOT of unknowns for Truman and his generals & advisors to consider, and that decision was surely a tough one.  The weight of 70,000+ civilian deaths (some "slave" laborers, many women and children), followed by another 40,000 a few days later would weigh on anyone's soul.

Have you read Hiroshima?  It's worth a read.  I find Night by Elie Wiesel and Hiroshima by Hersey as essential reading on WWII.

No I haven’t read it.  Not saying it’s OK but I understand my parents feelings. Both lost their fathers to the Japanese, my dad lost many friends, my mom had to hide her baby sister after witnessing Japanese soldiers bayoneting a friends baby....  Their perspectives were totally different from ours.

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