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Do you think it was the right decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan to end WW2?

Do you think it was the right decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to end WW2?

  • Yes

    Votes: 86 74.8%

  • No

    Votes: 29 25.2%
  • Total voters
    115
Duke said:
Concerening the war, they are innocent, they are civilians. Don't get me wrong, I am not against the nuclear bombing of Japan, I was correcting you, because you were either lying about that or just stupid. I at least know what I am talking about.


Duke
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With respect to the Japanese, the government had mobilized for total war and every man, woman, and child was, according to the ancient tenets of Shinto, expected to defend the sacred homeland by resisting the enemy to the death.

That this practice would be followed, without exception, was made abundantly clear when the distant home islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa were invaded by Allied forces. Out of the more than one hundred thousand Japanese military and civilians on these islands, only a relative handful survived. Those who were not battle casualties were suicides. Surrender was not an option.

The Japanese understanding of the words "innocent civilian" in 1945 did not match your understanding of those words today.
 
Fantasea said:
With respect to the Japanese, the government had mobilized for total war and every man, woman, and child was, according to the ancient tenets of Shinto, expected to defend the sacred homeland by resisting the enemy to the death.

That this practice would be followed, without exception, was made abundantly clear when the distant home islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa were invaded by Allied forces. Out of the more than one hundred thousand Japanese military and civilians on these islands, only a relative handful survived. Those who were not battle casualties were suicides. Surrender was not an option.

The Japanese understanding of the words "innocent civilian" in 1945 did not match your understanding of those words today.
Click to expand...


The ancient tenets of Shinto don't really count. If every man, woman, and child was expected to defend the sacred homeland by resisting the enemy to death, why did Japan surrender? The military sure fought to the death, like in Iwo Jima and Okinawa, but the normal, non-military citizens didn't, for the most part, fight at all. Concerning the war, they were merely civilians.


Duke
 
Duke said:
Originally Posted by Fantasea
With respect to the Japanese, the government had mobilized for total war and every man, woman, and child was, according to the ancient tenets of Shinto, expected to defend the sacred homeland by resisting the enemy to the death.

That this practice would be followed, without exception, was made abundantly clear when the distant home islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa were invaded by Allied forces. Out of the more than one hundred thousand Japanese military and civilians on these islands, only a relative handful survived. Those who were not battle casualties were suicides. Surrender was not an option.

The Japanese understanding of the words "innocent civilian" in 1945 did not match your understanding of those words today.
Click to expand...
The ancient tenets of Shinto don't really count. If every man, woman, and child was expected to defend the sacred homeland by resisting the enemy to death, why did Japan surrender?
Click to expand...
In August of 1945, Japan had virtually nothing left outside the home islands and was girding for the invasion that was sure to come. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first two single bomb strikes that obliterated a major city. No one in Japan knew how many more strikes there might be, but it seemed clear that there was no longer a need for the Allies to invade. They could simply sit back and pick off the significant cities, one by one, until capitulation. There was no defense against a B29 flying in the stratosphere.

Emperor Hirohito, considered a god by the Japanese, saw no point in having the entire country destroyed and its population decimated -- better to halt the carnage at once. Exercising his "divine" power, he declared the fighting ended and ordered surrender.
The military sure fought to the death, like in Iwo Jima and Okinawa, but the normal, non-military citizens didn't, for the most part, fight at all. Concerning the war, they were merely civilians.
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You are mistaken. Civilians who were unable to fight were ordered to kill themselves rather than be captured.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/20/news/oki.php
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Fantasea said:
Duke said:
In August of 1945, Japan had virtually nothing left outside the home islands and was girding for the invasion that was sure to come. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first two single bomb strikes that obliterated a major city. No one in Japan knew how many more strikes there might be, but it seemed clear that there was no longer a need for the Allies to invade. They could simply sit back and pick off the significant cities, one by one, until capitulation. There was no defense against a B29 flying in the stratosphere.

Emperor Hirohito, considered a god by the Japanese, saw no point in having the entire country destroyed and its population decimated -- better to halt the carnage at once. Exercising his "divine" power, he declared the fighting ended and ordered surrender.You are mistaken. Civilians who were unable to fight were ordered to kill themselves rather than be captured.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/20/news/oki.php
Click to expand...


I know why the Japanese surrendered, but you were saying that they would fight to the death regardless.

"You are mistaken. Civilians who were unable to fight were ordered to kill themselves rather than be captured."

Yeah, but, for the most part, do you think that they actually would? Come on.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the bombings were justified, I was just correcting him, so chill.


Duke
Click to expand...
 
Fantasea said:
Duke said:
In August of 1945, Japan had virtually nothing left outside the home islands and was girding for the invasion that was sure to come. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first two single bomb strikes that obliterated a major city. No one in Japan knew how many more strikes there might be, but it seemed clear that there was no longer a need for the Allies to invade. They could simply sit back and pick off the significant cities, one by one, until capitulation. There was no defense against a B29 flying in the stratosphere.

Emperor Hirohito, considered a god by the Japanese, saw no point in having the entire country destroyed and its population decimated -- better to halt the carnage at once. Exercising his "divine" power, he declared the fighting ended and ordered surrender.You are mistaken. Civilians who were unable to fight were ordered to kill themselves rather than be captured.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/20/news/oki.php
Click to expand...


I know why the Japanese surrendered, but you were saying that they would fight to the death regardless.

"You are mistaken. Civilians who were unable to fight were ordered to kill themselves rather than be captured."

Yeah, but, for the most part, do you think that they actually would? Come on.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the bombings were justified, I was just correcting him, so chill.


Duke
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The Japanese were not ordered to kill themselves rather than be captured. They were ordered to defend their homeland. Failure to do that to one's best ability would of course require falling on one's sword, but that is a different issue.

In my opinion, the reason Japan surrendered when they did is that Russia declared war on them the day after we dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. The second bomb on Nagasaki was sufficient 'excuse' to surrender to the Americans which they saw as far preferable to being captured by the Russians.

The Japanese of that time were imperialistic, ruthless, and unconscionable where others were concerned. But they weren't stupid.
 
Duke said:
Fantasea said:
I know why the Japanese surrendered, but you were saying that they would fight to the death regardless.

"You are mistaken. Civilians who were unable to fight were ordered to kill themselves rather than be captured."

Yeah, but, for the most part, do you think that they actually would? Come on.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the bombings were justified, I was just correcting him, so chill.


Duke
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Why Truman Bombed Hiroshima

By Bruce Lee
excerpts from the Wall Street Journal​

"Japanese home islands were to be defended from invasion and occupation by 2.3 million troops, another four million Army and Navy employees and a newly created armed militia numbering 25 million. These defenders were sworn to fight to the death, which so many Japanese troops had done in battles throughout the Pacific."

Full story:

http://www.centurychina.com/wiihist/hiroshima/ytruman.htm
Click to expand...
 
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