sam04u said:
That's assuming you could say with absolute certainty that they would not have surrendered, or that they would have lost. Regardless though, for many generations their children will continue to suffer the effects of radiation. America set a dangerous precedent.
The effects of radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are far lower than that in places like Chernoybl and many others. The fact there are massive cities there right now, and were being rebuild in the months after the bombing, shows that the radiation impact now is negligable.
That's ridiculous though. Anything can be justified in the minds of some. I mean imagine you're a tribal leader, and you and a rival tribe have fought for centuries. One day you managed to kill all their men and boys, and all that was left was women, and many young children.
You know that when these children grow, they will avenge their forefathers, and as a result more people will die in the future. Would that be a justification to slaughter the children? Ofcourse it wouldn't.
I don't see the point of this. The bombings wasn't about preventing future retaliation, it was about saving lives in the immediate future.
You have no way of accurately knowing. Hirohito had lost any semblance of support, the Japanese may very well have disregarded the orders and surrendered.
Pardon? Are you talking about the same Imperial Japan I am? Hirohito was still considered a God at that point and even after the war finished. It's why they didn't indict him for warcrimes, because the whole of Japan would have erupted. The fact they worried that much about it with half a million occupying troops show you how real the Allies considered the risk. Even today, many Japanese don't recognise Hirohito as doing anything wrong in the war, instead pinning it on Tojo.
As to the Japanese soldiers, that's utter crap. The Japanese were fighting tooth and nail for every piece of territory. God-forsaken pacific islands, at that. As soon as it got to Okinowa, considered to be part of Japan proper, it got even worse. Even when they knew they would die if they didn't surrender, they'd do it anyway. Surrendering was the ultimate failure of a Japanese soldier, and death for the Emperor was far more preferable.
Japan was fully prepared to fight as hard as they could to take as many Americans with them as they could. The reason they surrended eventually was because they found out the Americans needn't invade them to destroy them thoroughly.
That's what Colonial Britain thought, and Rome, and now the United States of America. That's a pretty shit role to play.
One World, buddy.
Oh yes, let's join hands and sing along with the solidarity. Obviously I can see you've a distinct like of anything Imperialistic, but this is the way it's with with every nation. The lives of their citizens is more important than that of their enemies. All efforts these days are made to minimise their casualties, but if it will save their own soldier's lives, most countries will do what it takes. Australia is one of them for sure. It's the role every nation plays.