Subject:
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Re: Hiroshima-Was It Necessary?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 17 Oct 2001 16:51:44 GMT
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Viewed:
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517 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Frank Filz writes:
> Everything I have ever read about WWII Japanese suggests that there was
> pretty strong belief that they would likely have fought bitterly to the
> end had something overwhelming happened to make the entire populace
> recognize that further fighting was futile.
Well-- two things. First off, you may be quite right-- I don't really know
what our mentality was at the time. Perhaps that was the best information we
had available, which would mean that an A-bomb hit MAY have been the only
way to show that to the populace. However, after the 1st one didn't work, I
certainly don't think a 2nd attempt was doing much to change things. But
either way, I still don't think *both* bombs were necessary. I'm more of the
mind to say that we should have waited longer to see what would happen.
After all, Stalin had just joined in the picture, and with the world focused
on it, I would have held out before attacking major civilian areas.
2ndly, (which is less important to this particular argument, but I want to
address nevertheless) doesn't your above statement make the bombings acts of
terrorism? I mean, maybe you'd argue that it was *justified* terrorism, but
isn't it terrorism nonetheless?
> I think I would agree that using extremely unnecessary force in war is
> terrorism, or at least something very similar. The debate then centers
> on whether the force used was extremely unnecessary.
Ooops. Ok, it looks like you answered that 2nd part...
> I think a decisive end to the war was necessary so that we
> would have the willpower to do the rebuilding, and so that the Japanese
> civilians would accept that their emperor was wrong so they would accept
> our rebuilding efforts.
Well-- didn't the emperor more or less admit he was wrong by surrendering
unconditionally? Or does that only prove that he was right to surrender? I
dunno.
> A demonstration of the bomb would not have accomplished a decisive
> victory. The Japanese civilians would have seen nothing about it. Sure
> the government might have accepted the destructive capability, but would
> they have unconditionally surrendered?
Well, considering that it wasn't the people who surrendered, but the
emperor, under pressure from his advisors, isn't that all that counted, in
retrospect? I understand that the above may have been logic at the time, and
is therefore relevant to a moral judgement, but I would argue that in
actuality, the people's reaction was not necessary to a decision to surrender.
DaveE
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Hiroshima-Was It Necessary?
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| (...) Just some minor picking while I try to think about that hole. (...) Dan's referenced site makes the case that it wasn't a "drop one, then decide to drop the other" plan. Both were dropped as part of the same plan, so you should take issue with (...) (23 years ago, 17-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Hiroshima-Was It Necessary?
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| (...) It tends to be obscure, but there was never a decision to drop Bomb 1, a pause, and then a decision to drop Bomb 2. The decision was made to drop two bombs. Were both bombs necessary? Maybe not - they may have eventually surrendered anyway (...) (23 years ago, 17-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Hiroshima-Was It Necessary?
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| (...) Everything I have ever read about WWII Japanese suggests that there was pretty strong belief that they would likely have fought bitterly to the end had something overwhelming happened to make the entire populace recognize that further fighting (...) (23 years ago, 17-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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