why Hiroshima or Nagasaki?

[Deleted]

Flat area = more destruction from the shock wave

[rhastadude]

USA built a Godzilla thats why japan surrendered

[markos82]

I mention those things because long before WW2 in Europe was even thought of, the US and Japan were already in conflict and that is what led to the whole war in the Pacific lol. Japan was already invading our territories before ww2 ever started. That is why they attacked Pearl Harbor, so we couldn't intercede.

I also said Midway was the turning point for the Pacific war.

The reason I say all this, is because it seems some people think we just went over and horribly murdered the easy going innocent Japanese. We had them blockaded and militarily finished in 1945, yet they still had kamikaze pilots hitting our ships and bases and refused to surrender, even after the blockades and fire bombings.

USA imposed embargo on Japanese trade and that lead to conflict, nothing more. If US didn't Japan would have probably had most of China. Also USA government knew about the attack and they did nothing since that was the only way to enter war in Europe ( congress and citizens have been against it before attack ).

But way mention Japans invasion of China? Many countries did that in history and no one cared...

[Lac]

I've not been able to find any documentation to support it but when I was in Kyoto a few years ago, a guide there told us that Kyoto was the original target rather than Hiroshima but General Marshall had visited the city with his wife year prior and didnt want to bomb it due to the sentimental significance it held for his wife. The guide said they honeymooned there but from what I can gather they actually had a honeymoon in washington so it may have just been a holiday or something, if true at all.

[rhastadude]

Why cant japan stop hunting whales and dolphins!!!!!!!!!!!

[markos82]

"Nearly 500,000 Purple Heart medals were manufactured in anticipation of the casualties resulting from the invasion of Japan. To the present date, all the American military casualties of the 60 years following the end of World War II, including the Korean and Vietnam Wars, have not exceeded that number. In 2003, there were still 120,000 of these Purple Heart medals in stock."

Maybe that will give you an idea...

My country lost 1.5mill soldiers... Whats the point of that? Sources say that America lost 450K soldiers, so i dont understand how can you get to the number of 18mill, please explain....

[rhastadude]

My country lost 1.5mill soldiers... Whats the point of that? Sources say that America lost 450K soldiers, so i dont understand how can you get to the number of 18mill, please explain....

Stop killing whales and dolphins, perhaps then your countrymen can understand the truth.

[Yoyodyne]

I think it should have been 3 targets each one a few days apart. One in the mountains 100 miles out from Hiroshima. The next 20 miles out from a different city.
Then if no surrender drop the 3rd on -- Nagasaki. That way there would still be surprise but we would make clear that the third bomb would hit a city if they did not surrender.

It should have been done this way. Giving them a real clear chance to surrender.

[Yaks]

My country lost 1.5mill soldiers... Whats the point of that? Sources say that America lost 450K soldiers, so i dont understand how can you get to the number of 18mill, please explain....

I didnt say 18 million? so i dont understand how you can get to the fact that i said 18mill, please explain.

[KingHorse]

If all of humanity could let go of their hate and work to better the world, instead of trying to force their way of life on their surroundings, we could get much further in our given lifetimes.

Actually, if man didn't force their way of life on their surroundings, we'd still be living in caves, and lions would still be the #1 cause of death for humans.

We live on this planet still because we've learned how to club it into submission. It can easily go too far (probably has) but it's a necessity.

[Yaks]

@kinghorse, off-topic but... i love your sig although winning arguments is still fun lol!

[Erza]

USA are assholes for dropping the bomb. They had their reasoning and rationalle that allowed them to carry through with it. It was a gray decision where thousands of families were killed. Nobody in the states thought about that, the whole population cheered it as another military victory. Oh well, history is written by the victors.

I really wish idiots wouldn't think the united states is somehow one collective evil mind lol... but I guess every place has their version of 'fox news' if you catch my meaning.

[cherb]

Soldiers fighting soldiers is not the same as civillians getting vaporised in a mushroom cloud with no warning or true purpose.
Both were large cities with some military importance. Neither was irreplacable to the military. There were picked because the casualties would be devastating so they would stand a chance of scaring Japan into surrender.

USA are assholes for dropping the bomb. They had their reasoning and rationalle that allowed them to carry through with it. It was a gray decision where thousands of families were killed. Nobody in the states thought about that, the whole population cheered it as another military victory. Oh well, history is written by the victors.

The Japanese were assholes for attacking Pearl Harbor and killing military personnel without any warning. They also chose to side with the Nazi's, which makes you a grade A asshole.

[ambigiouslynamed]

The Japanese were assholes for attacking Pearl Harbor and killing military personnel without any warning. They also chose to side with the Nazi's, which makes you a grade A asshole.

there was also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_of_nanking or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes in general

[SanshaT]

I'm not sure why the fact that we have to have a military due to distrust of other nations means that we can't be upset when they commit immoral acts?

Typically when I think of a military of any country all that comes to mind is immoral acts. Necessary casualties to one person is murder to another and militarys only exist to kill and destroy.

[antonatsis]

it sadens me to see people that speak only throught glasses of patriotism and just discard actual history facts.
but beside that things are simple.

They wanted to show who is the boss...and since Germany was already beaten to a pulp by everyone it left only Japan to take the hit.No one cared about the civilians
and still no one cares too...if you want to see a new hiroshim or nagasaki just watch aphganistan or iraq every country that went there f@cked them up really hard (not just the USA,UK done too and the EE showed that can do things like that too in libya.)

The only valid argument its the.Its war and nothing is sacred in war.Everything else are either ignorance or blind patriotism

Patriotism isnt bad but the blind kind of it is dangerous for everyone.

[Gsara]

Um, no. Not even close. Again: http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n3p-4_Weber.html
The japanese made MANY MANY attemts to negotiate a peaceful surrender. As many as 8 months before the bombs were dropped they offered a surrender deal NEARLY IDENTICAL to the one eventually signed officially in Septemeber after the Bombs.

The Allies simply refused to accept ANY surrender unless it was 100% unconditional. Which essentially prolonged the war by 8+ months and needlessly resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Yet they still wouldn't fully surrender because of wording. The US wanted UNCONDITIONAL surrender, the Japanese thought those terms were demeaning. Each side wanted the surrender their way. Does this mean the bombs were needed? No not at all, I haven't tried to defend the bombs at all really because an argument can be made either way about this and that and whatever. The real point is, they were given chances to surrender, every commander in the Pacific knew that Japan was done...and they still refused because of little things like wording and politics.
Its just funny how none of the wording or politics mattered anymore after the bombs were dropped. I don't know about anyone else, but after the million or so people died from the firebombings, I don't think it would take long to realize that a few words sounding demeaning or if it makes you look bad ...just doesn't matter anymore. Not like they were very honorable anyways, look what they did to the people of China and the other Asian countries they butchered. (kinda like the Nazi's huh)

Honestly, in all truth, the second bomb was only dropped to solidify American global strength, imo anyways.

Something else I want to point out as well. What is the difference between what the US did during the war, and what the USSR, Japan, Britain, Germany all did as well. They all committed mass civilian deaths, knowingly. Russia not only lost more people in the war than any other country, but also killed way more civilians than Germany ever did including the Jewish genocide Hitler tried to do.

[Sunseeker]

I'm going for simple answers today, and the simple answer is that we wanted to demonstrate our power without irrepressibly crippling the Japanese economy.

[Collegeguy]

The Fire bombings were way more devastating than a nuclear bomb, and they did not lead to a surrender. There were a lot of people who thought that Japan wouldn't surrender with the threat of nukes either. That is why they dropped them.

They only had three bombs, why in the world would they waste them on a scare tactic that might not work when they could wipe out a military target. You have to remember that they were fighting people willing to commit suicide for victory. Anything to avoid sending troops to the mainland was advised as soon as possible.

[jayremy]

Striking the hearts of the enemies and they will surrender. We brought the war to their people (civilians and their homes, which most of the fights were just islands and sea battles neither nation really full assaulting mainlands), not to be mean evil douches but the japs were getting desperate -Kamikazes and w/o finding a way for an easy surrender the War would've been much more bloody and likely more would've died from both sides and ruined economy, just in general more "bad stuff" was coming if we didn't act with a "bang".

As it was evident, the tactic worked the Japanese government saw what happened, and actually citizens turned hatred towards their own gov for starting it. It was a sudden devastating blow, our last resort and I believe we even warned them, but as you can expect they shrugged it off as a bluff, about our nukes.