Were the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki legitimate? Let's drag up an old discussion:
"The bombings were condemned as barbaric and unnecessary by high American military officers, including Eisenhower and MacArthur.96 The view of Admiral William D. Leahy, Truman's own chief of staff, was typical:
the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. . . . My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make wars in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children"
From here: http://www.lewrockwell.com/raico/raico22.html
Interesting article in my view. If nothing else, the article shows us the horror and the glory of human nature. The horror is found in Truman, the glory in Admiral Leahy's views.
Note, there is new thinking on the topic, which contests the usual historical of the end of WWII in the Pacific. See here: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2011/08/07/why_did_japan_surrender/?page=full
This makes the issue one of more importance in my view.
It is also of greater importance in this day and age when the U.S. has threatened nuclear retaliation for cyberattacks on the U.S. Really? Because someone hacked your porn you're gonna nuke someone? Seriously? WTF? (Yes, I know I'm being facetious, but only somewhat...).
I'd be curious to hear what the commentariat (except the usual morons unless they have something intelligent to add) has to say about this.
Also, one final quote from one of the articles:
"Leo Szilard was the world-renowned physicist who drafted the original letter to Roosevelt that Einstein signed, instigating the Manhattan Project. In 1960, shortly before his death, Szilard stated another obvious truth:
If the Germans had dropped atomic bombs on cities instead of us, we would have defined the dropping of atomic bombs on cities as a war crime, and we would have sentenced the Germans who were guilty of this crime to death at Nuremberg and hanged them.109
The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a war crime worse than any that Japanese generals were executed for in Tokyo and Manila. If Harry Truman was not a war criminal, then no one ever was."
Your thoughts?
"The bombings were condemned as barbaric and unnecessary by high American military officers, including Eisenhower and MacArthur.96 The view of Admiral William D. Leahy, Truman's own chief of staff, was typical:
the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. . . . My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make wars in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children"
From here: http://www.lewrockwell.com/raico/raico22.html
Interesting article in my view. If nothing else, the article shows us the horror and the glory of human nature. The horror is found in Truman, the glory in Admiral Leahy's views.
Note, there is new thinking on the topic, which contests the usual historical of the end of WWII in the Pacific. See here: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2011/08/07/why_did_japan_surrender/?page=full
This makes the issue one of more importance in my view.
It is also of greater importance in this day and age when the U.S. has threatened nuclear retaliation for cyberattacks on the U.S. Really? Because someone hacked your porn you're gonna nuke someone? Seriously? WTF? (Yes, I know I'm being facetious, but only somewhat...).
I'd be curious to hear what the commentariat (except the usual morons unless they have something intelligent to add) has to say about this.
Also, one final quote from one of the articles:
"Leo Szilard was the world-renowned physicist who drafted the original letter to Roosevelt that Einstein signed, instigating the Manhattan Project. In 1960, shortly before his death, Szilard stated another obvious truth:
If the Germans had dropped atomic bombs on cities instead of us, we would have defined the dropping of atomic bombs on cities as a war crime, and we would have sentenced the Germans who were guilty of this crime to death at Nuremberg and hanged them.109
The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a war crime worse than any that Japanese generals were executed for in Tokyo and Manila. If Harry Truman was not a war criminal, then no one ever was."
Your thoughts?