Replies to post #193783 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[midas98]

I see, so in your mind the last one standing with a piece of paper wins? Cool, I will remember that next time I am talking to someone in the military who has lost a loved one. I will say something to the effect of although your loved one fought valiantly, it was all worth it because we have this piece of paper.

Good grief.

[sortagreen]

"By dropping the Bomb on Japan yes I am proud ole Give em Harry had the guts. He saved untold number of lives. Japan would have fault till the bitter end and still lost. "

Must disagree. Japan was suing for peace before the first bomb.

As a result of the naked futility of their position, the Japanese had approached the Russians, seeking their help in brokering a peace to end the War. The U.S. had long before broken the Japanese codes and knew that these negotiations were under way, knew that the Japanese had for months been trying to find a way to surrender.

Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, reflected this reality when he wrote, "The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace.the atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan." Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to President Truman, said the same thing: "The use of [the atomic bombs] at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0806-25.htm

The weapons were far more likely employed to intimidate Stalin as argued by Alperovitz and others.

If large civilian populations are legitimate targets of war will you feel that way if any of the various indigenous groups we're currently abusing manage to get a nuke into New York? Was the World Trade Center really off limits? Why or why not?