JapanForum.com - Feelings Toward Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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Yes you're not alone and neither am I in my opinion. There's no absolute right or wrong, there's only opinions. I really don't think you have any appreciation of the death toll and suffering caused by the Japanese during their occupation of other countries though. And I doubt many of us here have any appreciation of what is was like near the end of the war after so many lives had been lost (except maybe dogsbody ;) ). I can see how people could come to justify using such weapons near the end of a war that had already cost so many lives. If you had it in your power to use a weapon that would cripple and terrify your enemy into surrender without having to risk the lives of your own soldiers, considering how many you had already lost, can you really say you wouldn't have considered using it? A horrific decision to make but one ultimately I believe was justified considering the circumstances.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WingsToDiscovery (Post 843819)

You'll also find this (since you've use Wiki as well):

"Of the total deaths in World War II approximately 85 percent—mostly Soviet and Chinese—were on the Allied side and 15 percent on the Axis side. Many of these deaths were caused by war crimes committed by German and Japanese forces in occupied territories...Roughly 7.5 million civilians died in China under Japanese occupation..."

"The most well-known Japanese atrocity was the Nanking Massacre, in which several hundred thousand Chinese civilians were raped and murdered.
Between 3 million to more than 10 million civilians, mostly Chinese, were killed by the Japanese occupation forces. Mitsuyoshi Himeta reported 2.7 million casualties occurred during the Sankō Sakusen. General Yasuji Okamura implemented the policy in Heipei and Shantung.
The Axis forces employed limited biological and chemical weapons. The Italians used mustard gas during their conquest of Abyssinia,while the Imperial Japanese Army used a variety of such weapons during their invasion and occupation of China and in early conflicts against the Soviets. Both the Germans and Japanese tested such weapons against civilians and, in some cases, on prisoners of war."

Along with an appropriate picture of Chinese civilians being buried alive on the webpage.

Thank you for the info, but I know about Nanking Massacre. So, what's your point?
Dropping nuclear devices on japanese civilians is OK in response to Nanking Massacre, right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by termogard (Post 843821)

Thank you for the info, but I know about Nanking Massacre. So, what's your point?
Dropping nuclear devices on japanese civilians is OK in response to Nanking Massacre, right?

Japanese civilian deaths as a result of atomic bombs: ~Few hundred thousand

Chinese civilian murder/rape : ~7.5 million

Wings if you look at the deaths at the hands of the Japanese throughout all of Asia the numbers soar into much bigger figures than just those in China.
Japan made it all the way down to Papua New Guinea and launched air raids on northern Australia. China was just the beginning...

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoNative (Post 843820)

If you had it in your power to use a weapon that would cripple and terrify your enemy into surrender without having to risk the lives of your own soldiers, considering how many you had already lost, can you really say you wouldn't have considered using it? A horrific decision to make but one ultimately I believe was justified considering the circumstances.

Good question. Some historians wrote that atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was also a clear demonstration of American military Power to Soviet side. Americans wished to cripple and terrify Moscow leadership. Later they developed Dropshot plan. When you have an Ultimate Weapon, so many reasons to run it against other parts of world.......

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoNative (Post 843823)

I'm just using the instance of China alone. As I've stated numerous times, I'm quite neutral on the subject, but I just don't know how people can say a flash of light and a few hundred thousand deaths (and of course radiation) is worse than rape, murder, being buried alive, and everything else that happened a ballpark figure of around 10 million.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WingsToDiscovery (Post 843822)

Japanese civilian deaths as a result of atomic bombs: ~Few hundred thousand

Chinese civilian murder/rape : ~7.5 million

Eye for an Eye, in other words.......nice logic !:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by termogard (Post 843828)

Eye for an Eye, in other words.......nice logic !:)

Not an eye for an eye, just a comparison of facts. Let's just disregard the other millions of civilians who died so we can just blame the US for one incident, right? :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by termogard (Post 843828)

Eye for an Eye, in other words.......nice logic !:)

Actually the logic that you appear to totally miss is that there was already a massive death toll due to Japans aggression in the region. The US decided to take decisive action to end the war quickly with as few allied casualties as possible by using what is undoubtedly the most terrible weapon of mass destruction ever used. Was it morally the right thing to do? Probably not but wars are rarely all that moral. Justifiable to reduce more loss of life of your own people and those of your allies? I believe so.

Dropping the bombs wasn't an eye for an eye, it wasn't retrubution. It was done to reduce the loss of allied lives and force the surrender of an aggressor who had caused millions of deaths in the region. And in that the bombs were undoubetdly very effective.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WingsToDiscovery (Post 843826)

but I just don't know how people can say a flash of light and a few hundred thousand deaths (and of course radiation) is worse than rape, murder, being buried alive, and everything else that happened a ballpark figure of around 10 million.

Not worse. The same. Crimes against humanity.