Regardless of the fact that military brass and other experts on the matter historically said it was unnecessary, and that the Japanese government's representatives were attempting surrender to no avail, some individuals still wish to maintain "We'd all be speaking German right now if those bombs hadn't been dropped!" Or that "More lives would have been lost had we not ended the war." Of course that we doesn't actually mean them, personally. They didn't lift a finger to change things either way. Most of these folks weren't even born yet.
Before diving right into my justification and rationale for the provocative headline, let's not forget the gruesome firebombings that occurred throughout Japan during WWII as well, which are almost never discussed, but included the single most destructive air raid in history — in Tokyo — engulfing 10,000 acres in flames, killing 100,000 people, and leaving an estimated one million homeless. This was in one night.
But I'll get to the point. The following is why belief in the so-called "necessity" of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is qualitatively the same as the belief that Hitler's mass destruction of innocent individuals was "necessary":
Both massacres were done under the pretext of being for the "greater good," and both had legions of nationalists supporting them in the name of freedom, prosperity, and progress.
Both destroyed the lives of non-violent, innocent individuals caught by happenstance in the middle of a massive, violent, political power struggle.
Presuming the destruction or violation of even one non-violent individual for the "greater good" is necessary is a logically untenable (where sustained peace is the end value), immoral, and evil presumption without basis in objective reality. As all collectives are by necessity made of individuals, to systematically compromise the safety of any one non-violent individual is to compromise the foundation and safety of that collective society as a whole. Even so-called American values become immediately unsustainable under this illogical and morally depraved myopia. Bombing one's way to peace, in other words, is absurd and unsustainable where minimal violent conflict is the end goal.
Those who believe in the necessity of the atom bombs being dropped on Japan, are simply cheering for the other side in a soccer match between two murderous, psychopathic entities. Cheering for either is committing the same idiot oversight. Whether it be for Hitler's golden vision for a German motherland of peace, prosperity, and power (you realize he didn't come to power saying he was going to exterminate a bunch of people, right?) Or for Truman's rhetoric about bringing peace and prosperity to the world by incinerating hundreds of thousands of individual lives caught in the crossfire of war.
Let's stop cheering, open our eyes, and see:
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Excellent post!
I spent years arguing on Quota about this. I would post quotes from Ike saying the bomb was unneeded and military nuts would reply that he didn't know what was going on in the East. I'd post quotes from MacArthur saying it was unnecessary and they'd reply he was only being PR friendly, I'd post the numbers killed and they'd say they deserved it, and on and on. I got tired and stopped posting there.
It's been so nuts around here that I forgot it was the beginning of august. Man, I usually never let the two anniversaries pass me by. I must be getting old. I'll have to re-share my annual post about the bomb, edited to combine both into one. Thanks for the reminder.
It really does get frustrating. Almost vexing... Glad I could serve as a reminder about the annual post. Always great to hear from you. Hope all is well in your neck of the archipelago.