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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000000.txt from 2007/02

From: Donald MacCourt <maccourt@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] QOD
Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:33:41 -0500

Ed,
I remember ane I agree.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
To: <doublereed@-----.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 11:21 PM
Subject: RE: [DR-L] QOD

> <<<This bombing (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) was not to end the war ... that
> was already about to happen diplomatically. It was done to frighten the
> Russians, with an object lesson.>>>
>
> I am very reluctant to enter this conversation, which undoubtedly is
> about as far off-topic as we could get. However, I hate to see this
> kind of assertion disseminated without being questioned.
>
> Undoubtedly, whoever wrote this is not as old as I am, and probably
> doesn't have as clear a memory of the World War II era as I do.
>
> In fact, in the so-called "island hopping" that the US had been engaging
> in, along with a few allies such as Australia and New Zealand and
> others, was getting more costly and more tragic as the action moved
> closer to Japan itself. As long as the disputed territories were
> isolated islands in the Pacific, the fighting, while deadly and vicious,
> did not reach the levels of fanaticism that were triggered when fighting
> was taking place on areas that the Japanese considered their home
> islands.
>
> By the time the fighting reached Iwo Jima, about 750 miles from Tokyo,
> the slaughter reached higher proportions. The battle cost nearly 7,000
> American lives, and those of 21,000 Japanese, essentially the entire
> garrison there.
>
> The next step was Okinawa, only 350 miles from the mainland. Here, the
> final toll was 12,281 Americans and over 110,000 Japanese. The Japanese
> army had convinced the natives of Okinawa that the Americans intent was
> to torture, kill and perhaps eat them. As a result, many Okinawans
> killed themselves and their children.
>
> The next step would have been the invasion of the Japanese mainland. By
> this time, the Japanese were training women, children and elderly men to
> fight with any and all means at their disposal, including sharpened
> sticks if necessary. It was assumed that every Japanese person with
> whom the Americans would come into contact would fight to the death.
> There would be no survivors. Estimates were that fatalities resulting
> from this type of invasion might amount to between 500,000 and 1,000,000
> Americans and as many as 10 million Japanese.
>
> It was after seeing the results of the campaigns on Iwo Jima and
> Okinawa, and after receiving estimates and projections such as these
> that Truman made the decision to use the atomic bomb.
>
> In fact, a few months previously, in May of 1945, a conventional bombing
> campaign had decimated Tokyo, killing at least 100,000 people in one
> night. Estimates were that at least 60% to 65% of Japan's cities and
> industrial complex had already been destroyed. Yet, the Japanese
> doctrine of "Bushido" would not permit any consideration of surrender.
> In addition, certain fanatical high-ranking army officers would not even
> allow any mention of ending the war to be presented to the Emperor.
>
> Under those circumstances, obviously highly condensed here, who can say
> what decision any of us would have made in similar circumstances. To
> many people, it seems entirely possible that Truman's decision may have
> saved lives on both sides in the long run.
>
> I'm not an advocate for nuclear weapons, or for weapons of any kind for
> that matter. However, it seems to me that we are more horrified by such
> weapons of mass destruction because the instantaneous loss of so much
> human life seems so tragic. This extends to other areas of our lives.
> It always seems more traumatic when an airliner crash kills several
> hundred people in one incident that it does that about 40,000 Americans
> and nearly 1,200,000 people around the world are killed in automobile
> accidents every year.
>
> Ed Lacy
> University of Evansville
>
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