Nagasaki reflection

As I mentioned, this was part of an e-mail discussion. The author, The Pete, wrote the following response to the Japanese plea for a nuclear ban (those freaks). Here is the posting with very minor corrections to formatting. So, with no further ado, ARUC's first Guest Writer: The Pete.

Angry plea huh?

Here is one for you...

1. that's what you get for attacking the US.
2. after blowing the tar out of Hiroshima, we gave you 3 days to surrender before bombing Nagasaki... you had your chance.
3. better them then us.
4. we saved half a million Japanese lives by bombing Japan...

to clarify numbers 3 and 4...

the estimate of "how many killed" by the atomic bombs dropped in Japan (Including cancaristic deaths that may relate to it spreading to current day) is at about 340 thousand people. (As of Aug. 6, 2004, the city of Hiroshima claims 237,062 people have died from the bomb's effects. and Nagasaki clames a little over 100,000)

Lets round that up to 500k

The estimate of "how many Americans" would have died taking the island is at 1 million, given the Japanese fighting style and the whole "honor" thing shown during world war 2.

IF. IF IF IF..... If we attacked japan, with 1 million lives of our own lost, for japan to surrender (on a 1 to 1 ratio of deaths) by dropping the atomic bombs, we kept 1 million Americans from dieing and 500k Japanese from dieing.

Before the bombings, U.S. soldiers were preparing to invade mainland Japan, an action that would have meant thousands, if not millions, of lives lost.

"It was a big relief to us that we didn't have to go in because the Japanese were a formidable enemy," said John P. John of Norwich, who was a Navy radio operator first class stationed in the Pacific during the war.
some historians disagree however... saying that "Japan was ready to give up before we dropped the bombs".

I have two questions for you then, if you think this way.

1. Why didn't they give up and surrender right after we dropped the 1st bomb? we gave them 3 days to surrender.
2. taking into account the Japanese "honor" system, and their kamikaze style attacking, do you think they would have just surrendered without a fight if we would have invaded?

Its just too bad it wasn't a republican who gave the order to drop the bombs... Kudos to Truman though for having the guts to make a decision like that.

otherwise.... does anyone have any sugguestions on how it should have gone without droping Little Boy and Fat Man?

and then there is the cold war... a great example of how prepairing for war can prevent it.

So... there you have it. Nuclear Bombs Save Lives.