Yogi, the use of atomic weapons has been debated since the war ended. Well-intentioned, knowledgeable people have carried on these debates, have considered all sides of the argument, and in the end have fallen on one side of the issue or the other. You are not one of these.
Far from displaying knowledge of the complex factors involved, far from addressing the arguments on both sides, you only repeat your mantra of "incinerating innocent civilians and children."
You refer to bombing by "us," so I presume you are an American citizen. I will also presume you have never served in your country's armed forces (and you can correct me if I am wrong). You are a beneficiary of all of those who did (and do) serve their country through military service. It may be a vague and uninteresting concept to you that you would not enjoy your freedom to pursue happiness (and to speak out against your country) were it not for those who defended, with their lives, our freedoms when they were threatened.
In 1941, the standing army of the United States was the 14th largest in the world, smaller than that of Argentina. The military might that saved today for you consisted of citizen-soldiers ... young men (and women) in their teens and twenties, who were sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers. They came from big cities, small towns, farms, schools ... many enlisted and many were drafted. They were pretty much like people you probably know now, as family members, neighbors, schoolmates, friends. They had pretty much the same dreams, ambitions, likes and dislikes. They were a whole generation of America's best young people. One-quarter of a million of them died in the war. If you ever have been to Normandy, France, you can visit the graves of some of them ... acres and acres of simple white crosses, marked with names and hometowns.
These would be the kind of boys who would have been asked to invade the Japanese homeland. These would have been the lads that left widows or broken-hearted parents behind had they died on Japanese soil. In another time and place, you yourself could have been one of them. Maybe they would not have had to die, even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped. That is something no one will ever know. We do know that the bombs brought a swift end to the war, and to the killing. Everything else is speculation. Most, even critics, agree that without the bombs, the war would have lasted much longer and that many more would have been killed on both sides.
If you intend to continue your posts condemning your country for choosing what if felt was the best option for ending the war ...If you intend to continue expressing your lament for the loss of life of innocent civilians and children ... Please search your heart to find whether it holds any compassion or feeling ... any at all ... for your young countrymen in their graves and for those they left behind.
Can you weep for them?
JC |
