I didn't have an opinion on Nagasaki, and that is what I said. I get really tired of people like you trying to impugn my honor and integrity, just because we have different points of view politically. It gets old really fast. It's fine to disagree on the issues, but the personal attacks really need to stop. I disagree with you and a lot of other people on almost everything, but I don't write posts insinuating that you are dishonorable. You must stop doing that, because it is too unpleasant for me to read them, and if it isn't reasonably pleasant to come here, what is the point? You need to learn how to post here without questioning the basic character of other posters or making snippy remarks about them. You are very intelligent, and do just fine when you stick to issues rather than personalities.
To go a bit further on Nagasaki, I have always been basically anti-nuclear, but never even really considered the reasons why there were two attacks so close together on Japan at the end of World War II until the discussion came up recently and I read a bit about it in relationship to the Hiroshima anniversary. I don't automatically assign hero status to every U.S. leader, but at the same time I give Truman a lot more credit than you apparently do, so the Japanese author's book is of interest to me. This is the first time I have heard you acknowledge that there were multiple motives for Truman's decision, which certainly implies that creating superpower status for the U.S. postwar might have been a factor. I believe killing hundreds of thousands of civilians for this motive is immoral, and certainly goes beyond the usual reason given of ending the war as soon as possible so fewer people would die.
This country has a very negative history in several important ways, including its treatment of Native Americans and blacks. I will continue to speak out with my opinions. I am just as entitled to mine as you are to yours, and mine have considerable historical backing for them. It is not acceptable to cast aspersions on me, for example saying something I said is disingenuous and self-serving, or implying that I speak in haste and without due thought, simply because you have a different belief system about America than I do. |
