TRUMAN AND THE BOMB
Revisionism seems to know no bounds these days. Much has been made lately by such people as Lyndon La Rouche, the Oddly Named Truthers, and certain other bleeding heart cartels about the nature of the lead-up to President Harry S. Truman's use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The lack of and the twisting of historical knowledge almost amazes me. People chatter about the decision to use the A-bombs as if Japan was just minding its own business and the evil USA suddenly decided to drop the bombs on them for no reason.
WELL, THAT AINT THE WAY IT HAPPENED! Japan had been attacking China since 1937, and featured such atrocities as the Rape of Nanking. It was for this reason that the U.S. cut off supplies such as oil to Japan. That is what "antagonized" them into attacking Pearl Harbor in 1941 (anybody still remember that?). The Japanese then declared war after the attack. Did the USA force them to do that as well?
And as far the caveat of knowing about the attack ahead of time, an attack was suspected, but just as in the case of September 11, there was no specific beat on what kind of attack to expect. "Experts" predicted one by submarines or sabotage, not by air (Sorry, Pearl Harbor Truthers). Once the war in the Pacific commenced, Japanese prison camps rivaled the Nazis in brutality, and even included beheadings (sound familiar).
Certainly much worse than can be said about Club Gitmo. And contrary to revisionist belief, Japan was not ready to surrender as long as the Emperor was protected. That was the view of a few pragmatic politicians. The vast majority of the government and populace were ready to fight to the end, and were arming themselves for such. Estimates run that an invasion would have cost anywhere from to 10 million Japanese lives, and extended the war by several years.
After suffering the devastating bombs, some Japanese military officers tried to stop the Emperor from making the surrender announcment. And after finding old Japanese soldiers still hiding in the jungles of isolated islands, who refused to surrender, this seemed to have been part of the early indoctrinization process of the Japanese people. These are not the peace-loving people that Western PCers want to believe they were.
These two bombings initiated dreadful atrocities that one should vigilantly hope will never face mankind again. But so did ALL the warfare of the past century, the one before it, and the one before it, et cetera. War is hell. War kills, maims, disfigures, and disturbs. But the United States and its people continue to be labeled international monsters by the Hate America crowds when in fact it is certain of committing far less violence than what the WW2 Japanese actually was carrying out for far longer in its very active war of aggression.
The lack of and the twisting of historical knowledge almost amazes me. People chatter about the decision to use the A-bombs as if Japan was just minding its own business and the evil USA suddenly decided to drop the bombs on them for no reason.
WELL, THAT AINT THE WAY IT HAPPENED! Japan had been attacking China since 1937, and featured such atrocities as the Rape of Nanking. It was for this reason that the U.S. cut off supplies such as oil to Japan. That is what "antagonized" them into attacking Pearl Harbor in 1941 (anybody still remember that?). The Japanese then declared war after the attack. Did the USA force them to do that as well?
And as far the caveat of knowing about the attack ahead of time, an attack was suspected, but just as in the case of September 11, there was no specific beat on what kind of attack to expect. "Experts" predicted one by submarines or sabotage, not by air (Sorry, Pearl Harbor Truthers). Once the war in the Pacific commenced, Japanese prison camps rivaled the Nazis in brutality, and even included beheadings (sound familiar).
Certainly much worse than can be said about Club Gitmo. And contrary to revisionist belief, Japan was not ready to surrender as long as the Emperor was protected. That was the view of a few pragmatic politicians. The vast majority of the government and populace were ready to fight to the end, and were arming themselves for such. Estimates run that an invasion would have cost anywhere from to 10 million Japanese lives, and extended the war by several years.
After suffering the devastating bombs, some Japanese military officers tried to stop the Emperor from making the surrender announcment. And after finding old Japanese soldiers still hiding in the jungles of isolated islands, who refused to surrender, this seemed to have been part of the early indoctrinization process of the Japanese people. These are not the peace-loving people that Western PCers want to believe they were.
These two bombings initiated dreadful atrocities that one should vigilantly hope will never face mankind again. But so did ALL the warfare of the past century, the one before it, and the one before it, et cetera. War is hell. War kills, maims, disfigures, and disturbs. But the United States and its people continue to be labeled international monsters by the Hate America crowds when in fact it is certain of committing far less violence than what the WW2 Japanese actually was carrying out for far longer in its very active war of aggression.
Labels: atomic, Harry S. Truman, Imperial Japan, oil, Truthers, WWII
posted by Gabriel Thy at 7:24 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks for your commentary. It is sad that so many "peaceniks" have little capacity beyond touting the "superiority of peace" in suffering the facts of a historical and vicious planet.
"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
-Winston Churchill
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