The problem is that if it weren't nukes some other excuse would be used.

It is the nukes which keeps the other excuses from blossoming into world war. Look at it from that angle and your moment of clairity embrace you.

:yeah:

I think that says it all.

I would like to add one thing.

You don't live in a world as you wish it to be. You live in a world as it is.

Unfortunately, that view doesn't really reconcile with history, does it? The fact is that is was nukes, it is nukes, and it will continue to be nukes. Meditate on that, Grasshopper.

Perhaps you are right concerning Lincoln, but regarding JFK and Krushchev...


Wow. Just wow. Have we served together? Do you know anything about my service? What knowledge do I lack to make the "correct" decisions? Are you implying that I wouldn't use nuclear weapons if it came down to it? Because I can assure you that I had no qualms when it came to my job and would do my part in executing those orders if they were given. And as for my high rank of ETR3, I was ahead of the advancement curve seeing as I enlisted as an E-1.

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Or the soldiers on the 38th Parallel
Or the soldiers of the Tet Offensive
Or the soldiers in the Bay of Pigs
Or the soldiers in Iraq
Or the soldiers in Afghanistan

Come on, this is just getting silly now.

Wow. Just wow. Why are you so heated by my answer? Did I hit a cord?

Do you feel you could have done more in defense of your country? Do you feel guilty now because of your current feelings about nuclear deterence?

is it just because you feel your pride for the question?

I mean nothing bad. I'm just trying to share my opinion, and reconcile it with the answers.

Now, see, this is why people don't want to play with you, so to speak. You can't seem to interact with someone with an opposing viewpoint without insulting them. Why such anger?

None of which have had to deal with the effects of nukes. Thanks to the deterent they provide. Nukes are good.

I was just responding to the question.

Post #25 shows my attempt at being sporting.

That's no response. That's just plain insulting, and there is no need for it.

Your answer isn't what caused me to become heated. I even admitted that you could be right about Lincoln. What caused me to become heated was your insult on my service.

I chose my job in the Navy and performed my duties, there was nothing more I could do to contribute. My feelings about nuclear deterrence have not changed since I joined the Navy.

OK I'll give you that I was trying to get him to admit to the falacy of his argument, as a former ETR3. But it doesn't mean I ignore his service, or overtly insult him. If I have done so, sorry sweat heart, perhaps we can take the let me cry train to some place special for you.

And see, now you're going after me. You just can't play nice, can you? Really, I don't know why you take every discussion so personally.

I tried; I give up.

You are correct of course. I'm bad all over.

Perhaps some research into the number of deaths associated with exposing US Troops to Nuclear blasts would be in order.

You could also say that about John Wayne, Susan Hayward and Agnes Moorhead who were filming "The Conqueror" downwind of the tests site too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3xwnjhAYn8

My Dad was in Noumea loading supplies for Operation Olympic when the surrender was announced. So, I fully support Truman's decision to drop the bombs or I wouldn't be here today. It was their use, ALONG with the rapid Red Army victory in Manchuria that precipitated the surrender, It also allowed the US to guarantee Japanese territorial integrity and prevent a divided Japan like Korea and Germany.

I also visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki when I was in Japan in the Navy WHILE I was Mk 114 Firing Petty Officer and saw the shadows of people burned into some of the few walls left standing after the blast. In fact, last year, I finally visited Trinity Site south of here near San Antonio, NM when they had the annual opening:

http://a.imageshack.us/img80/1729/trinity1.jpg

So, I got the "Places-that-got-nuked" Hat Trick.

In my humble opinion, only ONE group of people have EARNED the RIGHT to order nuclear weapons use. The Hibakusha, the survivors of the bombings. No other person, head of state, potentate or dictator has that right, anywhere.

Are you capable of having a decent discussion without resorting to personal insults? There was no need for that remark at all. No one has spoken to you that way.

My thanks go out to the men and women that served in that war. You helped make a lot of things possible that otherwise would not have been. :salute:

And now it's time for me to ask the same question I ask every year, and see if anybody remembers:

VJ day marked the end of the fighting, but when did the war officially end?