[vienna]

Originally Posted by Torplexed

One of the more perverse aspects of war is that trying to keep the moral high ground and fight conventionally "soldier-to-soldier" has it's own price too. Maybe not as expensive as descending into utter depravity, but certainly not cheap. Restraining from using a possibly effective weapon, but with a really bad reputation can be a thankless, forgotten proposition.

For example early in the Second World War, President Franklin Roosevelt officially announced that the U.S. would only use poison gas in retaliation for first use by the Axis powers.

However, due to the increasing cost of causalities in the amphibious assault landings, and cave-to-cave fighting in the Pacific from the fall of 1943 to the end of 1944, as well as the relatively small size, isolated location and lack of civilian population on the island of Iwo Jima, senior officers up to the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved a proposal for the preemptive use of poison gas against the Japanese garrison. This proposal reached President Roosevelt as the Commander in Chief.

He promptly vetoed it.

So, instead of being cleanly exterminated by gas, the Japanese were messily exterminated out of their caves and pillboxes in Iwo Jima by flamethrowers, gasoline hoses and demo charges. The Marine casualties were severe. More than 75,000 Americans fought at Iwo Jima. Almost 7,000 were killed and more than 24,000 wounded. The Japanese garrison was virtually wiped out as it probably would have been if gas was used. But at least they got the honor of facing their foe.

So, at that cost in combatant lives I suppose the US got to hold on to the moral high ground and avoid the moniker of being that bad boy nation that took the easy way out and was the first to resort to the use of chemical weapons in WW2. The same moniker we have for being the first to use atomic weapons. The chemical genie was kept in the bottle. Something tells me though that there wouldn't be many platitudes for Roosevelt from any relatives of those who fell, if they knew an alternative had been considered.

Well put...


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