Son of Pilot Who Dropped A-Bomb Opposes,

[Gerald]

Plan to Send U.S. Delegation to Hiroshima Ceremony.EXCLUSIVE: The son of the U.S. Air Force pilot who dropped the first atomic bomb in the history of warfare says the Obama administration's decision to send a U.S. delegation to a ceremony in Japan to mark the 65th anniversary of the attack on Hiroshima is an "unsaid apology" and appears to be an attempt to "rewrite history."


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...ny/?test=faces

[Raptor1]

*grabs popcorn for the inevitable 'bomb shouldn't have been dropped' argument*

[HunterICX]

Hey...who stole my popcorn!

HunterICX

[Oberon]

Someone want some more popcorn?

[Dowly]

I would call that respecting the victims of World War II.

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by Raptor1

*grabs popcorn for the inevitable 'bomb shouldn't have been dropped' argument*

This. On a side note, I haven't met any WW2 vets that didn't mind dropping the bomb.

[Ducimus]

Yup, the effects of dropping those bombs have had far reaching consequences. The radiation must have twisted their gene pool.

[Gerald]

mayor seeks disarmament on A-bomb 65th anniversary.HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — A U.S. representative participated for the first time Friday in Japan's annual commemoration of the American atomic bombing of Hiroshima, in a 65th anniversary event that organizers hope will bolster global efforts toward nuclear disarmament.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08...h-anniversary/






Note:Published August 06, 2010

[Oberon]

Another little thought that ran through my mind last night as I went to bed, the Japanese economic miracle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanes...onomic_miracle

Now...surely if Japan had not surrendered in the manner that it did, this economic miracle would never have occured and Japan would not be the nation it is today, a true economic powerhouse and technological hotzone.
Japan lost two cities, and when I say lost, I mean temporarily because both Hiroshima and Nagasaki are thriving cities today, however if the invasion had gone ahead, just about every city would have been firebombed into oblivion, the atomic bombs would have been dropped and possibly in greater numbers than just two, and the sheer amount of casualties incurred would have swung US public opinion further against the Japanese and discouraged the post-war investment that the US poured into Japan in reality, it could well be that Japan would wind up facing some kind of Versailles type reparations to help fix the US manpower drain that would have happened.
Then there's the Soviets, eagerly eating any form of territory they could get their hands on, perhaps Japan would have found itself in two pieces like Germany? What would that have done to the economic powerhouse that Japan would become? Would Japan have become like Korea?

There's lots of what-ifs in this scenario...but when one looks at Japan today, and one thinks of what could have been...two cities seems a small price to pay.

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by Vendor

Plan to Send U.S. Delegation to Hiroshima Ceremony.EXCLUSIVE: The son of the U.S. Air Force pilot who dropped the first atomic bomb in the history of warfare says the Obama administration's decision to send a U.S. delegation to a ceremony in Japan to mark the 65th anniversary of the attack on Hiroshima is an "unsaid apology" and appears to be an attempt to "rewrite history."


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...ny/?test=faces

Can I say what b-u-l-l-s-h-i-t ?

The drop of the 2 bombs were justified only from an economical standpoint (remember how much money the Manhattan project cost the US taxpayers ? ) a ROI if you want for the military industrial complex; and as an act of leverage against the Soviets.
All the talk about the bombing being necessary because it would have saved lives etc... is only that. Talk without substance. If the bombs were not dropped the US would have invaded Japan at the earliest by the end of 1945, and it was well known that the japanese government wanted to end the war by the time the Potsdam conference was in effect. Truman and Stalin deliberately decided to ignore the Japanese message.

The drop of the 2 bombs effectively ended the war. The reason for using them (propaganda aside, the evergreen motto "to save lives") on the other hand has nothing to do with saving lives. And history, and historical documents show this very clearly.

[joegrundman]

Every year there is a ceremony to mark the Hiroshima bombing, and every year the US sends a delegation.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by joegrundman

Every year there is a ceremony to mark the Hiroshima bombing, and every year the US sends a delegation.

True, but this is the first year we are poised to 'apologize'.

[joegrundman]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

True, but this is the first year we are poised to 'apologize'.

maybe i was wrong. i lived in japan for three years, and they hold the ceremony every year. i was pretty sure that on each occasion a us official was present and spoke publicly.

but if the japanese are making a big deal about it, clearly something is different. Maybe it was always in an 'unofficial capacity' before.

But if poised to apologise, as you put it, how is it an 'unsaid apology' as Tibbets jr. puts it?

In any case, although this clearly has the makings of another conservative storm in a teacup, you shouldn't worry too much about it. The commemoration is very uncontroversial, lamenting lives lost in war and wishing that the world never again finds itself using nukes on civilian centres. That sort of thing.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by goldorak

Can I say what b-u-l-l-s-h-i-t ?

The drop of the 2 bombs were justified only from an economical standpoint (remember how much money the Manhattan project cost the US taxpayers ? ) a ROI if you want for the military industrial complex; and as an act of leverage against the Soviets.
All the talk about the bombing being necessary because it would have saved lives etc... is only that. Talk without substance. If the bombs were not dropped the US would have invaded Japan at the earliest by the end of 1945, and it was well known that the japanese government wanted to end the war by the time the Potsdam conference was in effect. Truman and Stalin deliberately decided to ignore the Japanese message.

The drop of the 2 bombs effectively ended the war. The reason for using them (propaganda aside, the evergreen motto "to save lives") on the other hand has nothing to do with saving lives. And history, and historical documents show this very clearly.

from foxNews and nothing else! I know well the story both before and after, and there are reasons for them strategic decision was taken during WWII,and if you have any relevance to "tread" is known as BS as above, only that it is a bad mail is not what it contains, you must be able to separate this!

[TLAM Strike]

Remember this. Every Purple Heart awarded since the end of WWII to the present day (Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and other conficts) all were minted for Operation Downfall the Allied invasion of Japan.

500,000 were made. 120,000 are still in stock.