Posted: 25-01-2004 12:13
I'm ignoring the fact that when the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was *during a war* and thus hardly an act of terrorism.
Many, many more people would have died if the atomic weapons had not been used. The Japanese mentality at the time was that there was honour in death, and every man, woman and child in the country would have battled until their last breath. The Pacific conflict would have gone on for another decade, with casualties in the hundreds of thousands for both sides. In fact, on remote pacific islands, US forces were *still* fighting soliders who refused to surrender as late as 1958. Now imagine an entire nation doing that...
It was a horrific thing, and one that should never be repeated, I'm not doubting that, but I think that it was done for very good reason.
Many, many more people would have died if the atomic weapons had not been used. The Japanese mentality at the time was that there was honour in death, and every man, woman and child in the country would have battled until their last breath. The Pacific conflict would have gone on for another decade, with casualties in the hundreds of thousands for both sides. In fact, on remote pacific islands, US forces were *still* fighting soliders who refused to surrender as late as 1958. Now imagine an entire nation doing that...
It was a horrific thing, and one that should never be repeated, I'm not doubting that, but I think that it was done for very good reason.