The Nuking of Japan

[festive1]

This is a fascinating topic, excellent points have been made on all sides. I'm inclined to think that the bombings were both immoral and necessary. With the Cold War brewing, the US wanted to end the fighting with the total submission of Japan to the West, not the USSR. Just look at what happened after the bombings, we sent MacArthur to Japan to write their constitution and totally dismantle their military. That, I think, was the US's goal, and this could only be accomplished by an unconditional surrender of Japan. It's arguable that Japan would have surrendered under threat of the combined Ally forces, but it wouldn't necessarily have been an unconditional surrender. Without unconditional surrender the divinity of the Japanese emperor would have remained intact which would have undermined the US's goals. I think to understand Japan's point of view during WWII, one has to look at the history of Japan from it's opening to the West in 1854. Japan had a deep mistrust of the West after watching China throughout the time period leading up to and following the Opium Wars, and developed a strong admiration of Western Imperialism. They thought the West should not have spheres of influence in Asia, that was rightfully Japan's sphere. They viewed themselves as racially superior to other Asians, and this superiority (and money, can't forget the economic value) was their justification for their imperial conquests, which were heinous and without mercy. Their goal for the outcome of WWII was a Japnese empire throughout mainland China and southern Asia, possibly even extending control over parts of the USSR. Nobody in history, even Hitler, viewed themselves as the 'bad' guy. In their minds they were fighting for what they thought was rightfully theirs to begin with. I think the idea that Japan would have resisted a mainland invasion down to the last child is accurate. Although targeting civilians is abhorrent, I simply don't see Japan giving up without a significant loss of life on all sides, without the dropping of the bombs.