[StBernard] New HBO documentary of the atomic bomb drops on Japan

[Westley Annis]

Yep John, my Father told me he was waiting on one of those islands waiting
for the invasion orders.  He wasn't looking forward to it.

Jim





	-----------------------------------------------------
	Jim,
	
	I absolutely agree with you. Aside from the provactive nature of my
	previous comments, here are a few facts the "don't use the bomb"
group (back
	then and even today) hate to acknowledge. The U.S. government (as
well as
	the Japanese government) have both stated that had the bombs not be
dropped
	and the war completed by the U.S. invading Japan and defeating the
Japs by
	conventional methods, an estimated 150,000 additional American
military
	personnel would have been killed and an additional 175,000 Japanese.
Plus,
	"traditional" bombings would have escalated to a never seen before
rate
	where the Japan estimates anywhere from 200,000 to a quarter million
	civilians would have been killed. That's far less than the number
killed by
	the bombs.
	
	Yes, even the Japanese government has acknowledged that dropping the
bombs
	likely reduced the potential number lives lost - not to mention our
boys
	100,000 plus.
	
	President Truman repeated said his decision to drop the bomb was
never
	revenge, but to bring a quicker end to the war, to save American
lives and
	to set an example to the world should any country ever again have
aggressive
	intentions.
	
	Sure, I'm sorry it had to come to that. But make to mistake about
	it...Japan started it by atacking the United States - who did not
provoke
	them, and they could have easily surrendered after Hiroshima. For
the
	record, after we dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, the U.S. formally
addressed
	Japan on the issue of surrender or just a cease fire - they did not
even
	respond to our contact after many days. Japan brought Nagasaki on
itself.
	That's why many Japanese lost faith in the Emperor, blaming him for
the
	unnecessary drop on Nagasaki.
	
	Japan started a war they should have realized they could not win -
and they
	were damned fools if they thought they were going to get assistance
from the
	Nazis. Hitler often spoke of his distain for the Japanese. As the
Japanese
	ambassador to the U.S. said upon learning of the un-provoked attack
on Pearl
	Harbor..."I am afraid we have woken a sleeping bear." He was right.
Just
	as Bin Laden, the Taliban and Huessen recently learned the hard way.
	
	- John Scurich