Text 36335, 92 rader
Skriven 2006-08-09 12:12:42 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
     Kommentar till en text av SHANNON TALLEY
Ärende: Re: Frank - take a break (was CELEBRATION!)
===================================================
Shannon,
 
>> It was a great deterant to the Russkies who would
>> have taken all of urope had they not seen the power of the bomb. Of all
>> the people in charge back then, Truman, the little man with the cigar,
>> McArthur, secretary Stimsen, etc, - Eisenhower was the only one who
>> didn't want us to use that weapon.
 
> I wonder what this world would be like "today" if those bombs had never
> been dropped. Would Russia still be a super power? Would we have become
> the superpower the U.S. is today? Sounds like the making of a good movie...
> <g>
 
The shortsighted source from which Roy was cut-and-pasting seems to be
uninformed that at the time of the dropping of the bombs the cold-war had
already started, we just didn't call it "cold war" yet.
 
There was already a full-scale US, French and British armed-machine in Europe
which, although not formally with borders and such, had already been cut-up in
spheres of influence by the conference of Yalta.
 
Russia attempting to grab the rest of Europe would have resulted in a much
fiercer war than WW2 had ever been and probably would have led to the
destruction of animal-life as we now it today. Including the human species.
Stalin did not die a day too soon ...
 
As for Japan and how would it have fared without atomic bombs ... There was a
shortage of everything except Japanese. The army had been beaten, the navy had
been beaten, the air force had been beaten.
 
There was no reason whatsoever to invade the Japanese main islands. On its own
Japan could not survive, it had always relied on colonies or occupied
territories to provide it with necessary resources obtained if not by trade,
then by violence.
 
By shutting-off all trade with the Japanese main islands, the country would be
hungered into submission in 6 to 12 months maximum. No need to risk millions of
American and Japanese lives just to obtain a document of surrender.
 
The military influence in the White House, and the sentiment of the time then,
did not cater for that strategy and most likely without the bomb the generals
would have had their "the bloodiest battle of all history" they would have
liked. A battle of which I'm not certain it could be won.
 
Japan has never been beaten on its own soil, 1945 was no exception.
 
But why was it paramount for the US to achieve a quick victory? Because its
leadership already knew the enemy was not Japan but Russia. By not invading
Japan they left the option open for Russia to grab it, and we know the Stalin
had little scruples about a million more or less of his own countrymen.
 
So forcing Japan into submission was more of a thing to confine Russia than
ultimately winning a war which had already been won.
 
As for Russia, it has never been a super power because it neglected the most
important resource it ever had ... its people.
 
A super power is more than just a big military capable to strike anywhere. One
must also be an economic power to support that military system, without the
former the latter will collapse.
 
Because the Soviet economy eventually was unable to keep financing the military
machine, the latter collapsed as a demise of the former and communism was a
goner.
 
Russians in later years have stated that life under Communism was better.
Perhaps it was, but the model could not perpetuate itself because there was no
circle of trade, with an incentive to keep it going ... such as making a profit
and keeping it. You cannot keep on subventioning your losses, eventually the
system will collapse and ultimately it did.
 
Under Communism life would have turned equally hard for the Russians because
the shortages would have been there anyway.
 
The USSR never was a super-power. For a while it just had a big military.
That's all.
 
During WW2 the American war machine went into gear, the industry transformed
itself overnight to a war-industry, men volunteered for the army, women
volunteered for work in industry, the population as a whole voluntary accepted
the heavy shortages there were because it is often forgotton American citizens
suffered equally at home with everything rationed or just plain unavailable.
 
The key-word is "voluntary", that is why it worked, not because there were
party-commissars to keep the population threatened.
 
Take care,
 
 \%/@rd

--- D'Bridge 2.55
 * Origin: "Leonard will be free" - http://www.leonardpeltier.org (2:292/854)