Text 5734, 97 rader
Skriven 2004-12-04 22:26:00 av LEE LOFASO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av FRANK SCHEIDT
Ärende: Breaking News!
======================
Hello Frank,

>LL>Japan was ready and willing to surrender weeks before we nuked
>LL>Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  However, we were not willing to accept
>LL>anything less than an unconditional surrender.  Knowing an
>LL>unconditional surrender would mean their deaths, Japanese military
>LL>leaders could not accept a surrender on those terms.

>FS>Japan was *not* willing to surrender prior to our use of the
>FS>atomic bomb.

>LL>Yes it was.  But only conditionally.

FS>Not so!

Yes so!  Not sure of what the conditions were, but the Japanese
leadership would have been happy to surrender on those conditions
set forth by themselves.

>FS>Records uncovered after their surrender made it
>FS>clear that the military wanted to fight to the death and the
>FS>Emperor himself was only slightly ambiguous about that goal.
>FS>Invasion of Honshu would have resulted in a blood bath!

>LL>Records show that the Japanese leadership wanted to surrender.
>LL>But only conditionally.  After the atomic bombs were dropped on
>LL>Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese leadership had no choice
>LL>but to surrender unconditionally.

FS>There were *no* records showing the Japs were interested in
FS>surrender until the atomic bombs were dropped!

Actually, records do exist.  As well as newspaper accounts.

>FS>Destroying those two cities, though it cost many thousands of Jap
>FS>lives, was well worth it since it saved many *hundreds* of
>FS>thousands of lives, both Jap and American.  ... and *best* of all
>FS>-- it kept *me* out of the South Pacific!

>LL>Why was it more important to have a handful of Japanese military
>LL>leaders executed rather than murdering over a hundred thousand
>LL>innocent Japanese civilians?

>FS>Huh?  Kindly rephrase that ... I don't follow it ...

>LL>Had Japan surrendered before we dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima
>LL>and Nagasaki, there would have been no bloodbath.  However, many
>LL>thousands of Japanese lives would have been spared.  However, the
>LL>United States insisted that Japan surrender unconditionally, rather
>LL>than conditionally.  As a result, many thousands of Japanese lost
>LL>their lives, needlessly.  Just so the United States could have a
>LL>handful of Japanese military leaders executed.

FS>But they were *not* going to surrender.  They had determined to
FS>fight to the death.  Even children were provided sharpened sticks
FS>to use as weapons against the invading Americans.  Besides there
FS>was the evidence of the fighting on Hiroshima and Okinawa where
FS>the Japs fought to the death.

The Japanese would have been happy to surrender, under the right
conditions.  Of course, after we dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki the Japanese leadership had no choice but to surrender,
given the alternative.

FS>Lee, you may know a lot about cooking crayfish but it's obvious
FS>you have a "conspiracy" view of WWII.

Truman had no choice but to order the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.  But not for the reasons most folks think.

Consider what would have happened had Truman not given that order.
Suppose Truman had accepted the Japanese leadership's offer to surrender
conditionally.  What would have been the result?

The United States would have occupied southern Japan.
The Soviet Union would have occupied northern Japan.

Being that no atomic bombs had ever been dropped, war would have
broken out between the United States and the Soviet Union.  In an
effort to bring the war to a quick end, the United States would
have dropped atomic bombs on Russian cities.  But the war would have
continued, given Stalin's state of mind.  Within a few years, the Soviet
Union would have developed atomic bombs of their own.  American cities
would then have felt the fire of atomic bombs.  As well as cities in
Europe.  Within a decade, the world would have entered a new Dark Age.
Or perhaps even a new Stone Age.

BTW, Japan and Russia remain in a state of war, given that no peace
treaty has ever been signed between them ending WWII, with two Japanese
islands (the Kiril islands) remaining under Russian occupation.

--Lee


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