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80 years after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan continues to hold its hypocritical ceremonies, as the former genocidal militarists pretend they were innocent pacifists, the media bemoans the use of atomic weapons as a war crime and some voices who were once on the right, like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, denounce America for defending itself and bringing WWII to an end.
The basic facts are simple though.
Conventional weapons, including the firebombing of Tokyo, took more lives than the use of the atom bomb. Had the United States been forced to engage in a conventional invasion of Japan, far more American and Japanese lives would have been lost.
The Japanese leadership was preparing the civilian population to engage in suicide tactics, including attacking American GIs with blades and spears, and its soldiers were prepped to fight to the last.
1.5 million Purple Hearts were prepared for an invasion of Japan. As of a few years ago, they were still being awarded.
Millions of Japanese would have died as a result of such an invasion. It took the atomic bomb to shock the Japanese leadership out of its suicidal frenzy and to force the emperor to intervene.
The only people in denial about these basic facts hate America. And there are plenty of them around these days.
I celebrate August 6 every year, knowing the chance of my post World War II birth was close to nil had US Marines been forced to invade the Japanese home islands. This celebration is enhanced by the knowledge that millions of Japanese lived after the surrender and also had children, none of whom would have been born had the invasion occurred. The effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki pale in comparison to the horrors of fire bombing in Tokyo and Nagasaki, but the horror of radiation sickness (from which Americans have not been immune) make the stories of atomic bomb survivors very pointed. Missing from the accounts of these poor souls is the treatment they suffered from their fellow citizens after the war.
The bombs saved millions of lives.
You’re an immoral sack of garbage. The world is better without you
Explain your opinion.
Maybe Truman has a leftover hanky for you hocusgift so when you blubber, you can wipe the snot, and tears pouring down your face. communists aren’t criers
Why? Because he’s glad hundreds of thousands of Allied and Japanese soldiers, and Japanese civilians, didn’t die in an invadion of the Japanese islands?
You’re a blatant hypocrite.
America estimated it would lose a million men in Operation Olympic and Japan would have lost more than three times that, minimum. It would’ve been worse actually, because Imperial Japan had far more tanks, planes and other weaponry than was thought. And the Japanese military was killing 200,000 people a month at the time, nearly all of them civilians, which was murder. But hey, they were just little brown and yellow people, so why should you care?
The Imperials refused to surrender even after the second atomic bomb was dropped and swore to fight to the last man, woman and child. Emperor Hirohito had to intervene and order an “unconditional” surrender. Those bombs saved untold millions of people and ended WWII.
The world be better off without an evil sack of shit like YOU.
thank you – my Dad was serving in the Navy in the South Pacific in 1944-45 and I am also lucky to be here on account the war ending when it did – anyone that denies dropping the bomb is also missing the distinct 100% chance President Truman would have been impeached had Congress known about the atomic bomb and he had decided not to use it – his replacement would have had to agree to using the bomb to end the war – also the Russians declaring war on Japan in 1945 led the Japanese to decide that Americans running their country was clearly preferable than Russians
Saved a massive number of lives. To be honest no one should care other than the American lives that would be lost.
The Japanese and the Germans were absolute pigs during the war. From my meager reading of history, I have little doubt that between the two, the Japanese easily won the crown as to which was more horrific with an uglier more depraved war record. It was death and depravity by both countries without decency and honor, mechanized and attenuated to be highly efficient, near perfect imperialist death machines. Since the Germans were under the direction of communism/socialism it would seem that there is a bit of an excuse for the German people. With the Japanese the explanation isn’t as apparent, but it is an obvious question how did these people get so depraved and monstrous?
The answer comes from looking at the behavior of the troops from both countries during WWI. Both had exemplary records with their treatment towards prisoners and troops from other countries during the war. During WW II the nazi’s had ready made power pigs at all levels of government and the military since they were socialists and the Japanese had a similar problem with their military generals also obsessed with power and being in control. Even though it was a heavily a feudal society the main factor effecting results in the system were once again power pigs who manufactured a defacto coup against the emperor and the Japanese parliament.
So the point of bringing this up, how responsible were the Japanese people if it was a few generals who illegally shaped Japan into being a monster? It may not be answerable, but what is not arguable is whether they had the Japanese people poised to fight to the death in the same way they had made their military a depraved killing machine. Man, women and child felt it better to die.
It’s immoral to uselessly allow your own troops to be killed. The reality facing Truman was he would have to order his troops to commit what was nearly genocide and make Japan a killing field for both sides.
The Japanese are incredibly lucky because Truman saved them from the Russians, who would have entered with the goal of total conquest, and would never have given the Japanese population a break.
Do you know what the word “exemplary” means or are you being sarcastic?
World war I, not two. Both Germany and Japan mostly acted with honor, if there is such a thing in war and within war parameters. Captives surprisingly were very well treated by the Japanese. Germany not so much. Of course there are always atrocities committed by both sides. One of the stories in WWI is of Germans and the English singing together during Christmas.
WWII both were monstrous.
The Russians never beat the Japanese EVER. They ALWAYS lost.
Actually, now that I think of it, the Russians did win two battles in WWII because the Japanese were busy in Manchuria.
Truman said he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself or face the American people if he had a means to end the War but hadn’t used it.
It was war and they started it, End of discussion.
War is an intransigent, perennial reality of human history, and it is always ugly. Critics of the bomb ignore that reality and the hard choices that must be made. Listening to them is a waste of time, even though psychologically interesting.
Let everyone who believes war is unnecessary form their own country and see how long it lasts. Only the return of Jesus Christ will solve the problem.
Ask any US Serviceman who was set to invade Japan how they feel about the use of the atomic bombs to end the war. I have. They all say the same thing: “Thank God we did.”
The Japanese often did also. They knew what the mindset was.
This article touches on it. The familiar story is that the nuclear bombs saved 1-2 million American lives. It doesnt include Japanese lives saved. There were 72 million Jajpanes on the islands when the invasion would have taken place. It is not an overestimate to think half would have been killed in the fighting.
The usual estimates are that 1-2 million Japanese would have been killed by conventional bombings and an invasion.
That’s not counting the tens of thousands, at least, that would have died from starvation and cold in the winter of 1945-6.
Japan couldn’t feed its population and relied extremely heavily on coal from Korea and Manchuria to generate electricity and provide heating.
By July 1945 the USAAF had effectively stopped all shipping from reaching Japan, meaning no food and no coal.
Hari Kari alone might have been 1-2 million. We’ve all seen the films where a mother takes her children to a cliff and they all jump
That was Iwo Jima.
As most know, the Pacific was a Navy war and Europe was an Army war. The Navy estimated 7-9M Japanese casualties in an invasion of Japan; the army estimated 4-6M. Both estimated 1M American dead. The two nukes killed on the order of about 400K, including the first year of radiations deaths. For those in Portland, nukes saved between 6-8M lives. The idea that nukes were “immoral” or a bad idea or not needed (why not a demo nuke detonation? What do you think Hiroshima was? Still required Nagasaki…) is childish. Nukes saved lives. Millions of them. Had Truman the balls to nuke Pyongyang in 1950, a nuke might have saved 2M Korean and 50K American lives. Ditto for Vietnam – if we even needed to deal with them had we nuked the Norks.
There were not enough atomic bombs to use any for a demonstration bombing at sea. Japan did not surrender after one was used on a city. Each bomb had to be transported across the Pacific to a bomber. There was no guarantee of it making it there.
Mc Arthur was an idiot
Thanks, I forgot the correct Navy and Army casualty projections for the Japanese.
And yes, Truman should’ve followed MacArthur’s urging in the Korean War, not fired him.
And in the Vietnam War, the Ho Chi Minh trail should’ve been bombed all the way up to Ho Chi Minh himself. Fuck the Soviet Union. It wasn’t going to go to war with America over him and its failed attempt to spread communism.
Professor Dan, you are very bold and brave to publish an article like this. Statistically true. The horrors of humanity against humanity and what it takes to stop wars in the industrial age and here we are in the technical era and MOSSAD sends exploding cell phones and pages and I still find that amusing and how this war against Israel will finally end along with Ukraine and Russia war.
Of course I could not let this article ]of the first and only nuclear weapon used in war and hopefully the last to mention in 1972 I had lunch with Dr, Frank Oppenheimer who worked on the A Bomb with his brother J. Robert Oppenheimer until Frank’s security clearance was voided out.
Frank was building the original Exploratorium(.edu) in the Palace D’ Arts in the Marina District in San Francisco. What a delight SF was in those years before demoncrap governance turned it to open feces and used hypodermic needles
Absolutely no doubt use of the bomb saved millions of Japanese and Americans including my uncle in the Navy. He was part of the invasion assault on the Japanese home islands. Those who say differently are historically illiterate, or fools, or liars.
My father left Germany after they surrendered, returned to the states and was in California on his way to AJapan when they finally surrendered. While horrible, the atomic bomb did save lives on both sides.
My father was in a similar situation.
He was in the Royal Australian Air Force and had served with Bomber Command in the UK in the winter of ’44-5, returned to Australia, and was about to go north when the War ended.
Fun fact: M. Stanton Evans revealed in his book on Joseph McCarthy – Blacklisted by History, that Soviet agents in Japan, specifically Richard Sorge, convinced the Japanese leadership to attack the U.S. instead of the USSR for oil and resources.
Yes, the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred because of Richard Sorge.
Soviet agents in FDRs administration also undermined pre-war peace talks between Japan and the U.S. and effectively ensured that both countries would go on a war footing.
FDR then “punished” the USSR by allying with them and handing them Eastern Europe.
The consequences of this subterfuge cannot be understated.
Sorge didn’t convince Japan to attack the US. He just told Moscow that Japan was going to attack south instead of the Soviet Union. So Stalin withdrew his Eastern forces to aid the disastrous campaign against the Nazis. Sorge didn’t even know Japan was going to bomb Pearl Harbor, he thought they were headed for the Dutch East Indies.
The decision to attack America was made by an Imperial Conference—a meeting of Japan’s top military and political leaders conducted in the Emperor’s presence, The Imperial Conference set Japan’s policy.
There were obviously commie spies in Roosevelt’s administration, though, and not just Alger Hiss.
My Dad was on a minesweeper and was preparing to be with other minesweepers ahead of the invasion force to clear mines for beach landings. It would have been a suicide mission and I would have never been born. All I can say is that Imperial Japan paid a very heavy price for it’s aggression, violence and horrific cruelty. Over 3 million killed , military and civilians. The nation in ruins and we tried and executed their leadership . Then, my parents’ generation did the right thing. We displayed mercy, and my father was in full agreement to do so. We fed them, assisted in rebuilding and fostered a lasting friendship with our former enemy. America and the American people are to be commended. The United States is the greatest nation is the history of the world.
Hundreds of thousands of POWs, including Americans, held by Japan were saved by the surrender of Japan. They were ordered to be killed before American troops saved them. Many Americans were saved by not having to invade Japan. That includes those with the highest casualty rates, the crews of bombers.
And the Japanese treated their prisoners of war abominably.
They considered anybody captured was a coward and it fueled their already incredibly barbaric natures.
I read “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” some years ago and it depicted horrendous acts of depravity and barbarity of the Japanese against their captives. Great book, though. The protagonist returned to Japan to seek out his former captives with the message of the Gospel of Christ.
“former captors”
The former Olympic athlete, right? Angelina Jolie directed a movie about that entitled “Unbroken.”
Oh, please. Japan was also working on an atomic bomb. A fact that’s well documented, but conveniently overlooked, allowing the Japanese to paint themselves as the innocent victims of evil America.
Very true and they would have dropped it in a population center not two military targets like we did.
Truman was very careful to leave Tokyo intact. Didn’t want all the history and it’s iconic nature to be destroyed
I agree with a lot of what you had to say. While there have been anime and manga that have protested the bombings like “Barefoot Gen” and others,they rarely go into what it might have been like if the Allies had to invade Japan. Many veterans of that war are in agreement that it would have been a bloodbath from one end of the country to the other. I’m just glad that something like Operation Downfall wasn’t needed because of the atom bombs.
I agree that the loss of Japanese lives was terrible,but it could have been a lot worse if it hadn’t been there.
Japanese casualties would have been in the millions from the continued air attacks of LeMay’s 20th Air Force and the combined Army and Marine invasions and ground campaigns plus the planned suicide attacks of civilians, with explosives strapped on their bodies Much like Hamas/PLO and even the elderly and children armed with sharpened spears
Lemay no doubt would have used incendiaries again on all those wooden buildings
Americans would have hated slaughtering an enemy with only spears and killing civilians
Yes, but say what we will about the Imperial Japanese, they were brave, not cowards like the subhumans of Hamas and the former PLO.
You took the words right off my keyboard. But it was truly tragic that so many totally innocent Japanese -CHILDREN-were exposed to radiation and developed leukemia. Unborn babies, ecposed to radiation, were born deformed or retarded.
maybe not as tragic as the Japanese Army raping children and women and killing everybody in a city like Manila as a response to losing
When they were winning it was the same playbook, Shanghai and other Chinese cities
Indonesia, too.
Yes it was. Just as tragic as children being burned alive in the fire bombing of Dresden. And the Soviets raping girls and murdering fathers in Eastern Europe. And Eichman having babies and children shot. And we all know about the Final Solution.
The difference between America and Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan is that they brought their tragedy on themselves. Our motivations were totally different.
George Orwell’s classic dystopia, 1984, which should have won the Nobel Prize for literarure, and didn”t, because the assorted Nobel Prize for literature committees, over the decades, have had a snooty bias against fantasy and science fiction, is set in a post nuclear war world. A man as well informed as Orwell must have known about the radiation sickness in Hiroshima and Nagasali, but he nowhere mentions that Winston Smith lived in almost as much fear of the symptoms of leukemia as he did of the thought police
Socialist/communist Orwell
30s 40s 50s Orwell had his pick of things he could have dwelled on
Orwell wasn’t a communist. And he believed in some fantasy version of socialism that was beneficial. The Oceanaia dystopia was a warning. For such an intelligent man, he had some fanciful notions.
Probably some people haven’t studied the American invasion plans for the Japanese mainland. They expected at least a million casualties from American soldiers, and uncountable Japanese casualties. On top of that Russia would have occupied half of Japan.
Exactly. And Operation Olympic would’ve been even worse than predicted because it turns out the main islands were far better armed than they had been thought to be.
Those bombs ended the war and saved countless more lives than they ended.