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I also found myself agreeing with a lot of what he said, but at the same time, I can't imagine coming to the conclusion that the only way out is to drop not one

by cyphax 11y ago

I also found myself agreeing with a lot of what he said, but at the same time, I can't imagine coming to the conclusion that the only way out is to drop not one but two atomic bombs on cities. It's easy to say "but if we hadn't done that we would've ended up killing many more on the ground" but that's speculation, even if it's well-founded. There's no alternative timeline that we can point at and say: look, this is what happened if we hadn't dropped the bombs so we had no choice. There was always a choice and I don't think I could ever make the choice they made.

MrBuddyCasino 11y ago
Hmm, I guess thats true. The second bomb probably wasn't necessary. One must not forget though that the conventional firebombing of the vulnerable wood and paper housings had already claimed much more lives up to that point, so it wasn't exactly a difference in the scale of human lives lost. Maybe the emperor was scared they'd drop one on him? I know the US military discussed that option.
sethammons 11y ago
If I recall, America first said, "surrender, or we will unleash an unimaginable weapon upon you." Japan says, "go pound sand." America drops the bomb and says, "if you don't surrender, we will do it again." Japan says, "there is no way you have more than one of those. Pound sand." America drops the next one. Japan surrenders.
- hga 11y ago
  There's also the "Would you prefer to surrender to us, or the Soviets who are currently grinding your Army into sand in Manchuria?" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Manchuria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Manchuria)? It would have taken some time for them to have arranged to invade more than Sakhalin Island on down to the Kurils, but it's very possible they might have grabbed some of the home islands, in which case Japan would have a lot more to be upset about than the four of the Kurils off Hokkaido it still wants back: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuril_Islands_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuril_Islands_dispute

by cyphax 11y ago

MrBuddyCasino 11y ago

Hmm, I guess thats true. The second bomb probably wasn't necessary. One must not forget though that the conventional firebombing of the vulnerable wood and paper housings had already claimed much more lives up to that point, so it wasn't exactly a difference in the scale of human lives lost. Maybe the emperor was scared they'd drop one on him? I know the US military discussed that option.

sethammons 11y ago

If I recall, America first said, "surrender, or we will unleash an unimaginable weapon upon you." Japan says, "go pound sand." America drops the bomb and says, "if you don't surrender, we will do it again." Japan says, "there is no way you have more than one of those. Pound sand." America drops the next one. Japan surrenders.

hga 11y ago
There's also the "Would you prefer to surrender to us, or the Soviets who are currently grinding your Army into sand in Manchuria?" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Manchuria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Manchuria)? It would have taken some time for them to have arranged to invade more than Sakhalin Island on down to the Kurils, but it's very possible they might have grabbed some of the home islands, in which case Japan would have a lot more to be upset about than the four of the Kurils off Hokkaido it still wants back: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuril_Islands_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuril_Islands_dispute