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The claim rests on the simple to understand principle that purposely targeting civilians (entire cities of civilians) for destruction is a war crime. Should the

The claim rests on the simple to understand principle that purposely targeting civilians (entire cities of civilians) for destruction is a war crime. Should the American Empire falter one day, the claim will be made with just cause. Just because things are one way today, does not meant forever will be.

defrost 2y ago
So the Tokyo firebombing alone is sufficient then? Coupled with 71 other cities (besides H&N) that were largely civilian targets that seems more than enough. Okay, the question posed above remains, what does that have to do with Hiroshima | Nagasaki, and the (non) depictions within a recent film?
- dukeofdoom 2y ago
  Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is the pinnacle event that solidified the US being a nuclear super power. Its willful use of nuclear weapons on civilians is one of the main ways the US projected power in the last century. The movie not showing how the sausage was made, is because Hollywood has a tendency to show propaganda movies. US good, world bad. This movie had a huge reach. "Economist / YouGov Poll, which found that 32% of U.S. adult citizens say they had seen "Barbie" and 24% had seen "Oppenheimer." A nuclear conflict with Russia, is what is on the table. Perhaps, if US citizens were exposed to graphic brutality of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it might sway political opinion. And for example influence the next election. >So the Tokyo firebombing alone is sufficient then? Is it sufficient for you? It might not be for some people. However, all plausible deniability is lost, that you're not targeting civilians when you nuclear bomb their city. If Putin deployed nuclear weapons on Kiev tomorrow, with the goal of ending the war faster, it would be a war crime. I hope we agree.
  - defrost 2y ago
    You haven't advanced the odd assertion made here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40713250 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40713250 that some outside force prevented the director from depicting scenes of nuclear devastation. There are films, some from US directors, that already make such depictions. You'd make a far better case if you made more concrete claims that could be backed up, eg: that the director in question made a number of past films and wanted to make future films that had US DoD support with access to real military equipment (this is a thing) that would otherwise be unobtainable | cost vast sums of money .. and the rider that comes with such cooperation is an agreement not to depict US military in particular ways. This reparations line isn't particularly convincing.
refurb 2y ago
They weren't targeted purposefully for killing civilians. Where did you get that from? The Target Committee nominated five targets: Kokura (now Kitakyushu), the site of one of Japan's largest munitions plants; Hiroshima, an embarkation port and industrial center that was the site of a major military headquarters; Yokohama, an urban center for aircraft manufacture, machine tools, docks, electrical equipment and oil refineries; Niigata, a port with industrial facilities including steel and aluminum plants and an oil refinery; and Kyoto, a major industrial center.
pjc50 2y ago
> purposely targeting civilians (entire cities of civilians) for destruction is a war crime https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Chongqing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Chongqing Few parties ended up with really clean hands in WW2.

defrost 2y ago

So the Tokyo firebombing alone is sufficient then? Coupled with 71 other cities (besides H&N) that were largely civilian targets that seems more than enough. Okay, the question posed above remains, what does that have to do with Hiroshima | Nagasaki, and the (non) depictions within a recent film?

dukeofdoom 2y ago
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is the pinnacle event that solidified the US being a nuclear super power. Its willful use of nuclear weapons on civilians is one of the main ways the US projected power in the last century. The movie not showing how the sausage was made, is because Hollywood has a tendency to show propaganda movies. US good, world bad. This movie had a huge reach. "Economist / YouGov Poll, which found that 32% of U.S. adult citizens say they had seen "Barbie" and 24% had seen "Oppenheimer." A nuclear conflict with Russia, is what is on the table. Perhaps, if US citizens were exposed to graphic brutality of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it might sway political opinion. And for example influence the next election. >So the Tokyo firebombing alone is sufficient then? Is it sufficient for you? It might not be for some people. However, all plausible deniability is lost, that you're not targeting civilians when you nuclear bomb their city. If Putin deployed nuclear weapons on Kiev tomorrow, with the goal of ending the war faster, it would be a war crime. I hope we agree.
- defrost 2y ago
  You haven't advanced the odd assertion made here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40713250 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40713250 that some outside force prevented the director from depicting scenes of nuclear devastation. There are films, some from US directors, that already make such depictions. You'd make a far better case if you made more concrete claims that could be backed up, eg: that the director in question made a number of past films and wanted to make future films that had US DoD support with access to real military equipment (this is a thing) that would otherwise be unobtainable | cost vast sums of money .. and the rider that comes with such cooperation is an agreement not to depict US military in particular ways. This reparations line isn't particularly convincing.

refurb 2y ago

They weren't targeted purposefully for killing civilians. Where did you get that from? The Target Committee nominated five targets: Kokura (now Kitakyushu), the site of one of Japan's largest munitions plants; Hiroshima, an embarkation port and industrial center that was the site of a major military headquarters; Yokohama, an urban center for aircraft manufacture, machine tools, docks, electrical equipment and oil refineries; Niigata, a port with industrial facilities including steel and aluminum plants and an oil refinery; and Kyoto, a major industrial center.

pjc50 2y ago

> purposely targeting civilians (entire cities of civilians) for destruction is a war crime https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Chongqing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Chongqing Few parties ended up with really clean hands in WW2.