67 Years Ago TODAY....

[Barua]

Here's the million dollar question. Would the US have dropped the A-Bomb on a German city if the Nazis still had a capable fight force, and had not already surrendered?

In order to get a nations soldiers to justify killing en masse, without regret, you have to dehumanize your enemy. In the Japanese-American dynamic that was certainly the case (used by both sides); but interestingly enough, not used with the German-American one.

I agree the A-Bomb ended the war, and saved millions of lives, but would have it ever been considered.... seriously, to be deployed against a "European" nation? I think not, boots would have been put on the beaches.

Actually, one of the main reasons for dropping the bomb on a Japanese city was the US was fearful of reverse engineering. The US viewed the Japanese as subhuman opposed to Europeans which would hit a little closer to home per say.
In the event that the bomb didn't detonate as expected, the Japanese would be less likely to use the technology effectively against us.

 

[cobber]

That's true, It is better the US has the bomb rather than not, and things may very well have turn-out worse if we had not used the bomb. I guess at this point it's all just academic.

I suppose I'm just part of this newfangled generation who would prefer not to nuke someone else. (except maybe Canada)

Better we had the bomb than, say, Japan or Germany. I don't imagine they would have hesitated using the bomb for a moment.

Reportedly Japan had developed their own bomb, using German fissile materials. Imagine a Japanese mini-sub with a bomb in San Francisco Bay...

 

[CarmelHP]

Here's the million dollar question. Would the US have dropped the A-Bomb on a German city if the Nazis still had a capable fight force, and had not already surrendered?

In order to get a nations soldiers to justify killing en masse, without regret, you have to dehumanize your enemy. In the Japanese-American dynamic that was certainly the case (used by both sides); but interestingly enough, not used with the German-American one.

I agree the A-Bomb ended the war, and saved millions of lives, but would have it ever been considered.... seriously, to be deployed against a "European" nation? I think not, boots would have been put on the beaches.

Ever hear of Operation Gomorrah. The resulting firestorm killed 43,000 and wounded another 37,000 in Hamburg. I know you love to reduce everything to race, but all the historical evidence suggests we treated Nazi Germany at least as bad, if not worse, than Japan and would not have hesitated to drop a A-bomb on Hitler if such were ready earlier.

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

During WWII, the allies focused their research capabilities to create weapons of mass destruction. The US focused on nuclear weapons. The British focused on chemical and biological weapons. The UK manufactured enough anthrax pellets, designed for aerial delivery in 1944, to kill every mammal in Nazi Germany. They were never deployed simply because the RAF deployed highly effective fire raids on German cities.

The Allies also had the incentive to invade mainland Europe, to stop the deployment of Hitler's V-1 and V-2 weapons against the UK.

 

[Caleb]

You would have to be woefully ignorant of the consequences of nuclear warfare to think that this won't be debated for centuries to come.

And that's without taking ANY side in the debate about the legality or prudence of using the bomb against Japan.

Was this intended to be an insult?

 

[KoopaKGB]

US viewed the Japanese as subhuman opposed to Europeans which would hit a little closer to home per say.

Heck we imprisioned every Japanese citizen in the US during the war. German citizens lived a much better life in the US. The Japanese were a kind of sub human species in the far far east. Where as a lot of Americans had decended from German ancestors. The American citizens who descended from Japanese ancestors were locked away in prison camps.

 

[downzero]

Was this intended to be an insult?

No. I'm merely pointing out that there are serious and drastic moral consequences to nuclear warfare, and it should not be a surprise that this decision will be debated for as long as humanity is on this earth, and they should do so.

When ethics starts having yes and no answers, nobody will like the consequences.

 

[badwolf.usmc]

Heck we imprisioned every Japanese citizen in the US during the war. German citizens lived a much better life in the US. The Japanese were a kind of sub human species in the far far east. Where as a lot of Americans had decended from German ancestors. The American citizens who descended from Japanese ancestors were locked away in prison camps.

Not all Japanese Americans were imprisoned, mostly those on the western seaboard. Ever heard of the 442nd Regiment? It is the most highly decorated regiment in Army history and was made of mostly Japanese-Americans, some with families who were in internment camps.

Don't forget that there were a few German and Italian Americans from the eastern seaboard interned as well.

 

[KoopaKGB]

Not all Japanese Americans were imprisoned, mostly those on the western seaboard. Ever heard of the 442nd Regiment? It is the most highly decorated regiment in Army history and was made of mostly Japanese-Americans, some with families who were in internment camps.

Don't forget that there were a few German and Italian Americans from the eastern seaboard interned as well.

Thanks for the fact check. I didnt even think about the German and Italian Americans.

 

[dswilson]

German POW's were held right here in Indiana and used for labor at a canning factory in Shelby County.

 

[jeremy]

Those 2 bombs probably saved more Japanese lives than if we were to invade the Island...