Tony Magliano, in his Making a Difference editorial on Nuclear destruction makes a good point but neglects a better one. In hindsight, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki appear not to have brought about Japan's unconditional surrender in WWII.
However Mr. Magliano neglected the better point; the reason Japan actually surrendered. If we are in the future to avoid the mistakes of the past, a dangerous future by all accounts, we need to understand the better points of history, and the U.S. Strategic bombing survey from which Magliano quotes says clearly that superior American Air Power was the main reason Japan surrended.
So in this historical instance, superior military air power made the nuclear option unnecessary.
Jay G
6 comments :
Arguably worse in terms of loss of human life were these Japanese atrocities.
Billy Mitchell knew long before most. Court-martialed for speaking the truth. How we treat our heroes. In 1924, he warned of a future war with Japan and said that the Japanese would attack Hawaii. He was ridiculed.
Another day which will live in infamy.
Tony Magliano concludes his column by asserting that, "The majority of Japanese people, most of whom are not Christian, understand far better the nonviolent teachings of Jesus than most Christians care to. Honestly, who would Jesus bomb?"
Yes Tony, the Japanese people were so nonviolent that they brutally attacked Pearl Harbor killing innocent men and women and provoking a war. They are so committed toward "the nonviolent teachings of Jesus" that engaged in war crimes, torturing prisoners of war. Remember Bataan Tony?
How about the way the Japanese slaughtered Chinese men and women by the thousands Tony?
Tony, take your brand of self-loathing anti-Americanism and sell it somewhere else. We aren't buying it.
The war crimes of the nonviolent peace-loving Japanese:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CBoQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FJapanese_war_crimes&ei=TFxgTJP_KsL6lweIvZiYCA&usg=AFQjCNGIqZ-vhky-Zxtpr2v83WQRuTdN3w
What would Jesus do Tony?
Michael,
Here's your link in an easier to click on format
One thing is certain, Mr. Magliano is not a historian. How convinced should we be of his arguments when he cannot even get basic historical facts straight. For example, he writes, "The most authoritative Air Force unit during World War II was the United States Strategic Bombing Survey..."
Actually, the United States Air Force was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947, as a result of the National Security Act of 1947.
The forerunner of today's USAF was the U.S. Army Air Corps.
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