Was it a war crime?

Was it a war crime when the US nuked Hiroshima & Nagasaki?

The Japanese were specifically warned of assured utter devastation. They made no effort to capitulate. The first Bomb was dropped. The Japanese did not tender capitulation.

They were warned of more of the same to follow. They did not respond in a satisfactory manner. They continued to carry out preparations for Homeland Defense while Japanese Naval, Air, and Land Asserts continued hostile action. The Second Bomb was dropped. The Japanese capitulated..

It is my belief that the main reason we dropped the second bomb was because we had two designs of bomb: fat man and little boy, and the military wanted to test both to see which was the 'better' bomb...

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were highly populated cities,so were the surrounding areas plus they were full of of women, children and infants.. these were not vital tactical target sites bombed by the USA there were no bases there for any for munitions..No enemy ships in the harbors or armed forces as far as i know of..

I see no rationale reason for these 2 city's to be destroyed..But maybe it was a smart move on the part of the USA to strengthen the "position at the bargaining table" The Soviet Union didn't have any such bomb yet, so it looks like we had the upper hand at the time so we could have everything our way..


Ive had people say the reason that these bombs were justified, was based on the fact that Truman was forced into a corner that could have led to more deaths for all the countries. He ended the entire war with two bombs and Japan didn't think twice with Pearl Harbor, there were innocent family members there too. The Atomic Bombs wasn't just merely to end the war, it was an American payback...

Did we do this to show the Soviet Union that the United States was the most powerful nation in the world i would think Japan would have known this already...Did the USA do this to prove it to themselves? Then the USSR quickly became a superpower with atomic weapons by the end of the 1940s that brought in the cold war..They didn't want to be under the thumb of the US, anymore than they wanted to be ruled by the Nazis...


I just cant see what we did to the two Japanese cities worth it..all the after effects of radiation poisoning,all the human deformity's,some of them lived suffering,for hours maybe weeks or months before dying being burned alive all over there body's that had to be a horrific site,sure the war ended but at the cost of the destruction of the nation and its people as a whole...I hope we never have another nuclear war.



Do you think Truman made the right decision? Or do you think it could have been handled differently?
Thanks for flying,sugarcookie1

Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Real Footage)

I feel the nuke would have been much better suited to be dropped on say Iwo Jima or something military natured.

I will answer yes because it was dropped on 2 cities full of civilians.

reply to post by yourmaker


yourmaker
It was completely inhumane of US leaders to drop the bombs and kill thousands of civilians who were not a part of the war.But thats just how i feel..peace,sugarcookie1

It very well could have been. But at the same time, there were many of the Nazi leaders who ordered executions and also walked away unscathed.

The only way to enforce any type of action is to take action, if you leave that up to the UN or then League of Nations, most of the worst types of criminals will walk away free.

reply to post by sugarcookie1


Dear sugarcookie1,

I hate the answer. It is because those cities were manufacturing what was used in the war. The military are taught to take out the supply lines, it is the quickest way and best way to take out the military. General Douglas MacArthur was the best at it. His whole plan for the war was to cut the supply lines of the Japanese, they called it island hopping. If you cannot get reinforcements or supplies, then you cease to matter and we go around you thereby conserving our supplies. Manufacturing is much more complicated than is shooting a gun and it takes a lot more to replace your manufacturing base.

reply to post by thehoneycomb


Russia had declared war on Japan as well. Unconditional surrender was not an option for Japan and they would have fought until all of Japans military personal were gone.

But to me it still does not justify dropping a bomb on thousands of civilians ..peace,sugarcookie1

I am not sure if the force that was used in the bombings of these two cities and the complete devastation caused by it was completely necessary. Yes, they killed many Americans with the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor, which was completely uncalled for. But what we responded with was many steps beyond what they did to us, taking many more lives. They did deserve retribution, but we responded in a much more devastating way. Very nice post Sugarcookie. Well thought out and poignant.

reply to post by sugarcookie1


I dont think it did either. But you have to remember that some of those in the US financed both sides and imported their top scientists to the US after the war. I agree it was not justified and sadly some people live their whole lives without ever being brought to justice.

reply to post by sugarcookie1


Mabey the way to answer the question is to ask the reverse question. What would of happened if the bombs werent dropped. How would the war of ended, and how many lives would be lost in the process of a conventional war to bring Japan to surrender.

What would they have called it if we went in and pulled a Darfur on Japan? Pride alone would have propelled every man woman and child into ANY invading force attacking them.It would have been their GIRI to die that way if their leadership had not surrendered.

Did you forget about what we did to Dresden? No nukes but we carpet bombed a (mostly) civilian population into oblivion?

More here from Wikipedia:

he Bombing of Dresden was a military attack on the city of Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony, that took place in the final months of the Second World War. In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 722 heavy bombers of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and 527 of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) dropped more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices on the city. The resulting firestorm destroyed fifteen square miles (39 square kilometres) of the city centre and caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties.[1]

In times of war things happen that are horrific. We learn nothing as a species except how to be better at killing. YEah medicine and whatnot but face it, we are all about the killing each other.

reply to post by AQuestion


Hiroshima was chosen because of its large size, its being "an important army depot"... (a description which nowadays seems to have been exaggerated) and the potential that the bomb would cause greater destruction because the city was surrounded by hills which would have a "focusing effect".peace,sugarcookie

We have been living through a sort of nuclear "war" for the last 60+ years.

2053 Nuclear detonations since Hiroshima and Nagasaki and counting...

reply to post by AthlonSavage


AthlonSavage

Good question one i have no answer for..peace,sugarcookie1

reply to post by Rubicant13


Rubicant13
Thank you for posting..Im glad you enjoyed the thread..peace,sugarcookie1

Only the uranium gun type bomb was a test. The plutonium implosion bomb was a proven design from the trinity test. But they "knew" the gun bomb would work.

Also Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not reasonable military targets.

So yes, its a war crime. By the way, why did the little boy bomb do more damage?

Furthermore, a nuclear bomb is a device specifically intended to commit war crimes, therefore shouldnt be allowed. Atleast with a gun or a (conventional) missile, it usually hits what you intended and nothing else....and if it doesnt, its not the guns fault...could be a missiles fault. Nukes are intended to kill civilians, who most likely dont even want the war. And if the district of columbia ever nukes another country again, its time to end dcs ecistance

reply to post by Mamatus


Mamatus
I agree we as humans love to kill it seems.. and war is horrific lets hope it never happens again..peace,sugarcookie1

reply to post by sugarcookie1


Dear sugarcookie,

This is from Wikipedia, not absolute but of interest.

During World War II, the Second Army and Chugoku Regional Army were headquartered in Hiroshima, and the Army Marine Headquarters was located at Ujina port. The city also had large depots of military supplies, and was a key center for shipping.[

It was a key for shipping, the supply chain. If we truly just wanted to kill people, Tokyo would have made much more sense and we had bombed it during the war. I understand war and am a pacifist; but, trained. My first degree was in History and I studied under the editor for the most famous military history periodical. I am opposed to war and a pacifist. They bombed the cities that they did because they wanted to destroy the supply chain, not people, quantities of people did not matter.

As for the second bomb, they did that because the first did not get the desired effect. The Japanese did not ask to end the war even after the first. We did not have to or want to use both bombs, think about it. Russia would have much more concerned knowing that we still had another that was already made. Using the second did not prove anything other than that we could do it again, even the Japanese did not believe we had more than one, that is why they did not immediately quit the war, they didn't think we could do it twice.

reply to post by phroziac


phroziac
thank you for posting.."Little Boy" happened to weigh 8,000 pounds and contained destructive power equal to 12.5 kilotons of TNT.

I have always considered the term "War Crime" the most ridiculous term ever. Always used by the aggressor to justify and by the aggressor as defense.

It's War. How can there be any crime involved many ask? Just the very act of war is a crime in and of itself. But then some tribunal goes and states that War must be fought HUMANELY? Such hypocrisy.

I hate war, I despise it in all its forms. Only those that are ok with it will lay out terms such War Crimes, Rules of Engagement, Acceptable Loss of Life etc. Only to justify the initial atrocity of War itself.

War is War. Innocent people die but the majority are not even recognized as having died as the result of War Crimes but rather "Collateral Damage"...Another polite term to justify murder in order for the murderers to have a clean conscience and a good night's sleep.

In other words, the very act of War IS a War Crime...against Humanity.

Peace