Thread: Pearl Harbor and the atomic bombs

The farther away from the event you go, the farther away you get from reality.

rick barclay

The Japanese already made the mistake of attacking the US. If they had not attacked the US, they would not have joined the war and therefore, one less foe.
--------------------------------
Engineer223

Originally posted by Engineer223
The Japanese already made the mistake of attacking the US. If they had not attacked the US, they would not have joined the war and therefore, one less foe.
--------------------------------
Engineer223

You have things reversed here. The Japanese were already on a full war-footing when they attacked Pearl Harbor. If the attack had not taken place, the U.S. most likely would have entered the
war on another pretense, maybe declaring war on Germany. That
would definitely have brought Japan into the war, whether she wanted to fight the U. S. or not. But without Pearl Harbor, the American committment to a Pacific battleground might not have had the intensity as we know it today. The Japanese were fully involved in all of southeast Asia and Australia, in addition to thier
adavances along the chain of isles and atolls leading to Hawaii. If they had not been so offensive but had consolidated their postitions instead, the war in the Pacific might have dragged on far far longer than it did, because, as a predominently Caucasian
nation, American interests would have centered on Europe and
Germany, not Japan. The U.S. might have advanced as far as the Phillipines and its other Pacific territories and gone no further, leaving the Japanese to their ultimate fate at the hands of the Chinese. A U.S. free to engage the Germans would have allowed
us first entry into Berlin and beyond, up to the Soviet frontier, kept us out of Korea and Vietnam, and would have avoided a Cold War with the Soviet Union at the expense of one with Japan or China. The Chinese communists would have gained all of southeast Asia, Tibet, the Mongolias, maybe even India, Formosa, and Singapore, and would have eventually defeated Japan due to their sheer superiority in numbers.
It's surprisiong to me that historians haven't played more of a "what if" game with the events of Dec. 7, 1941. The consequences and ironies of Nippon's fatal decision to attack us
leaves history wide open to conjecture.

rick barclay

Thank you... I needed that.
-[Engineer223]-

I have stayed out of this thread but...

>>Enough of this cr#p about innocents and civilians. Man, woman, soldier, or child-- it makes no difference. They are _all_ supporters of
the war, and they paid for it.

I'm sure that Bin Laudin feels this way too, only about Americans.

The result does not justify the means.

If the Allies had 'surrounded' Japan and waited would the result have been different? No, Japan was finished and out of resources. It may have taken time but I believe less people, and many less civilians, would have died.

But there was a time constraint as the Russians were moving in on Germany. To show Russia the power of America, a practical demonstration was needed. Not to mention a practical test of the new toy.

... if the atomic bombs did not drop. How long would the war take?
----------------
Engineer223

How much were the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki lives worth?

How much is the radiation damage to our environment worth?

History is written by the winner, ever better if there is not a loser left to complain / correct.

Originally posted by Engineer223
... if the atomic bombs did not drop. How long would the war take?
----------------
Engineer223

I checked out and found that the war was officialy finished, at the time the bombs were dropped.

>How much were the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki lives worth?

How much is the radiation damage to our environment worth?

History is written by the winner, ever better if there is not a loser left to complain / correct.<

It was worth all the American lives that were saved because the bomb WAS dropped. I think the estimated American casualties in lieu of dropping the bomb was something like 50,000. Might have been more. What was cost to us in lives, dollars and time because
we didn't have a bomb or two to drop on Germany? It took almost
a year from the time we invaded Normandy to the date of Germany's surrender. If we has invaded Japan, how long would have it taken us to subdue them? If some people don't like the way we fight a war, then maybe next time those same whiners should fight the war themselves in their own fashion and let's see what the results are.

rick barclay

If you were Japanese civilian, you would think another way...
If you had family, that is dangered from atomic bomb, you would think another way...
If your goverment got you into war you didn't want, you would think another way...

Soon or later, it will happen!
And then- post again!

Of course I would, but I'm not, and so I don't.
Winners think like winners; losers think like losers.

We've already been in a war we eventually came to realize was wrong--Vietnam. And, because this is a democracy which just happens to listen to its constituency, we did get out.
If you make a mistake, admit it and get on with your life; don't constantly whine about what went wrong!

rick barclay

This is called egoism.

Originally posted by loobian
This is called egoism.

What is? And why is it?

rick barclay