Greetings Steemit!
Today, August 9th, is the 72nd anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
I have already seen some truly jaw-dropping examples today of how uneducated these anti-American morons controlling the media have become.
Some of these people feel we should never have dropped the bomb. They say it was a war crime and we should have invaded the islands instead.
I study world history every chance I can. I would consider myself to be quite versed in any aspect of the second world war. So here is why we had no other choice but to drop both bombs.
---
We were forced to drop the bomb on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945. Had we not taken such drastic approaches, we may have lost the war in the pacific.
The original plan, in the event that Oppenheimer and his colleagues failed in their hellish task, was to prepare for the full-scale invasion of the mainland. After the near-crippling disaster known as Operation Overlord, or "D-Day", the American commanders knew they could not bring tanks ashore until the beaches had been secured. (During D-Day, 29 experimental floating Sherman tanks, called "DD Tanks", attempted to land but ultimately only two made it ashore and were even these were quickly incapacitated.) Without armor, the infantry would be sitting ducks. The Japanese anti-air divisions and air force squadrons would prohibit the American B29 Super-Fortresses from providing aerial support. Japanese tanks would have no counterpart, making them infinitely deadlier.
Every beach in every Japanese controlled territory was rigged with mines and traps, and enemy combatants were crawling all over the place. Many beaches were comprised of black sand, which the Americans had encountered before; black sand cannot simply be walked upon. A soldier would have to wade through the shifty sands before having the chance to fire. The first time the Americans dealt with these sands, they were slaughtered by the enemy positions surrounding the helpless marines.
Last but probably the most important factor considered was the mentality of the Japanese people. Every man, woman and child believed that their emperor was a god. They were taught from childhood that to die in defense of their emperor would honor their families and their descendants for generations to come. Every living soul on the islands would have fought to their last breath for each millimeter of ground. The population of Tokyo in 1945 was roughly 3.49 million. This means that our hundreds of thousands of soldiers would have had to fight through enemy territory against an entire radicalized population; this is not even to mention that our soldiers couldn't just shoot women and children on sight either. Standing orders would have been to engage once engaged.
American commanders knew they simply could not fight that kind of mentality so deeply ingrained in the people of their enemy.
Harry S. Truman took office during the period of time when American commanders were weighing the options of attacking the mainland.
Dr. Oppenheimer had completed his project, and the New Mexico tests were a complete success. $2 billion worth of research and development had brought two new weapons.
Little Boy was the first uranium-core bomb and Fat Man was the first plutonium-core bomb. These two bombs were ready to be dropped if President Truman decided to act accordingly.
He understood that a full-scale invasion meant hundreds of thousands of casualties without guarantee of victory.
On August 6th, 1945, Little Boy was dropped over the city of Hiroshima. Between 90,000 and 150,000 civilians and soldiers were killed in the blast and the intense radiation following.
President Truman demanded the emperor surrender or he would destroy another city. The emperor did not surrender so a second bomb was brought into play.
Fat Man was dropped on the city of Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. An estimated 40,000-80,000 civilians and soldiers were killed in this bombing.
The emperor responded this time by surrendering the Japanese empire, as well as publicly announcing that he was not a god. He was afraid that his people would die in their attempts to fight the Americans despite the surrender. On September 2nd, 1945, on the USS Missouri, the emperor officially signed the peace treaty surrendering to the allied forces.
What many people either don't know or fail to understand is that the emperor was not running the war. Emperor Hirohito had no idea that his generals attacked Pearl Harbor. He was told that we attacked him first and they were defending themselves. He was blinded by his trust in his generals, who didn't allow him to surrender after the first bomb was dropped. This is why the emperor was allowed to remain in control of his country after the war had ended.
So back to the purpose of this article: was the bomb justified? Look at the numbers and you tell me.
Had we invaded, we risked
Dropping the bomb, the numbers stood at
The allies lost an entire 20 men due to the blast (POW's).
These numbers are figures I have off hand but a simple google search verifies them.
In my opinion, and judging by the facts, there was no alternative. Dropping the bomb brought an end to a war that had the potential to have been far, far bloodier.
---
If you believe we shouldn't have dropped the bomb, tell me why in a comment. Or if you agree, let me know. I'll respond to every comment; let's have a discussion!
