Hiroshima Bombing Photos Kept From Public; US Strategic Bomb Survey Photos Revealed

And that wasn't even the worst of it. Before dropping the big ones we burned to death many hundreds of thousands of Japanese men, women and children with firebombs. Many major Japanese cities we incinerated. This was a purposeful targeting of civilians - something that would be called "terrorism" if it were done by someone else.

Robert McNamera and Gen. Curtis LeMay organized these bombings. According to McNamera, LeMay told him afterward that if "we" hadn't won the war, they would be prosecuted for war crimes. McNamera also said, referring to the firebombing; that it "wasn't necessary."

It is easy to criticize the decisions of LeMay and McNamara with the benefit of hindsight. In an ideal world, the bombings would not have taken place, and hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians would have been spared.

But these bombings were not some arbitrary act of madness. The Japanese had terrorized the Far East, especially in China. If you want to read more about "purposeful targeting of civilians", then take a look at what the Japanese did in Nanjing. And let's not forget the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

Were Japanese civilians targeted? Of course. This was done to break the back of the Japanese military industrial complex, just as German civilians were targeted in order bring Hitler to his knees. War is brutal, and the Pacific Theater of World War II was arguably the most brutal war ever fought. Does this justify killing hundreds of thousands of civilians? No. But you need to remember the context in which those events took place. In short, the Japanese were not innocent victims who were brutalized for no reason. They started a bloody war, in which they killed far more people that the US did, and sadly for them it led to the destruction of their country.

So Japan targeted civilians and that makes it ok for us to do it to.

Today we call that terrorism. The civilians who were burned to death, women and children did not start the war.

If you had actually read my post, you would have seen that no, it is not ok for us to target civilians. My point was that you have the benefit of knowing how things played out, which makes it much easier to criticize the decisions that were made. The fact is that throughout the Pacific War, Japanese forces rarely, if ever surrendered. They fought to the last man, and inflicted heavy loses on American forces as a result.

For example, the Battle of Okinawa, which was fought from April to June 1945, cost the US over 50,000 casualties, including over 12,000 killed. This was done by a Japanese military that in your opinion was "isolated".

So as the American leadership looked towards ending the war, they concluded that the Japanese people would defend their home islands with even greater zeal than what was seen on Okinawa. As such, they decided the best course of action to save American lives was to bomb Japan without mercy, and hope that it broke the will of the Japanese people. It was not the finest moment in American history, but sadly a necessary one.

But since you have made it clear that bombing Japan was not necessary, what should have been done to end the war? What alternative solution would have ended the war sooner than August 1945? Tell me specifically what should have been done to bring about the Japanese surrender without bombing Japanese cities?

I look forward to your response.

Robert you are to be commended for your compassion, but you are wrong in your principles.

World War II was a horrible life consumming indurance for most of the world's countries. The United States did not voluntarily enter the war, we were attacked without provocation and the attacker was Japan. All the denigrating and denouncing of the United States for twice using the Atomic Bomb to end the war, is in my opinion wrong headed.

Although the two bombs killed some 175,000 people outright and another 50,000 in the aftermath via radiation burns and poisoning, the use of the bombs saved many times that number, both American and the Japanese. As would have been the result had the American military invaded the country of Japan instead of bombing Japan into suibmission to end the war.

First in the previous 4 years of the war, Japan had proven it's self be to a country of fanatical fighters. The people of Japan was willing and duty bound to give their lives for their beloved Emperor, whom they worshiped as a God on earth. As such, there is little doubt that both the Japanese military as well as the general population would have fought to the last man against any land invasion by American military forces. A conflict which would have resulted in millions of dead on both sides.

Second, Japan brought the wrath of America upon it's self by attacking America while peace negotiations were being held between the two countries. The United States was prepared to enter into a peace accord with Japan, but Japan was wanting to dominate all of the far east and the United States was standing in it's way. Hence, Japan chose to ignore the peace offering and brought war to the United States. By doing so, Japan sought to be the Devine Wind Victors, but ended by reaping the Whirl Wind of America's might.

To those who would blame America as being some sort of demon for using our technological power to end the war, I say, remember Pearl Harbor, remember the Philippines Death March, remember the Rape of Nan King and most of all, remember the more than 150,000 Americans who loss their lives in the Pacific War Campaign at the hands of a fanatical enemy who were the aggressors and in no way, the victims.

Further, it would be my opinion that no man nor country should be demonized for utilizing that which it has for best offense because an aggreessor does not have the defensive ability to counter such offense.

Japan was no victim, more so, Japan only reaped what it sowed and rightfully so.

The bombs had to be dropped.
Japan started a war with the U.S. and the Japanese did many horrible things to our soldiers.
Dropping the bombs saved countless American lives that would have been lost invading those islands.
Why should our people die in high numbers because of a war Japan started?
If Japan and its people don't like how the war ended, then they should not have started it in the first place.

Uh... no it didn't save countless American lives. By that time Japan had virtually no navy or air force and was isolated.

Robert, with all due respect, being isolated as a result of a loss of air and sea power, does not equate with Japanese acquiescence. As would we have ( though we were hardly the aggressors ), the Japanese would have fought tenaciously on land prior to any capitulation. Hirohito had yet summoned sufficient courage ( and insight ) to override the military and yes, a bloodbath of epic proportions would have ensued.
Perhaps you are driven ( and to an extent, rightfully so ) by the legitimate notion that Truman wished to cause Stalin serious consternation in any Pacific aims he had by blasting the two cities into atomic rubble. I believe very firmly that these tragic, but necessary acts were designed with a two-fold purpose in mind.
To have not acted accordingly and instead initiated a Petersburg-like siege of the islands would have taken years. Though the Bushido code was alleged to be dealt a mortal blow with the eradication of the Samurai, this was not true in totality for many of the codes remained firmly entrenched in the Japanese fighting spirit.

I don't know where this is coming from. I was ten when Pearl Harbor was bombed, lived through The Japanese Occupation of The Philippines, and fourteen when the war ended. I remember seeing pictures, not only of mushroom clouds, but pictures of devastation and civilians their skin dropping off in Yank, The Army Weekly, and spreads in The Pacifican, the Pacific edition of The Stars and Stripes. While I can't really vouch for it, I believe Life devoted
a whole issue on the aftermath. I later visited Japan in 1958, and even then, The Japanese
did not resent the use of the weapon by their then enemy. It gave them an excuse to surrender. The Bushido code would not permit this while they had the slightest capacity to resist. Hence their suicidal defenses of islands in The South Pacific.The most famous ones, Iwo Jima, Saipan, and Okinawa, where the only Japanese soldiers captured where those too incapacitated to resist. Their resentment emerged when they discovered the western conscience could offer them political advantage. President Truman did not order a ban on
later release of pictures out of sinister reasons. He wanted The Russians to be aware we had this terrible weapon. He did not want to rub former enemies faces into their defeat. I talked to Japanese war veterans in 1958. They persuaded themselves, they were not defeated by US might, but by a force never faced before by Man. I lived through this period of the war,
and am sure dropping the bomb not only saved American lives, but Japanese, as well. They were defending their home lands, and even at their last gasp, they were training civilians (old men, women, and children) to fight with pikes. The Bushido code sees no honor in being slaughtered without a fight. I grew up with Japanese families, and am familiar with
their cultural quirks. I still hold The Japanese in great esteem.

http://mises.org/daily/4217/The-Hiroshima-Myth
The Hiroshima Myth
by John V. Denson

I have to admit that this is the very first article I've ever seen that states the Imperial Japanese forces were virtually all willing to accept surrender if the Emperor were allowed to stay in place. This, therefore begs the question why so many of the higher echelon committed hari-kiri upon receipt of the Emperor's capitulation. Said Imperial forces often acted independently in view of the lack of specific decrees and were often at odds with him when he did. Hmmm... ( no disrespect, LC ). ; )

http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n3p-4_Weber.html
Institute for Historical Review
Why the Atomic Bombings Could Have Been Avoided
Was Hiroshima Necessary?

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2011/08/07/why_did_japan_surrender/