Posted on 04/30/2009 8:43:38 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
"Here's what I think of the atom bombs. I think if you dropped an atom bomb fifteen miles offshore and you said, "The next one's coming and hitting you," then I would think it's okay. To drop it on a city, and kill a hundred thousand people. Yeah. I think that's criminal."
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.tv ...
Another punk, spoiled brat wishing that German or Japanese was the national language. College sure can screw some people up in the head.
Finish the statement Jon...”but, it was perfectly reasonable for them to bomb Pearl Hardbor, and kill thousands of Americans...”
:(
Chances are, we would not have had to hear your whining.
So easy to say, sitting in comfort and safety 60+ years later. What a self-centered idiot.
Jon Stewart is a first class idiot.
Dropping that bomb saved millions of Japanese lives.
Jon Leibowitz is a jackass of the highest magnitude.
Good Point.
These fools have no idea what a real war is all about—I mean a real war where we, the spoiled USA, could Lose and become a slave nation to another power. Just wait they the US loses the next one to China or some other nation and they see US rights tossed away and their children in Chinese slave-factories. They would change their tune.
Ignore them!
Lol...Who or What would actually watch a show like that?
He doesn’t know much about anything, including history.
We had only two bombs and the next one was a long way off.
They weren’t 100% sure that both of them would work.
Truman had no choice, but to end the loss of life on both sides.
“College sure can screw some people up in the head.”
And how!!! Probably “educated” by some screwball professor angry because the quick end of the war prevented Stalin from invading and occupying a big chunk of Japan.
The irony is the pic on the left embraces their enemy. The enemy on the right throws you in a gas chamber.
"The invasion of Japan was to be no easy military undertaking and casualties were to be extremely heavy. Admiral William Leahy estimated that there would be over 250,000 Americans killed or wounded on Kyushu alone. General Charles Willoughby, MacArthur's Chief of Intelligence estimated that American casualties from the entire operation would be one million men by the fall of 1946. General Willoughby's own Intelligence staff considered this to be a conservative estimate. "
http://home.att.net/~sallyann4/invasion2.html
Pity that he's not much good at clear, rational, and complete historically-based thinking.
Not only is Mr. Steward susceptible to group hysteria; he's the wild-eyed inciter of the hysterical group.
.
Liebowitz should not stop with Truman. He should also go after Patton and Eisenhower; after all, those American bullies prevented the victory of his favored troops.
He must have very little understanding of history. The US only had two atom bombs at the time. The first one was dropped on Hiroshima, and the Japanese Emperor still commanded the Japanese forces continue to fight. Then we dropped our last atom bomb on Nagasaki.
The Emperor was only convinced to stop fighting by the leadership under him. None of them new at the time that we had no more. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved millions of lives by stopping a costly and long war.
Stewie hasn’t a clue.
OTOH, it’s perfectly okay to firebomb Tokyo and kill even more people than with the atomic weapons.
400 plane bombing raid killing 100,000+, just fine.
1 plane bombing raid killing 70,000+, evil war crime.
Militarily speaking, the nukes used on Japan didn’t really accomplish much of anything that we weren’t already doing quite effectively using other means. They ended the war due to shock and awe, not because of the actual damage they caused.
A few years later the H-bomb and ICBM took warfare to a different level, potentially involving the extermination of the human race. We have projected the unease this causes into the past and onto the nuclear attacks of 1945.
The 1945 nukes were important as harbingers of the future, not due to their actual effects, which weren’t all that big an advance on existing destructive technology.
It was revealed this evening that Jon thought the first one should have been dropped near the shore, to show its power.
That dumbass doesn’t realize Japan did not give up after the hit on Hiroshima. Dealing with historical idiots with a camera is getting pretty old.
Idiot knows nothing of history. It’s a shame such idiots are given a stage to spew their stupidity.
If it wasn't for people like Harry Truman, Jon Stewart would have been a lampshade or bar of soap. What is it with these self loathing jews?
Jon Stewart is a pussy that would have to literally be shoved off a Higgins boat if he had to be part of the invasion of Japan.
Would it surprise the idiot if he learned that this possibility was given careful consideration -- then rejected for very good reason.
It was proposed that an uninhabited island near the Japanese coast be the initial target. The Japanese government would be notified and asked to send observers to the demonstration. Presumably, they would be stunned at the power of the weapon and recommend the government sue for peace.
But there were problems. First and foremost, there were only three devices -- one uranium-based ("Little Boy") and two plutonium ("Fat Man"). It would be at least six months before another could be assembled.
While everybody was confident the relatively simple uranium device would perform as planned, the more complicated plutonium device was a bit of a mystery -- how well would it work, if at all.
Obviously, the plutonium device couldn't be used for a demonstration. It might not work. And, if "Little Boy" was used for the demonstration, we wouldn't know whether what we still held in reserve would work.
This led to the Alamogordo test at Trinity Site -- where one of the plutonium devices was detonated. Successfully.
But now there were only two weapons. If one was used in a demonstration, there would be only one left. And, if the Japanese didn't respond to the demonstration, the one remaining bomb would be the only chance to end the war. What if the plane carrying it was shot down? Or it was dropped...and the Japanese still didn't respond.
As we now know, one wasn't enough. It took two.
And anybody who believes Harry Truman is a war criminal should be forced to repeat the Bataan Death March.
Stewart is an idiot.
From the response from “Hollywood Jon”, he hasn’t a clue about Truman. He’s trying to hide his gray hair from his paycheck. Good luck “Man for no Season!”.
Thank you for that concise representation of the time. A study of history appreciated by me and hopefully all at FR. :^)
Excellent post. If only we could skywrite it over Jon’s home. No way he’s going to see this.
In "Americans at War" Stephen Ambrose tells a story about Colonel Goodpaster, who helped draw up the invasion plans. He was in Japan doing a documentary 46 years after the war. The Japanese asked if it were true that the Russians would have been involved and he assured them that it was. One of the Japanese said "thank God you used the bomb."
“As we now know, one wasn’t enough. It took two.”
Someone tell Jon that we didn’t have any spares to waste in the harbor...and replacements were hard to come by.
Yes, as eyedigress pointed out that was a very concise and complete picture of what was happening at the time, and contains much information that I did not know.
Yes, as eyedigress pointed out that was a very concise and complete picture of what was happening at the time, and contains much information that I did not know.
Also, suppose you issue this ultimatum and go to put on your big demo in the harbor, and it doesn’t work? Just makes a splash...
What then?
With crackpots like Stewart second-guessing the most monumental event of the 20th century, it’s no wonder our youth are idealogically adrift.
A surprising number of young people use him as their primary source of news.
Jon Stewart is an ignorant ignoramus (is that redundant?).
"But there were problems. First and foremost, there were only three devices -- one uranium-based ("Little Boy") and two plutonium ("Fat Man"). It would be at least six months before another could be assembled."
Originally posted by Oldexpat:
"We had only two bombs and the next one was a long way off."
Originally posted by ResponseAbility:
..."The US only had two atom bombs at the time. The first one was dropped on Hiroshima, and the Japanese Emperor still commanded the Japanese forces continue to fight. Then we dropped our last atom bomb on Nagasaki. "
Have to disagree a bit with our FR posters, there was a little known third atomic bomb ready to go in August 1945. First as to the contention that after the US dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan that the US would not have another atomic bomb ready until the end of the year... The TRUTH is that there was a third atomic bomb being readied for a combat drop. Most people that read the common WWII histories do not believe this is the case, however the standard history about 'only two' U.S. atomic bombs in 1945 is just factually incorrect.
The United States actually had three Atomic weapons ready for use near the end of WWII, two of which were dropped on Japan, the third was being readied for a mission by Col. Tibbets' unit - the 509th Composite Group, when Japan surrendered. The USA had two "Fat Man" plutonium Atomic weapons in its inventory at the end of calendar year 1945.
In an August 2002 interview with Studs Terkel published in the British Guardian newspaper, Paul Tibbetts recalled something similar: "Unknown to anybody else--I knew it, but nobody else knew--there was a third one. See, the first bomb went off and they didn't hear anything out of the Japanese for two or three days. The second bomb was dropped and again they were silent for another couple of days. Then I got a phone call from General Curtis LeMay. He said, 'You got another one of those damn things?' I said, 'Yessir.' He said, 'Where is it?' I said, 'Over in Utah.' He said, 'Get it out here. You and your crew are going to fly it.' I said, 'Yessir.' I sent word back and the crew loaded it on an airplane and we headed back to bring it right on out to Trinian and when they got it to California debarkation point, the war was over."
Source: Warbird Forum: The third bomb
Now about those future bombs to be added to the U.S. nuclear weapon inventory...
There WAS a multi-site production line set up to generate plutonium cores for the "Fat Man" model of the US nuclear stockpile. The US had not just invested 2 billion (1943) dollars just to make five atomic bombs in 1945, a production line was built... The only reason that the US did not go into wartime production mode on the 'Fat Man' plutonium cores is that the war ENDED. The "Little Boy" uranium gun-type atomic weapon first dropped on Hiroshima was a one-off model, never produced again. All of the other US atomic weapons were of the plutonium-implosion "Fat Man" model. So the first bomb was tested in the US during July 1945. Two more atomic weapons were dropped on Japan in August 1945. One more atomic bomb was being readied for Tokyo for late August 1945; it was never delivered. The fifth bomb was completed in November, 1945. At the end of calendar year 1945 the US had two "Fat Man" type nuclear weapons in its inventory out of the five produced in 1945, however if Japan had not surrendered the nuclear 'production line' was designed to produce 7 plutonium cored nuclear weapons per month. More than enough to take care of the Nazis and/or the Japs if WWII had lasted into 1946.
"A third bomb was being shipped from New Mexico, target Tokyo, when the war ended. Production was geared to seven per month with an expectation that 50 bombs would be required to assure that an invasion would not be required. Release of radiation from the untested Hiroshima bomb, designed as the original gun-type and made of uranium, was a surprise. The radiation range was expected to be within the blast radius, that is, a lethal dose of radiation would only kill those already dead from concussion. The Alamogordo bomb test and later production were of the more complicated plutonium, yet cleaner, implosion device."
Source: WW2 Pacific: Little Known Facts: Atomic Bomb -- Allies
The United States did feel the need to build more nuclear weapons in the immediate aftermath of WWII, since the demobilization of the 12.34 million Armed Forces of WWII had made the post-war US nuclear monopoly the first-line of defense for the United States and its interests. The expense of the $2 Billion Manhattan Project was amortized over the following production of US nuclear weapons from 1945 onwards.
Here are some numbers on the US atomic weapon stockpile from WWII onwards...
Source: Power Point Presentation USC Berkeley - History - 105, Dr. McCray "Early Nuclear Strategy" Slide #9. looks like this PPT link has disappeared...
Source: Complete List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons The NuclearWeaponsArchive.org
dvwjr
Hiroshima was chosen for a very important reason. Japanese Naval communications headquarters was located in the hills behind the harbor. The dropping of the bomb allowed the communications facility to remain relatively undamaged, so that the Navy brass could view the destruction firsthand and report it throughout the country. I know a Morse intercept operator who was on duty when it happened. Rumors were rampant that something big was coming. The Japanese operators at HQ were the best of the best; when the bomb hit the normally flawless sending was interrupted for almost a minute. Within minutes, encrypted traffic from Navy HQ went through the roof and stayed there. Within hours, ALL of the Japanese war machine top brass knew the end was near.
ZUT!
A neighbor of mine who was a NUC engineer took me and my brother (we were kids) through one of the plants at Oak Ridge that was responsible for enrichment. It had long been closed but all power still remained. He advised us not to get the urge to go swimming once inside. :^)
This is the Jon Stewart whose audience last year was asked:
“Who controls the US Congress......
A) The Democrats?
B) The Republicans?
Only 46% selected “A”
If you had some left over mice from psych lab and gave them a choice, 50% would have gotten it right.
Which goes to show you that Stewart’s audience is literally dumber than a box of mice.
There was also a plan to use atomic bombs to blow breeches in Jap defensive lines during the invasion and pour allied troops through the holes. God only knows how many thousands would have died or become casualties of radiation poisoning.
We had TWO nukes and dumbass there thinks wasting one would have been a wise decision.
Jon, we had to drop two BECAUSE THE FIRST ONE THAT KILLED A HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE DIDN’T CONVINCE THEM. Gosh people can be so thick headed.
Of course if Jon Stewart had been alive back then and had spent the better part of four years rooting the Japs out of every rat hole in the Pacific, he probably would have thougth a nuke or two would have been a grand idea.
I wouldn’t doubt a third bomb at all. I haven’t come across it in autobiographies of Presidents and probably never will.
I find is amazing that we had so much fissionable material in 1945. How did we get so far ahead of the Germans?
Earth to Jon: And even AFTER they bombed an actual city and killed all those people, the Japanese still didn’t surrender.
I know this is a difficult concept for you to get, Jon, but I will try ... you see, President Truman believed that as Commander in Chief of the U.S. military his first priority was to protect American servicemen.
I realize that concept has fallen out of style lately, but leaders used to put their people first instead of assorted ash and trash from around the world.
We kidnapped them from SA.
What a bitch. And I mean that sincerely. Yes, I know he’s a “man”.
You are talking about the German scientists, correct?
Considering how long it is taking Iran to gather fissionable material, we must have had huge facilities with maybe a million centrifuges all in the belief that nuclear weapons would work as theorized.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.