A Hiroshima Apology? (State Dept "to express respect for all the victims of World War II")

For the first time since the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan 65 years ago, today the U.S. ambassador to Japan will attend the official commemoration ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. The U.S. ambassador has always declined the annual invitation, but this year is different. President Barack Obama decided to acknowledge the event with the presence of a high-level dignitary. As State Department spokesman Philip Crowley explained, Ambassador John Roos will be there "to express respect for all the victims of World War II."

Gene Tibbets—the son of Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., the pilot who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima—called the Obama administration's decision "an unsaid apology." Whether or not that's the case, by saying "all the victims" Mr. Crowley raises the specter of moral equivalence, a problem that's grown worse over the years when it comes to judging right and wrong during World War II and throughout history.

There have been many discussions of Hiroshima & Nagasaki (this poster has been to Japan & visited China in Sept. 2010) but my thoughts.

My position always has & always will be that if the U.S. wanted to show Japan the atom bomb’s strength, then they should’ve been dropped on a military base & arms factory where there would been 1,500-3,000 civilians killed & wounded as a result of collateral damage rather than the 150,000 + killed in Hiroshima & Nagasaki, as there were many places in Japan where they could’ve been dropped with fewer civilians killed.

With that said, yes, President Harry S. Truman did what he believed would end the war & save American lives because a ground war would’ve been bloody. Most survivors of Hiroshima & Nagasaki have said that they don’t blame President Harry S. Truman for using the atom bomb, because if Japan & Germany had possessed the atom bomb, they would’ve used them-both nations tried to build the atom bomb & germ warfare (such as Shiro Ishi’s fleabombs similar to daisy cutters used in Vietnam only with fleas) was used by the Imperial Japanese military against the Chinese.

There must be 1 thing considered. The atom bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki was a continuation of the policy both the Allies & Axis had of bombing cities to get the other side to surrender be it Peking, Shanghai, Nanking, London, Coventry, Dresden, Pforzeim, Tokyo, etc. For me, it’s wrong to deliberately target civlians to end a war, but sadly this was the policy of both sides.

Now if people want to say that by dropping the atom bombs, that it ended the war, then so be it. What must not be overlooked is that the kids killed in wars are innocent victims. The 4 year old kids killed in Hiroshima & Nagasaki along with the small kids killed in Dresden are innocent. Even if their fathers, uncles, etc. committed atrocities such as Rape of Nanking, Bataan Massacre or the Holocaust, the small kids killed in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden, etc. are innocent victims regardless of what 1’s position is on Hiroshima & Nagasaki or for the main matter, the policy of bombing civilians to get the enemy to surrender.

Welcome to FR.

We didn't start the fire...the Axis powers lit that fuse.

We extinguished the fire.

I'll admit my bias: my dad was training for the invasion of Japan.

And I never try to view past actions through the prism of 2010 morality.

Do what I did: make a couple of trips to concentration camps like Dachau and Flossenburg, and see if that doesn't wash away your guilt.

Thank you for your thoughts & glad to know that your dad didn’t have to partake in an invasion of Japan. While I haven’t been to the concentration camps as you have (Dachau & Flossenburg), as some1 who has read many history books on the 2 World Wars, Korean War & Vietnam, I am very knowledgeable about Nazi Germany & Imperial Japan’s might which began during the late 1800s (Dreadnoughts & Franco-German war of the late 1800s along with Japan’s Meiji Restoration) ending with the crushing defeat of boths nations in 1945. But I feel you’re not understanding the main point.

My issue here isn’t whether people believe in the use of the atom bombs. But rather who the victims are. Most Japanese & German people are fine & they’ve done nice things for humanity & science to be proud of-Beethoven, Bach & German & Japanese cars are pretty good. The Nazis along with Japan’s violent history with China, Korea & much of Asia during WW2 are bad periods in both nations histories.

You agree with President Harry S. Truman’s decision to use the atom bomb, but I hope you don’t blame the 5 year old girl or boy who was killed in Hiroshima & Nagasaki for what happened in Nanking, Bataan, etc. Columnist Pat J. Buchanan has discussed Hiroshima & Nagasaki & written that small kids who were killed are war’s innocent victims.

Yes you’re right, that the Axis did start the fire. But what is sad about wars is that quite often, those who did nothing wrong end up being the 1s killed & wounded. Wars are something which are out of the ordinary understanding. Your thoughts are again welcome, but I don’t know if we’ll be able to raise anything which is significantly new which hasn’t already been discussed since the war ended so long ago.

The Truman administration was originally going to target Kyoto. Secretary of War Stimson urged Truman for humanitarian and cultural reasons to spare Kyoto, and Truman complied. That was a great act of humanity; far greater than Japan showed any of its adversaries.

I see you’re brand spanking new hear on Free Republic. Odd that your first rather liberal comments should appear on a thread over two months old. Until I see a reason to consider differently, I’m going to have you on Troll Alert.

For the record I have posted on other topics, but don’t understand why call me a troll. I happen to have an interest in 20th Century War history, have traveled to Europe, Asia (China, India, Thailand & Japan) & many states in the U.S.

I have discussed the atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese military such as Rape of Nanking, Bataan Massacre, Shiro Ishii’s Flea Bombs. I read the book the Rape of Nanking by the late Iris Chang (also her book the Chinese in America, a Narrative history). I am fluent in the atrocities that the Imperial Japanese Armed forces did, incl. Unit-731 experiments in Manchuria-similar to Nazi experiments done in the concentration camps-Shiro Ishii would be the Josef Mengele of Asia.

My point with regard to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden & other cities bombed during the war if you understood my post isn’t so much about the atomic bombings, but rather to focus on the victims & to reiterate that the kids are innocent. Why is that a ‘liberal’ issue? The Mormon Church (LDS) has said the kids killed in wars are innocent & so has columnist Pat J. Buchanan. I don’t understand your 2nd paragraph & I don’t see what I wrote which makes it so controversial. Please educate.

Your comments are not concerned with the innocent victims of warfare. They are concerned with casting moral doubt on the victory of the United States over imperial Japan. You seek, by doing so, to draw a moral equivalence between the two sides. I utterly reject your argument. These are the arguments of undergraduate leftists and those who admire Noam Chomsky. You, I strongly suspect, are among them. (By the way, the Mormon Church is a religious organization, and Buchanan is a notorious isolationist; neither is a credible commentator on the morality of WWII.)

If you're really concerned about the fate of innocents, you might start by reading the Book of Exodus, and pondering the words there.

Until you show otherwise, I will remain convinced that you're a troll.

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