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I don't advocate killing civilians. My point is the population of Afghanistan is more responsible for their own government than anyone else. This mess is partly of their own making. If they hate their government it is their duty first to do something about it. Just like the people of Iraq are responsible for theirs… Instead our people are going to die to take their government out. Why do you think they should risk any less? You seem to think the people of Afghanistan bear no responsibility for their government. They do. Just as we bear the responsibility of Clinton's actions that many of us strongly disagreed with. Like it or lump it, he was ours…

You obviously think dropping the bombs on Japan to end the war was wrong. Those were cities after all… It very likely saved 100,000+ American lives. If you want to be "disgusted" because I value our lives more than theirs so be it. This is war, our survival is at stake. There's no reward for 2nd place.

"You obviously think dropping the bombs on Japan to end the war was wrong. Those were cities after all?It very likely saved 100,000+ American lives. If you want to be "disgusted" because I value our lives more than theirs so be it."

I don't like it when people put words or opinions in my mouth that I have never stated. Dropping the atomic bomb on those Japanese cities was the best thing that we could have done at that time. But I am not talking about that instance, the debate is here and what is happening now. I fully support going to war with Afganastan, but I just feel as if I need to stress that we need to do this as ethically as possible in regards to the civilians there, regardless of who you think is to blame. I have never said that I am not placing any blame on those civilians in Afganastan, what I was saying however, is that those people's children in this situation are not to blame for anything that is happening over there and because of them, we should try to fight this war as ethically as possible.

It is by no means clear that dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary to persuade the Japanese to surrender. Remember that there was in place a demand for "unconditional surrender", put there by Roosevelt, and the Japanese had been told the terms would include their giving up their Imperial system. The latter condition was understood to have provided them with their primary motive to hold out in spite of recognizing their loss as inevitable. Once they had been bombed, they were allowed to keep their Emporer.