Posted on 08/06/2005 2:00:21 PM PDT by RWR8189
On Aug. 6, 1945, an estimated 80,000 Japanese were killed instantly in Hiroshima. Three days later, on Aug. 9, more than 100,000 Japanese in Nagasaki joined them. It was a tragic end to the bloodiest conflict in human history. The irony is that it would have been even worse had President Truman decided against using atomic weapons and instead authorized an invasion of the Japanese mainland. Estimates vary, but on the American side alone there would like have been between 200,000 and 1 million U.S. casualties. The Japanese toll would have been in the millions. And, as recent evidence reveals, the United States was not at all certain an invasion would have succeeded.
There was a time when Americans understood this context -- that the atomic bombs saved lives. It seems that 60 years has a tendency to alter perceptions that were once so clear. As a March AP-Ipsos poll found, Americans are now evenly divided over the dropping of the atomic bombs. In 1945, 85 percent of Americans approved the use of atomic weapons. Now, only 47 percent approve, while 45 percent disapprove.
These statistics are troubling, but also misleading. Among Americans 65 and older, 57 percent approve of Truman's decision and 33 percent disapprove. At the other end of the age spectrum -- 18 to 29 -- 38 percent approve and 59 percent disapprove. In fact, the older one is the more likely he or she is to approve of the bombs' use.
What explains this generational difference? Could it be that the revisionists' arguments -- so prominent on university campuses in recent years -- have successfully swayed the American public? Perhaps, but that is giving the revisionists too much credit. One possible explanation indeed concerns education, though not the sort that is politically motivated.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Why is this a surprise to anyone?
These are the same mush heads that have forgotten there was a 9-11.
That's part of it. For the most part, todays generation of young people were never properly educated on the history of America and more importantly, they're spoiled rotten. I don't think they're tough enough to face hard times like during the depression or the sacrifices people made during WWII. Take away their TV, stereo, computer and video games and they're lost. LOL
It's bad form these days to believe the worst about a national enemy. It would be great if this meant we could see them clearly without demeaning propaganda; sadly, it usually means precisely the opposite.
Also, the younger you are, the less complex your worldview. There's no hierarchy of principles and some things they call "principles" are just wishful thinking.
Yeah, we dropped the most awful, destructive, terrible weapon known to man on Japan. BUT ONE WASN'T ENOUGH.
Among Americans 65 and older, 57 percent approve of Truman's decision and 33 percent disapprove
This may seem off-topic, but I think it ties in. I am reading a book called "The Verdict of History" about Pearl Harbor. It goes into detail about the politics side of the disaster like "At Dawn We Slept" is about the military side.
Anyway, I am reading the comments by politicians just before the war saying that we need to oppose all of the Presidents warmongering policies. They voted against any attempt to increase funding for defense or to increase the size of the armed forces. Although party affiliation is not mentioned in the book, I have had fun looking on the Internet to see what they were. Invariably, they were Republican. I should not have been surprised. They were opposing a Demoncrat, Roosevelt.
I have often wondered why the WWII generation is so strongly Demoncratic. I thought that it was because of Roosevelt's leadership. Whatever we may think about it now, it was embraced by a large portion of the voters at the time. I am starting to think that that is at least partially wrong. It may be because the people (voters) decided to punish the people who stripped and crippled our military prior to Pearl Harbor. In this case, it was the Republicans.
So the strong support of Demoncrats by the WWII generation has two parts. Rewarding those they felt were doing good for the country and punishing those who they thought were doing bad. Hopefully, 9-11 will act as a watershed event for the Republicans, not against them. The elections since then have been in our favor, but not in the numbers I would like to see.
Two almost wasn't, either. Only a little luck stopped the coup attempt (technically, the attempt to secure the radio broadcast tape from the Emperor ordering the Japanese to surrender) from succeeding and an American invasion from being necessary. Most people today just don't know their history...
It's interesting to speculate, that if I could throw away the futures of these mush-heads kids and grandkids, they would say, "Well if it felt good for him to do it, then he should do it." What disgaceful idiots.
The battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945 made the use of the atomic bomb inevitable. That battle indicated that the Japaniese would fight to the bitter end, making the invasion of Japan a hoirrific thought.
The last line of the article is interesting, esp. in the light of ongoing events....'In the final analysis it was America's refusal to sacrifice so many that led Truman to do what he did'. Islamofascists everywhere had better take note.
Nailed it...
There was no atheist in the foxholes,
And men who never prayed before
Lifted tired and bloodshot eyes to heaven
And begged the Lord to end that awful war.
They told him of their homes and loved ones.
They told him that they'd like to be there.
I believe the bomb that struck Hiroshima
Was the answer to a fighting boy's prayer.
Oh, it went up so loud, it divided up the clouds,
And the houses did vanish away.
And a big ball of light filled the Japanese with fright.
They must have thought it was their judgment day.
Smoke and fire, it did flow through the land of Tokyo;
There was brimstone and dust everywhere.
When it all cleared away, there the cruel Japs did lay.
The answer to our fighting boys' prayers, yes, Lord,
The answer to our fighting boys' prayers.
Karl & Harty,
Columbia Records #36892,
1945
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