Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site uwvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!uwvax!myers From: myers@uwvax.UUCP (Jeff Myers) Newsgroups: net.flame,net.politics Subject: Re: History Corrected - WWII (Amir read this) Message-ID: <455@uwvax.UUCP> Date: Mon, 1-Oct-84 14:10:12 EDT Article-I.D.: uwvax.455 Posted: Mon Oct 1 14:10:12 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 2-Oct-84 07:28:14 EDT References: <479@tty3b.UUCP> <1731@sdcc6.UUCP>, <5971@mcvax.UUCP>, <1380@qubix.UUCP> <246@digi-g.UUCP> <1171@drutx.UUCP> Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept Lines: 27 > The United States used the atomic bomb twice in World War II, both times on > Japanese cities. We did not bomb Japan into submission. We forced them > to surrender. > > Japan was an enemy, and wars end when one side or the other can negotiate > peace at terms favorable to them. The estimates of potential loss of > life in an invasion of Japan were more than 1,000,000 allied soldiers, > with probably greater losses by the Japanese. All in all, the speedy > conclusion of the war via the bomb probably seemd like an equitable > trade to the people that had to make the decision. > A point that is often overlooked is that we most likely could have achieved the same result by sending a "warning shot" to some uninhabited island rather than bombing two cities into oblivion without warning. Of course, the manner in which we stopped the war accomplished two tasks that the above method would not have: (1) We got 'em back for Pearl Harbor, (2) We got to see what an atom bomb does to cities, both air burst and impact at ground zero. The lab simply can't replace real life experiments... Anyone for testing the accuracy of our CPE projections by lobbing a few missles over the North Pole? :-( Jeff M.