Japanese PM apologises for Pearl Harbor

[Wu Wei]

Yes and by choosing a side the US forced Japan to act.
Just don't cry afterwards.

Yes does not answer the question other than possibly do you know, but it is not really show that you do.

so lets remove that, what about these

What was some of that oil being used for?

What was the reason for the embargo?

And I will add

What did Japan do prior to make other countries think an embargo necessary and make the US "choose a side"?

 

[Revoltingest]

Meh, if they hadn't their entire country would've run out of oil.
So it was either: Attack the US or welcome to the middle ages.

I never said we didn't provoke them.
I've even pointed this out on RF before.
Nonetheless, they did wrong, & we fixed that.
And they're a much better country for it.

 

[LuisDantas]

The ONLY reason the Japanese surrendered is because we
dropped two A bombs on them.
The Japanese mistakenly thought we had more.
We did not.
Gen. Curtis LeMay, Army Air Force commander WWII, said:
"kill enough of them (the Japanese) and they will quit fighting."
Sadly that was entirely correct.
We dropped only two A-bombs because we ONLY HAD TWO.
Otherwise we'd likely have dropped a couple more for effect.
The Japanese military had the most advanced bio weapons
program the world had ever known and would have used
the bio weapons had the A-bombs not been used.
The bio weapons were liberally tested on the Chinese but we don't
read that in our history books today now do we?
History you see.

No, no, no... you got it all entirely wrong.

Then again, even if LeMay were technically correct, he could never be anything but wrong.

 

[jeager106]

No, no, no... you got it all entirely wrong.

Then again, even if LeMay were technically correct, he could never be anything but wrong.

A matter of opinion and or perspective.
I believe using the bomb was necessary to bring an end to the war.

 

[Shad]

Meh, if they hadn't their entire country would've run out of oil.

So it was either: Attack the US or welcome to the middle ages.

Or the government could changed from it's expansionist policy and military build up which could of result in trade agreements for necessary resources.

Also Japan did have it's own source of oil. It just could not meet both the civilian and military demands. Since the military ran the government guess which was prioritized.

 

[LuisDantas]

A matter of opinion and or perspective.
I believe using the bomb was necessary to bring an end to the war.

That is... obscene to even consider, you know.

 

[jeager106]

That is... obscene to even consider, you know.

No I don't know that.
Your rebuttal appreciated. Enlighten me please.
If you were a world leader back in that time and had the means to STOP
the slaughter by dropping two bombs would you?
Or would you invade Japan at an estimated cost of over one MILLION MORE
casualties on all sides and drag the war on for at least another year?
Which is obscene? What is NOT obscene about war?
My father and three of his brothers fought in that war.
All came home.
All shot to pieces.
My grandmother had FOUR sons in combat. Do you think ANYONE
gave up one tear over dropping two A-bombs on Japan?
To NOT use the atomic bomb would have been criminal.
Recall the Japanese were ready to release anthrax laden balloons
on the Pacific N.W. of the U.S. and upon China.
Which is more obscene?
ALL of it is obscene.
Must be nice to sit back some 70+ years later and condemn the
actions taken to STOP A WAR.
I suggest you obtain a nice old wooden building, paint it white, and
call it a church so you can preach in style.
Thank you for your opinions they are well considered.

 

[LuisDantas]

No I don't know that.
Your rebuttal appreciated. Enlighten me please.
If you were a world leader back in that time and had the means to STOP
the slaughter by dropping two bombs would you?

I would rather kill myself, if I were even halfway rational and had any notion of the life costs involved.

That is before even considering that such an action initiated a nuclear escalation that caused even more harm and forever haunts us with the fear of an even more disastrous conflict.

Or would you invade Japan at an estimated cost of over one MILLION MORE
casualties on all sides and drag the war on for at least another year?

I would definitely consider naval blockades or suchlike above the shameful price in civilian lives, if that is what you are asking me.

All the more given how Japan was on its last legs and fighting a lost war and knew it.

Which is obscene? What is NOT obscene about war?

We are done here for the moment. I will not listen to arguments that give up on honor as a starting point.

Take care.

 

[jeager106]

What "honor" was there in obliterating two entire Japanese cities?
Old men, women, babies, even some p.o.w.s were there.
I doubt "honor" was even remotely considered in making that horrendous
decision.

 

[jeager106]

And why were they running out of oil? What was some of that oil being used for? What was the reason for the embargo? Do you know?

Yeah I do.
Japan was real busy making war on China and committing atrocities
for more horrible than anything the Nazi's could have dreamed up.
That's why Japan was running low on oil.
The U.S. wasn't about to supply Japan with oil to further make war
on China and the rest of the east.
Japan already had a military foot hold in what is now Viet Nam.
Vast amounts of rubber there ya know.
Seems many people speak without truely understanding the topic.
It must be so easy to judge the decision to use "the bomb" 70+
years after the fact.
I recall quite well having a father and his three brothers in COMBAT.
All wounded.
All recouping from wounds received in Europe.
All waiting to be shipped into the meat grinder that would be the
invasion of Japan.
Do you think anyone cared that we dropped two A bombs to end
the war?
I doubt a tear was shed in 1945.

 

[Wu Wei]

Yeah I do.
Japan was real busy making war on China and committing atrocities
for more horrible than anything the Nazi's could have dreamed up.
That's why Japan was running low on oil.
The U.S. wasn't about to supply Japan with oil to further make war
on China and the rest of the east.
Japan already had a military foot hold in what is now Viet Nam.
Vast amounts of rubber there ya know.
Seems many people speak without truely understanding the topic.
It must be so easy to judge the decision to use "the bomb" 70+
years after the fact.
I recall quite well having a father and his three brothers in COMBAT.
All wounded.
All recouping from wounds received in Europe.
All waiting to be shipped into the meat grinder that would be the
invasion of Japan.
Do you think anyone cared that we dropped two A bombs to end
the war?
I doubt a tear was shed in 1945.

Then I am not surprised that you know, I am not so sure though that Flankerl did prior to your post.

All one needs to do is look into Units 731, 1644, and 100 and Nanjing to name a few, all existed or happened prior to 1941. Look into those and you would see why other nations were not all to happy with Japan at that time.

 

[jeager106]

@Wu Wei

Thanks.
A fact but a little known fact is the role of racism in the conflict with Japan.
The Japanese were the ultimate racists and believed themselves superior
to all others. Chinese were viewed as far inferior in every way.
Ergo using bio warfare was of no consequence as the victims,
ALL victims, were less than human anyway.
Bad U.S.A. for atomizing two Japanese cites to save millions of lives.
Whoever said "war is hell" was in one.
"There is nothing fair in love or war."
Don't forget that.
Does anyone think for one second my grandmother shed one tear
over nuking 2 Japanese cities?
Her four sons could stay alive and need not be wounded any more.
Four sons in combat, all four shot up.
Think about that.
All U.S. citizens knew then was that "the Japs" started this and we finished it. No more U.S. boys had to die in that horrible conflict we didn't want.
"We used a nuclear bomb? Wassat?"
Case closed.
Now ya'll sit back a judge the hell out of the world leaders of that time
under those circumstances.
Like nearly ALL of humanity I wish the atomic bomb had never been
invented.
Wish in one had and crap in the other and see which fills up first.
Deal with it!

 

[Wu Wei]

Japanese military referred to Chinese in their camps as logs, basically meaning logs for the fire.

I had uncles in WW 2 in the pacific theater and in Europe. One in Europe got the worst of it though, he was in the D-day invasion, made it off the beaches but a German booby trap put him in the hospital. All of my uncles survived the war. one is still alive today.

 

[Milton Platt]

'We must never repeat the horrors of war': Japanese PM makes pledge at Pearl Harbor

Do you think this is a good thing? Do Americans think this is just a gesture or is it an important step for improving international relations?

It was a nice gesture as a representative of Japan. But the probably is that he was not even alive at the time, so he bears no personal responsibility. It is a political gesture, well meant.

 

[esmith]

To all of you who say the use of atomic weapons on Japan was not necessary, and invading Japan would have been better, let's try some figures
The estimated number of U.S. casualties was from 1.7 - 4 million of which 400,000 - 800,000 would be fatalities
The estimated number of Japanese fatalities was between 5 and 10 million
Yes there were peace overtures made but that was just stop fighting, not an unconditional surrender. In other words the current Japanese government would remain in power
This would have also allowed the USSR to possibly gain control over parts of Japan as they did in Germany.
Blockading Japan, would have also cost million of Japanese lives due to starvation, and again the USSR issue.
Total casualties for Hiroshima and Nagasaki was approximate 226,000.
So how say you now.