Tell Me About Your Country

[-Ryan]

Ever since we learned about WW2 in history I haven't really liked America all that much.

We dropped atomic bombs on major cities to end the conflict. Not cool.

[CAV of Gang Green]

Ever since we learned about WW2 in history I haven't really liked America all that much.

We dropped atomic bombs on major cities to end the conflict. Not cool.

 

That's true, but at the same time if we didn't, fighting would've continued and even more lives would've been lost. Truman didn't really have a choice.

[-Ryan]

I think it was FDR that told them it was okay.

If it wasn't though, then i'm glad, because then any respect for him isnt diminished.

 

Killing civilians isn't something that can be justified though. I know they killed our civilians at Pearl Harbor first, but we bombed entire cities that had a much larger population, and with atomic bombs at that.

[CAV of Gang Green]

I think it was FDR that told them it was okay.

If it wasn't though, then i'm glad, because then any respect for him isnt diminished.

 

This is how it went:

 

Albert Einstein (whom is German might I add) thought up the famous equation E=MC2, which predicted that a huge amount of energy would be released if matter were converted into energy. In a paper he wrote, he mentioned that this could be explored by studying radioactive elements.

 

Leo Szilard and a couple of others started the Manhattan Project, which helped create the atomic bomb. FDR gave them the ok to continue this project. When it was finished, FDR would decide if Japan needed to be bombed, and he didn't know what to do. But before he could choose, he died, and his Vice President, Harry S. Truman, took office and was left with the big decision. Just like FDR, he didn't know what to do, but he didn't have many options. And he decided to go ahead with the plan.

 

My 8th grade History class discussed this, and our teacher had us split up in groups and decide on if we would bomb Japan. We were put in Truman's shoes, and it was in fact a hard decision. Eventually though, every group decided to bomb Japan. Our teacher then showed us pictures of the aftermath, and we realized what we just did. But just like Truman and FDR, we didn't have many more options. It was either bomb them, or continue worthless fighting that had no end in sight.

[jesse_rocket]

I think it was FDR that told them it was okay.

If it wasn't though, then i'm glad, because then any respect for him isnt diminished.

 

Killing civilians isn't something that can be justified though. I know they killed our civilians at Pearl Harbor first, but we bombed entire cities that had a much larger population, and with atomic bombs at that.

 

Indeed the killing of civilians is a very bad thing. However, it's not as simple as that, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't just some knee-jerk response to the attacks on Pearl Harbor or something. The Japanese did a great deal of highly atrocious things (and to civilians, mind you) prior to that in the war.

 

But this is all getting horribly off-topic. I'd be happy to pick it up in Debates, if anyone else is game, though :)

[CAV of Gang Green]

It's not really off topic when it's talking about the history of several countries, mainly Japan and the US.

 

The Japanese did a great deal of highly atrocious things (and to civilians, mind you) prior to that in the war.

 

Indeed. Ryan, I must note that the Japanese killed millions of innocent Chinese civilians years prior to the atomic bombing.

[The Score in Blue]

Yes, this discussion of wars does tie in nicely with information about wars.

 

Another piece of NZ info:

We are NOT a part of Australia

[-Ryan]

My final say in the matter: Civilians have nothing to do with the wars, and they should just be left alone. They're not the ones invading a country. They're not giving orders to drop atomic bombs. And they certainly aren't the ones we should be killing to win a war.

[CAV of Gang Green]

America killed thousands by atomic bombing. Japan killed millions when they invaded China. And Nazi Germany killed 12 million in the Holocaust. WWII was a bloodbath, and has the most total deaths of all time.

 

WWI has the most military deaths of all time, due to new technology, including the introduction of tanks, planes, and the infamous mustard gas.