Andrew Endymion
Aug 9, 2017 · 2 min read

And yet all that carnage didn’t convince the Japanese government to surrender unconditionally. Nor did the first nuclear bombing of Hiroshima convince it to do so.

It’s telling you focus on the US gov’t while exculpating the “despotic government” of Japan w/claims that ”they were beaten” and “they didn’t want anymore.” If that was the case, why didn’t the Japanese gov’t surrender unconditionally once Germany was defeated? Why were Japanese civilians in possession of leaflets warning of upcoming bomb strikes arrested? Why didn’t it surrender unconditionally after the fire bombings? Why didn’t it surrender unconditionally after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima?

You ignore all of this and profess to know, with certainty, that leaving an admittedly despotic government—which voluntarily sided with the authors of the worst atrocity seen in modern times (the extermination of millions of innocent, non-combatants) and attacked a critical American military installation in violation of US sovereignty and ignored the plight of its own people—in power, regardless of how diminished, would’ve been a preferable alternative.

The reality is you have absolutely no idea what would’ve happened had America given up the ghost and allowed Japan to surrender on its own terms.

Many more innocent lives may have been lost. After all, Russia, not known for its mercy or restraint under Stalin, had declared war on Japan. Furthermore, Japanese leadership had demonstrated it disregard for humanity and, in so doing, had sacrificed any benefit of the doubt. Maybe it would’ve been wiser to just shrug and say: “Oh well, Japan still won’t accede to our demands, but whatever, it’s learned its lesson.”

Unlike you, I don’t pretend to know.

It’s easy to sit comfortably in 2017 and dismiss Hirohito as a “shitty little emperor” while decrying the US government for being clearly in the wrong, especially with the hindsight knowledge of precisely how horrible a nuclear detonation is.

Nonetheless, anyone with a shred of intellectual honesty would admit she or he does not have all the answers to a complex moment in history that happened over 70 years ago.

    Andrew Endymion

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    Leans to the left, but sees reason on both sides if you get beyond the leadership. Hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty are my pet peeves.