Revisionist History on A-Bomb
We have been hearing a lot about the barbarism of the United States dropping the atomic bomb. Now, I take my country to task for it’s current militarism in my writing most of the time. I write about how war is bad for the economy and how we need to unwind all these jobs tied to the defense industry. I could go on and on.
However, this stuff about the Japanese were about to surrender is total and complete BS. It is the worst kind of revisionist history. The kind which paints the aggressor nation as the victim thereby finally clearing the national conscience so they can be goaded into war again.
The statistics on Okinawa bear repeating. Both sides suffered enormous losses in the Battle of Okinawa. The casualties were not small. The Americans had over 49,000 casualties including 12,520 killed. Japanese losses were even greater as 110,000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives. It’s estimated between 40,000 and 150,000 Okinawa citizens were also killed. Taking the home islands was going to cost a lot of lives. This new story about the Japanese were about to surrender is so easy to debunk.
We are told the American command knew the Japanese were going to surrender soon. This is the kind of “fact”, also known as “opinion”, which is hard to verify. When interpreting history it is important to make sure your frame of reference is factual. Certain things about history are not opinion. They are easily verifiable. These are known as facts. The United States dropped two bombs on Japan. This is also a fact.
Facts can make certain things about history concrete. The atomic bombings are things which are easily verifiable. The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6th 1945. Shockingly, Japanese who were about to surrender, didn’t surrender! The incredible destructive power of an atomic bomb is another verifiable fact. The Japanese High Command was not unaware of what had happened at Hiroshima.
What????? Yep, we dropped an atomic bomb on Japan and they did not surrender. We demonstrated the weapon on August 6th and asked them for their surrender. They refused. They would fight on. They would not surrender.
Three days later another city was targeted, Nagasaki. Three days later! Yep. After seeing the results of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the Japanese leadership were set to fight on. The United States was forced to drop a second atomic bomb to get the Japanese Empire to surrender.
In the final analysis, I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Japanese people, their resilience, their determination and their toughness. However, the Japanese are not innocents here. Ask any Chinese person about the Rape of Nanjing and they will have no sympathy for the Japanese in WWII. Ask a Korean comfort woman and she might tell you the United States should have dropped a third bomb.
War is hell. We should never enter into war lightly. War means winning at any cost. Really that is what war is about. War MUST be avoided because it is terrible. However, demonizing the United States for defending itself is wrong as well. Claiming the Japanese were about to surrender is a bridge too far for me. They clearly were not about to surrender. IT TOOK TWO BOMBS to end the War in the Pacific.
As August 9th dawns, think about the three days that followed Hiroshima.
