Thursday, May 12, 2011
Dropping the Atomic Bomb
When President Truman made the decision to use the atomic bomb, not only would it end WWII, but it began a whole new era of world history. We've debated his decision in class, whether it was right or wrong to drop the bomb on civilian sites, whether the second bomb was really needed, etc. When the bombs were dropped, the long term effects of using a nuclear weapon were unknown. Now that we know the lingering effects of nuclear weapons, do you think that the U.S. owes Japan an apology for using the weapon? Why or why not?
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The U.S does not owe Japan an apology because they both were in combat and tried to use any kind of weapons. It just happened that America built the better weapon. The bomb ended the war, killed tons of japanese people. If they didn't fight with us at Pearl Harbor then maybe, but they bombed pearl harbor and killed tons of americans.
ReplyDeleteWe do not owe Japan an apology. Millions of civilians died in Japan and millions of soldiers died in the U.S. The only difference is that the civilian were going to fight as well and if they didn’t they would commit suicide before surrendering.
ReplyDeleteI would not say it was fair, but I know it was the right thing to do. If the war continued than more deaths on both sides would pile up. Japan was nowhere near surrendering and not heeding the warning proved that. Just because we were able to come up with a more powerful weapon and used it first does not mean that Japan could not do the same.
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ReplyDeleteThe US does not owe japan an apology becuase if we did not drop the atomic bomb then they would have dropped one on us or invaded us because they werent going to surrender at any means.
ReplyDeleteSince they bombed pearl harbor in a way they did deserve to be bombed because that is our territory. if they did not bombed it they there would probably be a different outcome.
The U.S. don't owe Japan any apology. It was war time and everyone's target was to win. It is as if we were to apologize for firing to an enemy or the Germans would have to apologize to the Jews. And they did not.
ReplyDeleteI personally don't think the second bomb was necessary but the first one is justifiable. It is just a speculation whether the Japanese were going to surrender without the use of the bomb or not. The fact that matters is that the war ended and that we (or well, the U.S.) won.
Besides, the Japanese would never, as far as I know, surrender to a pure threat. They needed to see some action to realize that there was no point in fighting anymore.
I think the Us don't owe any apology to Japan. Even if the decision to the drop the bomb may be disputable, a war was going on and there aren't any rules during a conflict of this importance. Along the years so many countries and people did mistakes creating serious consequences to others, but the most important thing is to learn from the past and try to do not again the same wrong choices. An apology at this moment of the history it's not the most useful thing to do; I think it will be so much more helpful giving a concrete help to the people in need right now that Japan is suffering a dramatic situation. That might be the best possible demonstration of solidarity.
ReplyDeleteI do not think we owe japan an apology because at the time we were at war and they would not surrender we warned them about the bomb and they refused to replay that's not our fault they believed they were superior and we showed them here not thy believed that you should rather die then surrender so they died
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the U.S owe japan an apology. If anything we should expect an apology for therm bombing Pearl Harbor. Once they bombed us than they should of known we would come back with full force. Plus they made it clear they would rather die than surrender so we had no chance but the drop the A-bomb.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the U.S. owes Japan an apology, because the bomb was dropped to ultimately end the war. Although the after effects are bad, they didn't know that at the time.Also, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor the U.S. had to get involved in the war, which was very costly. The bombs intention was to end the war quickly, without costing high mortality on the U.S.'s side. And unlike the events of Pearl Harbor,the U.S. warned the Japanese if they did not completely surrender, we would have to take action. Because the Japanese chose to fight for their country even if it meant death, the U.S. has to make this decision.
ReplyDeleteI definately don't think the US owes the Japanese an apology. not until they apologize for the enexpected attack at pearl harbor killing thousands and thousandsssss of americans, like wtf. we only finished what japan started, even after hiroshima japan continued at war. and after a second hit, then would Japan at last ask for peace. Japan in total received less destruction than Japan caused in the war that Japan started. the US did what we had to to end the war
ReplyDeleteI do not think the U.S. owes Japan an apology at all. At the time there was a lot of consideration put into using the atomic bomb and in the end i think that Truman made the best choice he could. He was only dropping the bombs to end the costly war and not cost anymore lives and to protect American citizens. Apologizing for dropping the bomb now would make us look bad and like the government doesnt know what they are doing. It would also look like they regret it and are cowards. At the time the bomb was dropped we did not know the effects of it but that doesnt cause for an apology.
ReplyDeleteI think the US does owe Japan an apology for dropping the atomic bomb. The bomb killed thousands of their civilians and the radiation caused damage for many years after the war ended. I understand we wanted to end the war and dropping the bomb was the best way to do that but we should be sorry for killing so many people. What kind of people would we be if we weren't sorry for it?
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ReplyDeleteI don't know if you guys in America have this saying but in Italy we usually say that everything is allowed when either love or war are involved, I don't think the U.S. Should apologize to Japan cause they are the ones who started the whole thing and during the war the U.S. had to make a decision either let U.S.' young men die fighting or end the war and kill who tried to hurt you in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the U.S. Should celebrate this event though cause it was the cause of a lot of pain not only for the people at that time but also for their sons and their next generations who shouldnt have got involved at all, an apologie should be made because of the celebration not because of the dropping of the bomb itself.
Of course we owe japan an apology. The actions of or country caused generations of their people to suffer from various afflictions which harmed their well being. Though what we did was deliberate, the extent of injury that we caused was undesired and therefore deserves an apology.
ReplyDeleteWe should only apologize to certain people who had to endure the side effects of bomb after long past the war. But we do not owe any apologize to country of Japan as whole because they knew what they were getting into and they didn't surrendered so dropping of the bomb was right thing to do from our perspective because if we hadn't done that then Japan wouldn't have surrendered and we would have to send more troops which would cause more casualties on both sides.
ReplyDeleteno it was war time, it was justified to end the war. in the long run, it saved more lives than a full scale invasion of japan. the main reason the second bomb was dropped was because we didnt recieve information of their surrender because of under developed technology of the time. By dropping the bombs so close to eachother made it look like it was no loss to us to keep dropping them, because it made it seem like we had a surplus suply of these dangerous weapons.
ReplyDeleteo. we do not owe them an apology.. all is fair in war right? we were just defending ourselves and we had the technology and the sources to do it so why cant we use them? they bombed pearl harbor.. so if anything they should apologize to us. sorry that it was on civilians but our soilders were dying too..
ReplyDeleteI do think it would be a kind and humane thing to do. But i believe we should do it in a way thats nessesary. We shouldnt apologize for dropping the bomb because it ended the war and we are to a point, glad that happened. But killing many innocent people and children was wrong of us but needed. Also apologizing would loosen up the grudge the Japanese might still have and it also might make Japan have a little more respect for us.
ReplyDeleteThough its tough to say weither or not we should apologize now and bring up the topic again, even though it happened many years ago. But i think it wouldn't hurt and as humans we should apologize for our belligerent act.
I don't really think it is necessary at all to give an apology to Japan. That is something that has been done in the past it's done and there is nothing that can change that. An apology is not going to really fix anything either. Also we don't owe them an apology, I don't really think there is anything to be sorry about either. It was done in the middle of the war and was done in spite of the war. In war you don't apologize, I mean it's war. It's not like Japan is sorry for the bombing Pearl Harbor and we don't really expect an apology from them about that either. It was all done in spite of war, I'm sure Japan would of done the same if they had the chance. It was just the past and the atomic bomb ended the war, America was just going what it thought it would be best to do for their own sake just like any other country would. So I don't think it's necessary for a Japan to receive an apology.
ReplyDeleteWe should not apologize to Japan because they started the war and didn't apologize for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. If they wanted a war with the U.S., they should have expected to take a lot of damage from us. Even though they were weak towards the end of the war, they did not surrender, so it was the right thing to drop the bomb both times, confirming the end of the war. If we did not do this, more U.S. soldiers would get killed in the war.
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