Jeff Snyder -> Ross Cassell wrote:

 RC>> Yet no amount of opining will change the fact that they were dropped
 JS> and
 RC>> you cannot deny the fact that had Japan been invaded and conquered by
 RC>> conventional means that the death toll would have been higher, on both
 RC>> sides..


 JS> Ross, it is not a fact, it is your personal speculation, and no more.
 JS> You are
 JS> not God, and you most certainly cannot predict the future.

Funny thing is, you are not GOD either, that must really tick you off that
you are not. Maybe you are a devil worshipper??

Your reply is flawed, I wasnt speaking to the future but to the past..

and I can most certainly comment on the past because it has already happened.

Let me repeat myself...

The Japanese fanatically fought tooth and nail to defend nearly to the last
man, Tarawa and Okinawa, and on Tarawa they did so down to the last man,
woman and child, with those unable to fight committing suicide.

The projected losses that both sides would have faced in a conventional
invasion on top of collateral damage inflicted on the civilian populace was
deemed too high, and would have been higher than the losses inflicted by
the dropping of the two bombs. I dont have to prove that to you, for in a
conventional invasion, which would have included aerial bombardment with
conventional warheads, as what they had already did to Tokyo, but would
have also involved shelling from naval warships and the battleground would
have encompassed more than just the TWO cities that did get nuked.

Do your arithmetic Mr Snyder.

Now I am only outlining the thought processes that led to the decision to
use the bombs. I was not there and neither were you, by that I mean,
neither of us had input into said decision and in my case I was not to be
until 18 years after the fact.

Look, the Japanese were not like the French, they were not going to so
easily give up the fight as the French did when faced with overwhelming
odds.

 RC>> Its too late, you dont need to be convinced, they got dropped anyway.

 JS> It is obvious that we will not be able to agree on this issue, but let
 JS> me ask
 JS> you something else:

 JS> If a similar situation were to develop in our modern day, would you
 JS> personally
 JS> condone the usage of nuclear weapons?

Sure, in retaliation for a strike of similar nature on us..

If the North Koreans were to perfect their missile technology to get a nuke
to one of our cities, I would fully expect to immediately see the North
Korean capital glow in the dark not long afterwards, I would even go as far
as to say if they caused harm to Japan or one of our possessions, oh like
lets say Guam, using Nuclear weapons.

-- 
Ross
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