NationStates Jolt Archive

Who was about to drop a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima or Nagasaki, do you think you'd have the guts to carry out the task? Would you even drop the bombs?

Yes, you'd be amazed how I can stop thinking and just do it.

there is absolutely no way i would do it, the dropping of those bombs was one of the most regrettable and unforgivable things america has done

The bomber would mysteriously dissapear as I take it and the experimental A-Bomb to Switzerland to be sold to the highest bidder.

I would then live in the lap of luxury for the rest of my life.

What one measly A-Bomb to a superpower like the US? They can make more!

I would.
I'm a cruel and heartless b*****d and besides, if I didn't, i'd probably get executed for treason.

Think Dr. Strangelove.

Yes, what has to be done has to be done

Think Dr. Strangelove.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room

Fuck no! Japan was about to surrunder anyways, so why be personally responsible for 150,000+ deaths?

I'm stuck in the middle on this. If you do drop the bomb all those innocent people would be killed. If you don't drop the bomb it would severely interfere with the timeline, causing events to not occur and prevent the birth of certain people. It would be dangerously unpredictable to not drop the bombs, but I don't think I have it in me to do it.

Why wouldn't I?

Japan had attacked the US, ransacked Asia for ten years, and was not going to surrender. By dropping the bomb I would save the US from having to invade the home islands, and probably shorten the war.
After the way Okinawa went, there is NO reason to assume that Japan itself would be a cake walk. :(


READ THIS BOOK:
War's End: An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission
by Major General Sweeney

Sweeney was the only person present for BOTH of the atomic bomb drops on Japan. Even if you don't agree with the decision to drop the bomb, I implore you to read the forward at the very least. It's his Congressional testimony.

Well actually, the guys who dropped the bomb didnt known what they where doing, also, If they refused to drop it while flying they'd probly bin executed, ALSO Millions of Americans would have died in an Invasion of the Japanese Islands

States

The bomber would mysteriously dissapear as I take it and the experimental A-Bomb to Switzerland to be sold to the highest bidder.

I would then live in the lap of luxury for the rest of my life.

What one measly A-Bomb to a superpower like the US? They can make more!

That's actually a very good idea.... 2 problems though. First, you'd probably get killed for either treason, or so that they don't have to pay for the A bomb. Second, the US could make more A bombs but Switzerland couldn't otherwise get them. You'd be giving dynamite to a baby. Congratulations!

There is no chance I would drop a nuclear bomb on civilians even if they came from the country I was at war with and hated more then anthing.

Fuck no! Japan was about to surrunder anyways, so why be personally responsible for 150,000+ deaths?


I'm stuck in the middle on this. If you do drop the bomb all those innocent people would be killed. If you don't drop the bomb it would severely interfere with the timeline, causing events to not occur and prevent the birth of certain people. It would be dangerously unpredictable to not drop the bombs, but I don't think I have it in me to do it.

Remember: it's not like the world knew then what you know now.

NO!
a) I'm a pacifist
b) I refuse to conduct the murder of thousands
c) I do not CARE what they did to me!!! I must be Humble

Being ex military, I can respect the "obeying a lawful order" part of it. At the time, we were at war, and no matter who or how many may argue the point, it is my belief that by dropping the A-bomb shortened the war and saved lives on both sides. That is opinion.

One seriously overlooked FACT is that all of the "firebombings" in Japan in WWII caused MORE death and destruction that the two atomic bombs dropped. Read "Flyboys" by James Bradley. There is an amazing comparison in the amount of destruction to Japanese cities when put side by side with American cities and the percentages relative to population and acreage destroyed.

The A-bombs get the majority of the press in this, but the firebombings themselves combined caused much more destruction.

Note: I am taking no side either for the US of for Japan in terms of the events that happened over 60 years ago. It's history, and nothing can change that, only how we look at it can affect the future of the world...

Remember: it's not like the world knew then what you know now.
I still wouldn't. So what if I was executed for treason? I refuse to have that much blood on my hands.

Remember: it's not like the world knew then what you know now.

Exactly, which brings me back to the original question. What if you were transported into the body of one of the bombers, with all the knoweledge you know now, do you think you'd have it in you to kill that many people?

Being ex military, I can respect the "obeying a lawful order" part of it. At the time, we were at war, and no matter who or how many may argue the point, it is my belief that by dropping the A-bomb shortened the war and saved lives on both sides. That is opinion.

One seriously overlooked FACT is that all of the "firebombings" in Japan in WWII caused MORE death and destruction that the two atomic bombs dropped. Read "Flyboys" by James Bradley. There is an amazing comparison in the amount of destruction to Japanese cities when put side by side with American cities and the percentages relative to population and acreage destroyed.

The A-bombs get the majority of the press in this, but the firebombings themselves combined caused much more destruction.

Note: I am taking no side either for the US of for Japan in terms of the events that happened over 60 years ago. It's history, and nothing can change that, only how we look at it can affect the future of the world...
VEry interesting..
I think you have an excellent point...but I would still refuse to do it

You guys do know that the only reason we dropped those bombs on Japan was to get them to surrender to us and not the Soviet Union, which was also planning a massive attack on Japan at the time as well in attempts to force a surrender, and an eventual takeover of Japan.

Once again, it was purely political in nature, and untold thousands of innocents died so that the US could remain the super power. Would I do that to innocent people for purely political reasons? Hell no, but that's just what makes me the good liberal atheist I am :D

"I still wouldn't. So what if I was executed for treason? I refuse to have that much blood on my hands." CthulhuFhtagn

They didnt know what they were doing, they were not fully informed by the government who feared of a mutiny

I still wouldn't. So what if I was executed for treason? I refuse to have that much blood on my hands.

Blood's still on your hands if the US has to launch the biggest amphibious assualt of all time (at least twice the size of Normandy), and put 1,000,000+ troops on the ground. Probably culminating in a guerilla campaign that would make Viet Nam look like kindergarten...

You guys do know that the only reason we dropped those bombs on Japan was to get them to surrender to us and not the Soviet Union, which was also planning a massive attack on Japan at the time as well in attempts to force a surrender, and an eventual takeover of Japan.

Once again, it was purely political in nature, and untold thousands of innocents died so that the US could remain the super power. Would I do that to innocent people for purely political reasons? Hell no, but that's just what makes me the good liberal atheist I am :D

The Soviets had almost no presence in the Far East at that time, and wouldn't be able to mount any major assaults on Japan until well into 1946, possibly 1947. Takes time to get all that stuff to cross 18 time zones when you only have 1 rail line...

Blood's still on your hands if the US has to launch the biggest amphibious assualt of all time (at least twice the size of Normandy), and put 1,000,000+ troops on the ground. Probably culminating in a guerilla campaign that would make Viet Nam look like kindergarten...
And somehow I would be aware of that and not the power of the bombs?

Besides, as I noted before, Japan was ready to surrender.

Blood's still on your hands if the US has to launch the biggest amphibious assualt of all time (at least twice the size of Normandy), and put 1,000,000+ troops on the ground. Probably culminating in a guerilla campaign that would make Viet Nam look like kindergarten...
because just to just stop fighting is not an option.

And to think I am a centrist, pacifist Christian...what are the chances?

The Soviets had almost no presence in the Far East at that time, and wouldn't be able to mount any major assaults on Japan until well into 1946, possibly 1947. Takes time to get all that stuff to cross 18 time zones when you only have 1 rail line...

LOL, you know you just made the case for the fact that the threat of Communism was completely overblown and exaggerated...

Exactly, which brings me back to the original question. What if you were transported into the body of one of the bombers, with all the knoweledge you know now, do you think you'd have it in you to kill that many people?

As I said before, yep. It's a no brainer -- kill the enemy and save my own countrymen, or get court martialed, possibly shot.

It's not that I'd be killing them. They're dead already to me -- history says so. Now, suppose if one of the 1,000,000 GIs that end up going to Japan to fight go... and my action accidentally kills the future President HW Bush? Or Kennedy? Or any ONE of the thousands of Americans (or their progeny) that make critical advancements for the US in during the Cold War?

Pull the trigger. It happened.

That's a pretty dumb question. If I were transported... It's the same as asking if I support the use of nuclear weapons.

The real question should be "If you were the pilot or bombardier on the Enola Gay, would you carry out your mission?". If I grew up in that time, had the training and was sitting in front of the plane, of course I'd drop the bomb. It would have been my job and quite a few of my comrades were depending on me to do it.

I was in a brief one time in my past career as an A-6 bombardier. The CAG asked each of us if we were ready to drop a nuke, if ordered to do so. There was only one guy that said no. We didn't see him in that air wing again. He was off the ship the next day and stuck in the training command, or something.

I guess you can predict my answer to the question posed in the thread.

LOL, you know you just made the case for the fact that the threat of Communism was completely overblown and exaggerated...

Yep. :)

(At least until after Stalin died.... it took them almost 10 years to recover from the Great Patriotic War.)

And somehow I would be aware of that and not the power of the bombs?

Besides, as I noted before, Japan was ready to surrender.

GO READ WAR'S END. The average GI knew that any invasion of Japan would be the bloodiest thing in world history. 3 years of fighting across the Pacific told him that!

Er... no, they weren't.

If they were going to surrender, why bring back troops from China and Korea?

Why didn't they surrender ANY time from the Potsdam Conference (17 July 1945 - 2 August 1945)? Japanese Premier Kantaro Suzuki announced to the Japanese press that the Potsdam declaration was to be ignored!

The Potsdam Declaration (the terms of Japanese surrender) was issued on 26 July 1945.

The Hiroshima bomb was dropped on 6 August, Nagasaki on 9 August.

They had over 10 DAYS, to say nothing of the TWO MONTHS since the loss of Okinawa in June, 1945.

I would've droped both nukes, then flown on to Moscow and dropped one on thoes friggen commies

The thing you have to remember about nuclear weapons is that if the world hadn't witnessed their power in action, we might not have the healthy respect for them that we have today. Despite lasting half a century, the Cold War didn't escalate into a WWIII (which would have almost certainly been a nuclear war), and I honestly don't think that would have been possible if the leaders on both sides wouldn't have known exactly what the opposite side was capable of doing.

So yeah, knowing what I do know, I would have dropped the bomb. At least the first one.

I personnaly think it was sickening but in this case my opinions wouldnt matter id be thinking of 'our' boys on the ground!

I would've droped both nukes, then flown on to Moscow and dropped one on thoes friggen commies

1) You only get 1 bomb per bomber.

2) We didn't have another bomb available until early October. Really.

I personnaly think it was sickening but in this case my opinions wouldnt matter id be thinking of 'our' boys on the ground!

That, in a nutshell, is war. :(

Who was about to drop a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima or Nagasaki, do you think you'd have the guts to carry out the task? Would you even drop the bombs?

Yes.

I think I would be thinking of what Tom Hanks said in 'Saving Private Ryan'. How do you moralise killing so many people and then you can go back home and still love your wife.

That for every man I kill, I'm probably saving 1, maybe 10, or maybe a hundred of my friends and fellow soldiers.

In war, unfortunately, it's numbers. Like sometimes you can understand why terrorists kill civilians. Though it's a damn dirty bastardious tactic. But it's really at the end, who's the last one standing.

And like Markreich says, we don't know that the Japanese are going to surrender. You can't read their mind. And their notorious for their Samurai spirit, fight till the last one standing.