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From: bill@persci.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Re: Re: America-bashing (use of atomic bomb)
Message-ID: <301@persci.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 4-Aug-85 01:59:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: persci.301
Posted: Sun Aug  4 01:59:48 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 31-Jul-85 02:28:59 EDT
References: <3268@drutx.UUCP> <10615@rochester.UUCP> <444@mit-vax.UUCP> <10686@rochester.UUCP>
Reply-To: bill@persci.UUCP (William Swan)
Organization: Personal Scientific, Woodinville WA
Lines: 38

In article <10686@rochester.UUCP> ray@rochester.UUCP (Ray Frank) writes:
>> Russia has never USED a nuclear weapon to kill anybody,
>> America has. Same moral plane? It's much to complecated. 
>You're right they haven't yet.  They have other ways that get much less atten-
>ion. 
>I could never condone the use of nuclear weapons on anyone.  But in times of
>total global war, why should anyone think that sane and rational actions will
>always prevail.  The fact that the war was ended in a mad flash of death in
>no way minimizes the fact that the start of such a war was just as insane and
>irrational as the way it ended.  And as history tells it, we had little to
>do with its beginning and much to do with its ending.

Don't forget that many lives, BOTH Japanese and American, were saved by the 
use of a completely new, incomprehensibly powerful secret weapon, which forced
the instigators of that war to an early surrender, thereby avoiding tremendous
bloodshed (on both sides) and total destruction of their nation and people.

Yes, I know they were mainly civilians who died in those attacks, and that they
are mainly civilians who still live with the legacy of the Bomb. Remember who
started the war, and the many innocent American families who suffered the loss
of their sons, because of an alien imperialist aggressor. Also remember the aid
given to the unfortunates by the victors.

It's often been said that we should have dropped the bomb on Fuji instead of
a populace. Consider that the bomb was not considered reliable, that there was
a fair chance that it might not explode if dropped (like so many conventional
bombs). A failure in that attempt would have only strengthened their resolve,
forcing us into even more drastic actions, resulting in the deaths of even more
human beings than if it had never been dropped. (The attempt, failed, would have
made us look *very* weak and without resolve in Japanese eyes. It would have
actually encouraged them: 1. We have a most unreliable superweapon. 2. We don't
have the resolve to actually use it.)

It was most unfortunate that it was used, but consider ALL the circumstances
before you start getting judgemental. This particular circumstance will never
arise again.
-- 
William Swan  {ihnp4,decvax,allegra,...}!uw-beaver!tikal!persci!bill