Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!caip!seismo!rochester!ritcv!cci632!rb
From: rb@cci632.UUCP (Rex Ballard)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.misc,net.rumor
Subject: Re: Lives saved by nuking Japan?!? (was Re: The Presidents...)
Message-ID: <172@cci632.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 2-Jul-86 15:21:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: cci632.172
Posted: Wed Jul  2 15:21:36 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 4-Jul-86 07:47:09 EDT
References: <133@petrus.UUCP> <513@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU>
Reply-To: rb@ccird1.UUCP (Rex Ballard)
Distribution: net
Organization: CCI, Rochester Development, Rochester, NY
Lines: 27
Xref: watmath net.politics:17075 net.misc:9862 net.rumor:2811

In article <457@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU> davidra@batcomputer.UUCP (Penguin (Rabson)) writes:
>I've heard a rumor that Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as bad as they were, made
>everyone forget about Dresden, where more people died equally awful deaths.
>
>Is this true?
>
>The moral is that war was at least as bad before Trinity as after.

It is true that "conventional weapons" killed greater numbers of people.
In fact, Tokyo was being very heavily firebombed at the time.  But to
get those fatalities, hundreds of planes had to come within range of
anti-aircraft fire, and fighter defenses.  Large squadrons were easy
to detect.  People could be warned, and could make it to shelters.

What made "The Bomb" so effective is that it was just one bomb.  In fact,
there wasn't even an air raid siren running when the bomb dropped.  According
to those who were nearby and saw the plane (they appeared to notice only one),
they couldn't even be sure they saw a bomb being dropped.

With only one bomb capable of that much destruction, every plane passing
over would have to be shot down as soon as possible.  On miss meant
thousands of instant deaths.  This is even more true today, and the
targets (missles) are harder to intercept.

Japan was wise enough to realize that they could not muster that kind of
defence.  Unfortunately, there are those who believe that it can be done
now.