The destruction caused by those bombs was horrific
beyond description and Hiroshima should always be
in the minds of policy makers to prevent nighmares
like that happening again. But lets be clear in the
context of 1945 - using the atomic bombs saved
lives - millions of them.

WWII in the Pacific was particularly savage. The Japanese
believed in death before dishonour and surrender was
considered dishonour. As an reputable historian will testify
- the Japanese were not about to surrender. Not under any terms
that would be acceptable to the West.

War is horrible. In war, the best way to lessen the suffering
is to end the war quickly. The atomic bombs dropped on
August 6 and 9 1945 quickly brought WWII to an end saving
many millions of lives.

In the last days of the War, Japan had more than half its armies in China, busy slaughtering civilians. An estimated fifty million Chinese died during that War - which, for China, started back in 1931.

In her biography of General Joe Stilwell, commander of allied troops in Burma, she records that he estimated, in mid-1945, that the War would go on for another two or three years, even after 1948. That's what he planned for - a slow re-occupation of China from its south-west, up and over the Himalayas. In other words, a hell of a hard slog, with many casualties.

It may not worry racist half-wits like Misop but it is possible that another ten million Chinese civilians would have been killed in that intervening time.

I've struggled with the rights and wrongs of this dilemma for decades, but I think that the nuclear bombing of Japanese cities may have saved millions of innocent lives. Not just in China, but in Indochina, Burma (especially in Arakan), the Philippines and Indonesia.

But I hope these dreadful weapons are never used again.

Joe

Oops, that was Barbara Tuchmann who wrote Stilwell's biography.

The bombs saved China & the west another way as well.

Don't forget the then extremely well armed Russia had just entered the war against Japan in Manchuria. They would have killed millions more Chinese while sweeping up the Japs.

They would have occupied all of China, & been as hard to shift as they were in Europe. They would have been even more belligerent there as they were in Berlin, making the world a very different place.

The only thing that stopped them when Japan surrendered was "the BOMB". So the demonstration to the Japs stopped WW11, & stopped another from starting probably between the west & Russia in China & Europe.

Give thanks that the bomb was dropped when it was.

Phil,

What about the penicillin?

I have no idea of how many penicillin may have saved, it & the development of others that followed it may have saved more, but penicillin has had it's time, & many of those developed since then are also past their use by date.

I doubt the "mutually assured destruction" policy would have done such a great job of keeping war to small skirmishes if those 2 demonstrations had not been made. That being the case, all the penicillin that could have been produced would not have saved the billions that an east west war would have killed.

The "mutually assured destruction" policy is still saving millions, & will continue to do so, as long as we deny nuclear arms to madmen like the Ayatollahs.