Author Topic: August 6, 1945 (repost from AGW)  (Read 1458 times)

Offline AKDejaVu

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August 6, 1945 (repost from AGW)
« Reply #30 on: August 07, 2000, 06:48:00 PM »
Ram, you simply need to shut up.  Read what you wrote.. think about it... and try a different aproach.

Or.. maybe think about this.  What if you walked up and O.J. was murdering your wife?... and his wife was just there chearing him on?  Wow... I'd say you'd be pretty damn pissed at OJ and not too thrilled with his wife either.

As for the rest of your analogies.. well... they don't really emphasize your intelligent side.

AKDejaVu

Offline easymo

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August 6, 1945 (repost from AGW)
« Reply #31 on: August 07, 2000, 07:40:00 PM »
 One of the more amuseing things about the American people, is that they will spare no expence to get the meanest guard dog thay can. And then they are always embarrassed to find that the thing likes to bite.

 They suggested to Harry Truman that he apolygise for dropping the bomb. He replied that he was still waiting for an apology for Pearl Harbor. That pretty much sums it up for me.

Offline Toad

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August 6, 1945 (repost from AGW)
« Reply #32 on: August 07, 2000, 07:54:00 PM »
Last night my 80 year old father was here and read this thread. He's the one that flew B-25's in the New Guinea campaign.

He read up through Yeager's 10:38PM post.

I asked him if he had any comment.

He asked me if all of "these guys were born after the war".

I said "probably".

He said "then there's no point in discussing it with them. Things have changed so much as a result of that war that they have no idea what it was like."

Then he went to bed with a wry, sad smile on his face.

So, I talked to my wife's uncle. A young Marine Lt. at Guadalcanal and a Captain at Tarawa, I asked him how he felt when he heard we dropped the A-Bomb on Hiroshima.

He said: "I cried. Tears of JOY. I finally knew I was going to live to see my mother and father again."

I asked him if he had any regrets over dropping it. He said: "I regretted that we hadn't had one to drop before Tarawa. A whole lot more of my friends and troops would be alive today."

Guys, we can't judge this decision by our standards.

They did what they thought they had to do with the information they had at the time. That's how wars are fought.


If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

Offline RAM

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August 6, 1945 (repost from AGW)
« Reply #33 on: August 07, 2000, 08:28:00 PM »
 
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Originally posted by AKDejaVu:

Or.. maybe think about this.  What if you walked up and O.J. was murdering your wife?... and his wife was just there chearing him on?  Wow... I'd say you'd be pretty damn pissed at OJ and not too thrilled with his wife either.


For sure I wont be happy, for sure I could do crazy things. But for sure I'D PAY FOR IT AFTER PASSING BY A JURY AND GOING TO JAIL!.

My "loved" "Bombermeisters" didnt pay for their guilts. And THAT is my point. In this world you can act well or bad. When you do it bad and against the law there are penalties to pay. There are a LOT of monsters in history that never paid for their crimes because they simply were on the winner's side. AND THAT is my point.


 
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As for the rest of your analogies.. well... they don't really emphasize your intelligent side.

Why? they only show a truth in this world: you CANT act against the bassic morals of the Human being and hope to walk away untouched by some kinds of law. Human justice has a lot of defects but I am sure that divine justice doesnt (uh ,yeah I believe in god, not exactly the one painted in the bible but you could call me christian).

That is why I say that I hope they are burning forever in hell. Because if they are, they got what they deserved.

Toad,
I agree. Always the fighter's view is a completely different one. But I am NOT against the A-bomb, at least not because it was the lesser of 2 bads.

But I AM against massive terror bombings on civilian targets-and that is a different thing. Allied terror bombing thid nothing or very few things to bring the end of war,at the cost of millions of lifes.

A-bombs effectively ended the war at a comparable "low" cost (damned "low" anyway).

The A-bomb can be excussable. THe massive terror bombings aren't by any means. Its not legitimate by a war, by previous actions by the enemy, by impossibility to attack with precision at 40K, by impossibility to attack with precission at night, Its not legitimate by death march, by concentration camps , by jew genocide, by ANYTHING.

it is simply and plainly UNEXCUSABLE.

IMO, of course, but I feel that this is a bassic thing in human morals.

Offline AKDejaVu

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August 6, 1945 (repost from AGW)
« Reply #34 on: August 07, 2000, 10:36:00 PM »
 
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I'D PAY FOR IT AFTER PASSING BY A JURY AND GOING TO JAIL!

Erm.. You sure about that?

Also.. this is a domestic situation... not a war-time international one.  You sure the same rules apply?

You seem awfully smug.  You also seem young and naive.  Don't know how old you are.. and don't really care.  Its just the impression I get when I read your posts.

You seem to think you are making a point.  You may very well be... just on the wrong page.  Its obvious that you are missing on this one.

AKDejaVu

[This message has been edited by AKDejaVu (edited 08-07-2000).]

Offline Swager

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August 6, 1945 (repost from AGW)
« Reply #35 on: August 08, 2000, 05:21:00 AM »
Actually the Uss Alabama is a Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) Submarine, not a Fast Attack Submarine!

That is all I have to say about that!
Rock:  Ya see that Ensign, lighting the cigarette?
Powell: Yes Rock.
Rock: Well that's where I got it, he's my son.
Powell: Really Rock, well I'd like to meet him.
Rock:  No ya wouldn't.

Offline Downtown

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August 6, 1945 (repost from AGW)
« Reply #36 on: August 08, 2000, 07:41:00 AM »
RAM, you saying that it isn't acceptable to respond in kind?

Then the Luftwaffe/Condor Legion bombed the city of Guernica to ashes the Spanish Republics did not have the ability to respond in kind.

When the Japanese bombed the cities in Mainland China, the Chinese did not have the ability to respond in Kind.

The U.S. and England did not set the standard for bombing Civilian Targets.  That was set by the Germans and Japanese and Italians.  They did it long before the U.S. and England.

I don't agree that bombing civilian targets (Population Centers/Cities) is a viable tactic.  The Analysis of the bomber campaigns of WWII bear this out, all it did was stiffen civilian resolve to resist.

IMHO the U.S. and England were returning in kind policies that the Japanese and German had taken unto themselves long before U.S. and English involvement.  They should have been prepared to reap what they have sown.

Ergo, what I am saying is.  IF the Germans and Japanese established the policy of bombing defenseless civilian targets, then they also accepted the concequences of their actions.  That a Like or similiar action may some day be taken upon them.

No it doesn't make it right, no it doesn't make the people who partook of such actions heros.  It does make them realist.

I would be nice if wars were fought with the high standards of chivalry and morality that you call for and espouce.  Think about it, under those circumstances there would be no reason for a war to be fought.

I try to look at things a bit more relistically.

In regards to Sherman I was reffering to his conduct during the Civil War.

In regards to the Conduct of the Military during the Suppression of the Indian Wars I feel that Sheridan was more responsible for the neo-genicide than Sherman.

Quite frankly the U.S. is lucky that people make more of an issue of Slavery than the Native American Policy.

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Offline StSanta

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August 6, 1945 (repost from AGW)
« Reply #37 on: August 08, 2000, 09:33:00 AM »
Gonna jump back into this discussion  

 
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Then the Luftwaffe/Condor Legion bombed the city of Guernica to ashes the Spanish Republics did not have the ability to respond in kind.
Good thing, I hate seeing *civilians* on either side of a war die.

 
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When the Japanese bombed the cities in Mainland China, the Chinese did not have the ability to respond in Kind.
Same as above.

 
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The U.S. and England did not set the standard for bombing Civilian Targets. That was set by the Germans and Japanese and Italians. They did it long before the U.S. and England.
True, and the Germans also started killing intellectuals, gays, Jews and deviants. It does not justify for any other side to do so.

[quote9
I don't agree that bombing civilian targets (Population Centers/Cities) is a viable tactic. The Analysis of the bomber     campaigns of WWII bear this out, all it did was stiffen civilian resolve to resist.
[/quote]
Yes, and this war known prior to the dropping of the atomic bomb and the massive bombings of German cities. Which sort of begs the question: why did the allies to it then? Strategig values? Well, some factories and railyards were located in cities, but these were located in rather small areas. Revenge? Certainly a possibility, and given the severety and brutality of the war, understandanble *to a certain extent*.
                         
 
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IMHO the U.S. and England were returning in kind policies that the Japanese and German had taken unto themselves long before U.S. and English involvement. They should have been prepared to reap what they have sown.
They were indeed. The question is; should they have done so? Or should they have taken the moral high ground?

A sadistic murderer tortures his victims before killing them. Should society respond in kind, or should society represent something more civilized; aim for a more abstract ideal? Opinions differ, but at least in my country, the former has a big majority.

 
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Ergo, what I am saying is. IF the Germans and Japanese established the policy of bombing defenseless civilian targets, then they also accepted the concequences of their actions. That a Like or similiar action may some day be taken upon them.
I agree, but it is really a tangent and not relevant to the acts of the allieds.

 
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No it doesn't make it right, no it doesn't make the people who partook of such actions heros. It does make them realist.
We agree it doesn't make them right. It also sounds as if you are ready to accept those reasons as excuses, apologetics, if you will.

The Vikings were big on an eye for an eye. The feuds between families are legendary; read an Icelandic sagae and you'll find the gore almsot floating from the pages. It is not, however,a viable solution to a very complicated and advanced morally upright society. At least I do not think so. One cannot stoop down to the lowest level of humanity and still remain dignity, integrity and moral strength.

 
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I would be nice if wars were fought with the high standards of chivalry and morality that you call for and espouce. Think about it, under those circumstances there would be no reason for a war to be fought.
It would be very nice indeed. And the allieds  had, in the case of the bombings of civilians, and opportunity not to respond in kin. They did, and I believe that is what RAM finds unacceptable.

Still, even if war were chivalorus affairs, they'd still be there. "Dear Sir, I believe that land is ours; history shows it." "Oh, but my dear man, you are incorrect; perhaps your historians are revisionists and in error. We have evidence that quite clearly shows it is ours". "Nay, they are not in error, and I fear we must take it back by force if you do not agree to settle this peacefully" "It appears to me there is no acceptable peaceful solution, Sir. Let the war begin"

 

 
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I try to look at things a bit more relistically.
Me too, but I fight off my own cynicism with a sense or realistic idealism. As I believe you too do; sounds like it from the posts you've made.

 
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Quite frankly the U.S. is lucky that people make more of an issue of Slavery than the Native American Policy.
Couldn't agree more. The white US is lucky, that is  .

<S!>


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Offline Toad

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August 6, 1945 (repost from AGW)
« Reply #38 on: August 08, 2000, 10:18:00 AM »
Have any of your read "Victory Through Air Power" by Alexander De Seversky, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1942?

I suggest it as a review of contemporary thought on the use of air power during WW2.

Here's a quick clip from Chapter VI, Airpower Lessons For America:

9. Destruction of enemy morale from the air can be accomplished only by precision bombing.

"Another vital lesson, one that has taken even air specialists by surprise, relates to the behaviour of civilian populations under air punishment. It had been generally assumed that aerial bombardment would quickly shatter popular morale, causing deep civilian reactions, possibly even nervous derangements on a disastrous scale. The progress of this war has tended to indicate that this expactation was unfounded.

On the contrary, it now seems clear that despoite large casualties and impressive physical destruction, civilians can "take it"....

These facts are significant beyond their psychological interest. They mean that haphazard destruction of cities-sheer blows at morale-are costly and wasteful in relation to the tactical results obtained...

Unquestionably, the indiscriminate bombing of defense-less open cities will be used, but for tactical and not merely morale reasons."

Remember, this was written in 1942.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

Offline StSanta

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August 6, 1945 (repost from AGW)
« Reply #39 on: August 08, 2000, 10:49:00 AM »
Thanks Toad, very informative  .



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