If you were Roosevelt

[Emperor Tom]

Would you have dropped the A bombs on Japan knowing full well of all the innoscent lives that would be lost; like children and women and how they would die? Could you honestly look in the mirror at yourself after seeing the people in agony? Let me know where you stand on this topic.

[skullman86]

Roosevelt would have dropped the bombs.Germany bombed civilians, the US and Britain firebombed Germany, killing thousands but no one seems to mind as much because it was conventional bombing.Everyone just likes to rag on the US for using a super weapon.Had the US invaded Japan, we would have wasted US lives plus civilians would have still died from bombings.Nuking Japan wasn't a "good" thing, I think we all agree on that but if I had to chose between possibly ending a war with a single bomb or risking the lives of my own countrymen I would chose the bomb.We rebuilt Japan so it isn't like we bombed it then just left them there to rot, if people think it was done out of pure hatred (plenty of people do) then I think their theory ends there.If you hate someone that much then why would you be willing to make them one of the best economies in the world?

[Enemy of the State]

Wasnt it Truman who was president by then?

If the bomb was not dropped, the war would have gone on much longer. Many more would have died, maybe even more civilians. Then again, thats not really that right either. I guess there wasnt a good decision then, invading Japan causes lots of deaths, nuking Japan causes lots of deaths. There wasnt a third option.
Oh and the SU needed to be frightened a bit.
Meeh, id drop it but i would feel guilty.

[Cluny the Scourge]

Roosevelt would have faced the same imperatives to hasten Japanese defeat to prevent the Soviets gaining a foothold there, and to demonstrate the new weapon's power to the Soviets, as Truman.

Roosevelt gave orders to devastate German cities with mass bombing attacks slaughtering countless civilians. What's the moral distinction from doing that and using one nuke, beside the immaterial matter of how new and frightening the weapon was?

[Feliks]

If Roosevelt was still alive I think he would have flown over to Japan on his rocket-powered wheel chair and taken on Hirohito in a winner-take all death match. No bomb needed.

[skullman86]

If Roosevelt was still alive I think he would have flown over to Japan on his rocket-powered wheel chair and taken on Hirohito in a winner-take all death match. No bomb needed.

[Luftwaffels]

Indeed it was Harry S. Truman who dropped the bomb. But to answer the question, were I the president at that time, I would have dropped the A-Bomb.

[Templar Knight]

Truman was the one who gave the order just to let you know.

Yes, I would have dropped the bombs. a lot less people died from those two bombs than would have died if the US invaded Japan like it was planning to do so. Besides more people were killed in the fire bombings on Japan then were killed from those two Atomic bombs.

[invictus]

What no option of completely obliterating every last japanese city? I would have dropped enough to make japan a wasteland just for fun. -Leon

[The Phantom of TWC]

What no option of completely obliterating every last japanese city? I would have dropped enough to make japan a wasteland just for fun. -Leon

Thats not very nice....

Unfortunatly, due to the circumstances, if I were Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I might have ordered for the bomb to be dropped. America didn't really have much of a choice, the only other alternative would have been to invade the whole country of Japan, and the war would have lasted a lot longer, since the Japanese people were fanatical in war.

[The Good]

Unfortunatly, due to the circumstances, if I were Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I might have ordered for the bomb to be dropped. America didn't really have much of a choice, the only other alternative would have been to invade the whole country of Japan, and the war would have lasted a lot longer, since the Japanese people were fanatical in war.

I agree, especially since the Japanese people would fight for their nation to the death, both many Japanese and many Americans would have died if it were that way. Although the Bomb dropping was immoral, it had its use for the moment...

[Tecumseh]

If Roosevelt was still alive I think he would have flown over to Japan on his rocket-powered wheel chair and taken on Hirohito in a winner-take all death match. No bomb needed.

Now that's just ridiculous.

If I were Roosevelt on the other hand, I would just pretend that I was developing the atom bomb and avoid the whole thing, but I would still threaten Japan with it.....you know....just to scare them. In secret however I would be using the bomb money to hire scientists and engineers to build me robotic legs so I could get out of my damn wheelchair.

After I had my robotic legs and was mobile, I'd get them to give me a gun, a six pack of beer, and a boat, and tell everyone to just sit back and let me deal with Japan personally.

Much more plausible than your silly rocket chair idea.

[Kythras]

No, never, I'd use this crazy new thing called... diplomacy...

[Enemy of the State]

No, never, I'd use this crazy new thing called... diplomacy...

Japan had however shown that it is willing to fight to the death. I dont think diplomacy was possible anymore. Even the civilians were ready to take up arms to defend the isles. Conquering Japan, or dropping the nuke were pretty much the only choices.

[Kythras]

Japan had however shown that it is willing to fight to the death. I dont think diplomacy was possible anymore. Even the civilians were ready to take up arms to defend the isles. Conquering Japan, or dropping the nuke were pretty much the only choices.

If those were my absolute ONLY options, I would choose invasion, yes, more Americans might die, but they would be SOLDIERS, not CIVILIANS, there is a very definite difference, soldiers are trained to expect death, the poor ****ers in Nagasaki and Hiroshima were (almost all) innocent people just going about their business... children. I've seen this shocking documentary about Hiroshima, and I was sick, physically sick, after seeing what happened to school children after America dropped the bomb...

[tiki_rebb]

If those were my absolute ONLY options, I would choose invasion, yes, more Americans might die, but they would be SOLDIERS, not CIVILIANS, there is a very definite difference, soldiers are trained to expect death, the poor ****ers in Nagasaki and Hiroshima were (almost all) innocent people just going about their business... children. I've seen this shocking documentary about Hiroshima, and I was sick, physically sick, after seeing what happened to school children after America dropped the bomb...

Long time lurker, couldn't let this slide.

OF COURSE civilians would have died. The US was receiving reports of the Japanese government arming civilians with bamboo stakes to charge, en masse, US positions. And if the events at Iwo Jima and other such captured islands are any indication, civilians would have committed mass suicide as US forces advanced. Heck, the blood of suicides ran for days in front of the imperial palace (or so I've been told). MILLIONS of civies would have died had the war continued. At the very least, the fire bombings would have continued, and killed FAR more than the A-bombs did.

[Enemy of the State]

If those were my absolute ONLY options, I would choose invasion, yes, more Americans might die, but they would be SOLDIERS, not CIVILIANS, there is a very definite difference, soldiers are trained to expect death, the poor ****ers in Nagasaki and Hiroshima were (almost all) innocent people just going about their business... children. I've seen this shocking documentary about Hiroshima, and I was sick, physically sick, after seeing what happened to school children after America dropped the bomb...

Civilians would sadly still die, invasion or bombing.
As i said the Japanese were willing to fight to the death. Many civilians would commit suicide(And try to kill off many Americans with it). Many would become partisans. And the ones that wont do this.. Well you cant remove them, if the Americans come most likely very many innocent people will be killed by both Japanese and American soldiers in the battles.
Invasion could have made Japan unstable for years, partisans attacking, maybe trying to overthrow the government and replace it with an imperialist one again.

Yeah, nuking Nagasaki and Hiroshima was terrible
But sadly, it just couldnt be avoided. Civilians were going to die. Your doomed one way your doomed the other.

[Sosobra]

No, never, I'd use this crazy new thing called... diplomacy...

You should also try this crazy thing called reality and how things work in it. Also reading a book on the Japanese during WW2 would help as well.

[Wheem]

No, never, I'd use this crazy new thing called... diplomacy...

And if they were uncooperative?

Diplomacy is a two-way street, you can only wheel and deal if the other party is as willing as you are. Sometimes diplomacy is more dangerous (in the long run) than the military option. "Peace in our time!" right?

It's funny how I hear of the immorality of using the atomic bombs, but not nearly so much complaining about the carpet bombing and fire bombing of cities (whether it be Tokyo, Dresden, or whatever).

If I were FDR, I wouldnt have been able to make the decision because I'd have been dead. If I were Truman, however, I'd probably have dropped the bomb. Not light heartedly, but there really was no other option; a land invasion would have resulted in more deaths than both bombs combined, and they'd have been American and Japanese both. Im not ashamed to admit to being human, and caring more about my countrymen than someone else's.

Edit: Not that Americans and Japenese would have been the only ones dying in an invasion. There would have been Canadians, British, Australians, South Africans, New Zealanders, etc...involved; and yes, I also care more about our allies than our enemies.

[Francisco Montana]

Thread moved to the Ethos. ~ Lord Gruffles