Do you consider the A-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be war crimes?

Sunday 02nd August, 12:00 PM JST

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KyotoChris at 01:58 AM JST - 8th August

Just a point GW. One estimate of IJA war crimes is 5,424,000 and another at 20,365,000. I'm in no way justifying what these animals did but wanted to offer a different set of numbers (at least according to Wikipedia which lists the source historian and their estimates). There is another listing on J war crimes there too and a large number of those who engaged in various atrocities were charged and sentenced to death.

While i believe some are more severe than others, I also believe a war crime is a war crime. I disagree with LoveUSA that is was the most horrendous attrocious of them all but it was still a crime against humanity. That entire war turned people into devils.
sfjp330 at 03:22 AM JST - 8th August

In 1940, Imperial Japan was an allies and true friend of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler, and later, Mussolini of Italy. Especially with Japan and Germany, they brutally massacured almost entire Europe, Russia, North Africa, China, Korea, Phillipines, Southeast Asia. They even attacked U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor without declaration of war. Japan wanted war and they got exactly what they deserved. Why sacrifice anymore U.S. lives when they had the bomb.
BobbieWickham at 09:48 AM JST - 8th August

Are Pearl Harbour, 9/11 war crimes? But it was Americans killed so that's different. AEROCASTER is as close to the truth on this as anyone.
abelcovarrubias at 09:49 AM JST - 8th August

Absolutely, any war has its ugly things. Too much bloodshed for nothing. Some even consider war as necessary control from population growing, though others as Einstein and Jakob Bronowski believed it is some sort of illness from humanity-childhood. Anyway, part of us is eager to see destruction and permanent stage of war as hereditary consequence of our own evolution on this planet. It's in our bloods, specially if we see too much injustice around us. Neither matter if this is on the Holocaust nor are Hiroshima and Nagasaki's atomical bombings. But History always teach us lessons. Then, Robert McNamara is so right when he wrote in his book, "The Fog of War;"..."they all were war criminals!"
PickupArtist at 09:59 AM JST - 8th August

A bomb was the best decision for the end of the war.
GW at 11:16 AM JST - 8th August

That entire war turned people into devils.

kyotochris, I wud agree to that to some extent but I what change it somewhat, perhaps, the actions of Germany & Japan made war an even more nasty business than ushal & the allies had to stoop to their level to defeat them & finish it.

And regarding an earlier post, while yr relatives may not have known about PH they surely knew Jpn way laying waste to Korea & China, so the fact that another country might want to turn on Jpn shud have not been a surprise to them
DS at 08:54 PM JST - 8th August

A few facts for the revisionists;

1/ Japan was NOT ready to surrender. Rather, plans were made to defend the Home Islands to the death- check out the plan, the name was Ketsu-go.

2/ Japan still had enough military power to ensure a bloodbath in the event of an invasion. For months, planes,fuel, weapons etc had been hoarded for just this occasion. For example, more than 10,000 kamikaze aircraft were ready to fly, plus hundreds of "human torpedoes" and other weapons.

3/ IF Japan had wanted to surrender, they had the chance before the bombs were dropped. Truman gave Japan fair warning after the Potsdam conference that prompt and utter destruction was on the way. Japan's leaders failed to heed Truman's warning.

Now, let's move on to alternatives to using atomic weapons:

1/ Blockade Japan until surrender. This would result in tens of thousands of civilian deaths due to starvation and disease. The Japanese military would take whatever food their was,and leave the civilians to die.

2/ Drop a "demonstration" bomb. Not feasible. The US had only 2 weapons available, so using one like this would be stupid. Plus, there is no guarantee that the right people would see, or believe, a demo bomb.

3/ Invade. Considering that the Okinawa invasion resulted in more than 80,000 Allied casualties, an invasion of Kyushu would be unspeakably horrid. Not to mention the 15 MILLION Japanese who were part of the Home Guard, and expected to attack Allied tanks with bamboo spears.

Sorry, no viable option that I can see. Consider that, even after Nagasaki, the Imperial War Cabinet was STILL deadlocked 3-3 to surrender or keep fighting. It took the intervention of the Emperor (an unprecedented event) to tilt the decision to surrender. Even then, there were die-hards who wanted to keep fighting.
Seiharinokaze at 02:29 AM JST - 9th August

Japan was ready to surrender. The reason why the Imperial War Cabinet was again deadlocked by 3-3 on whether or not to surrender was because they were not certain yet from the Allied reply about the post-surrender status of the Emperor. You might as well say a bit kindly that Japanese were NOT ready to surrender the Emperor.

FYI you have a famous report, the US Strategic Bombing Survey that reached an interesting conclusion: "Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bomb had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated."
amerijap at 04:41 AM JST - 9th August

The reason why the Imperial War Cabinet was again deadlocked by 3-3 on whether or not to surrender was because they were not certain yet from the Allied reply about the post-surrender status of the Emperor.

It draws an implication that there seemed to be a huge disagreement among the chief officers in the imperial cabinet as the odds were against them.I wonder which side the Emperor was taking with, and how the Cabinet's management of information in such an impending national crisis affected the relationship with Emperor.
YGHome at 04:59 AM JST - 9th August

The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a war crime despite of all the justifications given. The details of what happened during any time interval before the dropping of the bombs, be it measured in days, months or even years is important. But far more important is the bigger picture, which tells that all the atrocities and suffering in Asia were the result of one root cause: The western aggression that started about one hundred years before WW2; this aggression had different effects on China and on Japan, but it shaped the common fate of both of them and of Korea. An even bigger picture reveals that the superpower which perpetrated this war crime, America, has committed other, even much bigger, crimes elsewhere before. Enjoying the fact that the world accepts the justification of the horrid bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the other crimes, America is continuing to commit war crimes throughout the globe to this day.
Boborama at 06:12 AM JST - 9th August

Russia declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945; four months after dumping the neutrality pact with Japan. This was probably a significant reason why Japan called it quits. Japan knew if the Russians invaded, they'd be drinking vodka with their sushi and not sake.

I'm glad that stinking war is long gone over. Japan is a great country and I'm happy to see it peaceful and prosper. The people, history and culture are absolutely awesome!!!!
sfjp330 at 02:29 AM JST - 10th August

The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a war crime despite of all the justifications given.

YGHome;

JAPAN CONSTANTLY PORTAYS ITSELF AS A VICTIM. Look in the mirror, Japan wanted a war and got exactly what they ask for. There's no rules in war. If you look at the history of aggression and brutality of the killing millions of children and innocent civilians from 1931-1945 in a neighboring countries that were peaceful to Japan. General Yamamoto, after the bombing of the Pearl Harbor, knew the consequences of attacking U.S., a sovereign nation that was not at war with Japan, he said "we woke up the sleeping giant", with great sadness, and understood the disaster toward Japanese people by entering war with the U.S. Before the war, he studied at Harvard before returning to Japan, and understood the American people. Japan lost the war in '42 after Midway, but their leaders were dumb enough to make their own people suffer for another three years. Japanese military was as bad as Nazi's. Maybe worse.

Why sacrifice any more U.S. lives after brutal Okinawa, when they the bomb. Ask Tojo and your govenment why they were so stubborn in not surrending earlier, possibly in 1943. They knew they couldn't win. The blame is on Japanese Military, they could've save their own people.
Hotbox08 at 06:51 PM JST - 11th August

Look in the mirror, Japan wanted a war and got exactly what they ask for.

Should we hold the people who are living today, accountable for the actions of the ones who came before them?

Of course, the U.S. citizens who live today, should likewise not be held accountable for the misdeeds of their ancestors. The only things that we can do today, is to give aid and help to the survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Also, ask yourself this: Has Japan continued to abide by the treaty they have signed in 1945? Have they ever tried to invade another country by force since then? While other countries have increased their stockpiles of nuclear weapons and increased their military might, do you really think Japan's military is any threat to the rest of the world?

Actions speak louder than words, and while many countries have preached peace, few have done anything about it. The Japan of 65 years ago is far different than the one that is today. I'm glad that Japan continues to NOT live by the sword, so to speak.

Ask Tojo and your govenment why they were so stubborn in not surrending earlier, possibly in 1943. They knew they couldn't win.

News bulletin: Tojo is dead. Unless of course, you have the ability to talk with ghosts.
ohmygod at 06:55 PM JST - 11th August

I think you have to be pretty warped if you think that dropping an atomic bomb on thousands of people is not criminal.
sfjp330 at 12:32 PM JST - 12th August

Hotbed8;

Good note. Enjoy reading your comments.