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RE: First atomic bomb - 58 years ago today
John, I believe one correction is in order based on your comments. I am only
an amateur historian, however, I believe it was the Germans that initiated
"Carpet Bombing" against not only Industrial targets but also including
civilian targets in Europe. Then yes the British and eventually the US
followed suit (One reason for carpet bombing was the difficulty in
accurately hitting a discrete target such as a munitions plants particularly
while being attacked by fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft fire that at
times destroyed 30% or more of the attacking forces.). Also I believe the
Japanese were using such bombing well before the war in Europe in order to
create chaos and confusion on the highways to prevent movement of the
Chinese forces. The idea from the Japanese perspective was to bomb civilian
targets to force evacuations which then clogged the highways so that the
Chinese Army found it very difficult to move. My understanding is that it
was a very effective strategy.
I believe if you look at history you will find it full of examples of gross
inhumanity by many military powers. However, I do think you will find few
examples that equal the efforts of the United States to limit collateral
damage and to treat prisoners and civilian populations humanely. No the US
is not perfect, however, I would definitely prefer to live with the history
of the US rather than the history represented by many other countries. One
thing we should all keep in mind is the number of Japanese lives that were
saved by the end of the war prior to an invasion. Again I don't recall exact
numbers, however, my best recollection is that while we were talking 1-2
million US casualties the number of dead and injured Japanese were expected
to be in the 10 million plus range.
Take care.
Milton
-----Original Message-----
From: John Jacobus [mailto:crispy_bird@YAHOO.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2003 11:28 AM
To: NIXON, Grant (Kanata); 'Strickert, Rick'; Radiation Safety
Subject: RE: First atomic bomb - 58 years ago today
1. I believe at the time of the Nagasaki bombing,
another Pu bomb was enroute to Tinian. The U.S. was
prepared to produce a bomb a month, if not more.
2. World War II was the last "great" war. It was
determined that unconditional defeat of the enemy was necessary. The
bombing of "industrial" targets was necessary to defeat the war-making
capabilities of the enemy. The British started strategic bombing against
Germans targets, and it just carried forth from there.
Some of the reasons that Hiroshima was chosen was that
the city was still untouch by air attacks (a good
model), it was surrounded by mountains that would
relect the blast waves, and there was a kite factory
(that made really big kites from which cables would
hang to screen against low flying aircraft. I don't
think the allies knew about the submarine construction
facility.)
I still think the best book on this subject for
general reading is "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by
Richard Rhoads.
Wars should be fought so that they are never repeated.
However, this lesson seems to be lost on every future generation.
--- "NIXON, Grant (Kanata)" <GNIXON@MDS.Nordion.com>
wrote:
>
> Very interesting quotes.
>
> Two comments:
>
> (1) The US only had 2 viable A-bombs following the
> Trinity test. It took two
> drops to force a surrender. Given that, it could be
> argued that using one of
> them in a technical demonstration would have
> prolonged the war.
>
> (2) Looking at the quotes below, it is interesting
> to note that the bombs
> were not used on those who waged war, as stated, but
> on purely civilian
> targets and where there were virtually no targets of
> military significance.
>
> There is nothing moral or just to be salvaged in the
> theater of war.
>
> Grant
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Strickert, Rick [mailto:rstrickert@signaturescience.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2003 10:22 AM
> To: Radiation Safety
> Subject: RE: First atomic bomb - 58 years ago today
>
. . .
=====
-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail: crispy_bird@yahoo.com
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