I don’t want to take too much time on this point, but the atomic bombings of Japan were necessary. They were justified. And it ended World War II. We won. The Japanese lost. Without the atomic bombings, the war would have been prolonged another 18 months at least, probably more. Operation Downfall, an invasion of mainland Japan, would have been executed, leading to at least 500,000 casualties, though some estimates soared into the millions. Japanese estimates started in the millions and veered into the tens of millions. These bombings ended the most destructive war in human history and saved lives. How is that immoral?
The critically acclaimed film Oppenheimer is now playing in Japan. So, AJ+, a lefty media outlet, decided to interview Prof. Naoko Wake about this historical event, which was a trainwreck. Of course, the accusations of war crimes are mentioned, along with why we didn’t apologize to the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Because we didn’t need to—victors don’t have to apologize. Second, this whole video got firebombed like Tokyo when community notes had to remind people that Prof. Wake isn’t some expert on World War II. She’s a gender historian, whatever that is.
Oppenheimer has been released in Japan, eight months after its global release.
— AJ+ (@ajplus) April 1, 2024
We spoke to historian Naoko Wake to learn why the U.S. refuses to take accountability for the war crimes it committed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and why all of this is relevant to us today. pic.twitter.com/sQQS8SWyLd
This is just a reminder that most Japanese are never taught the extent of the Japanese war crimes that led to their defeat. https://t.co/zEH7xk1IrR
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) April 2, 2024
The video is a classic example of the Left’s failure to grasp history. It’s always a miserable exercise for them. If we’re going to talk war crimes, how about how it was Japan who opened the Pacific theater with their bombing of Pearl Harbor, how they aligned with Nazi Germany, and the numerous atrocities they committed against civilians in the territories they occupied, along with allied POWs. Like the Nazis, Unit 731 conducted inhuman and savage experiments on these people, including vivisections without anesthesia. It was abject brutality, so please spare me the war crimes narrative. Japan doesn't even teach about its crimes during World War II within its education system.
— community notes violating people (@cnviolations) April 2, 2024
The Pacific front of the war is arguably one of the most vicious and brutal our nation ever fought. Japanese soldiers were relentless and cruel and had to be dealt with in kind. Some argue that the Battle of Okinawa, where virtually the entire garrison, which was around 75,000-100,000 men, was wiped out, is what convinced the Truman administration to drop the nukes.
The Left always focuses on these two bombings, but what about the firebombing campaign executed by Curtis LeMay, who eventually became the Chief of Staff for the US Air Force and chief architect in modernizing this branch of our armed services post-World War II? If you’ve watched the 2003 documentary The Fog of War, which was about the life of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, LeMay confided to his future boss that if the US had lost the war, he and McNamara would have been charged with war crimes. In one night, 100,000 men, women, and children were burned to death in the firebombing of Tokyo. Almost every major city on the mainland endured significant damage from these aerial bombing campaigns. My take: I couldn’t care less.
These people had to get the message that we possess the ability to eradicate their culture and society. The atomic bombings finally rammed that message home. In terms of ethics, 100,000-250,000 people being vaporized in two nuclear bombings and ending a war is the more moral choice than prolonging the conflict and permitting millions to tens of millions to die in a long, bloody land campaign, which was going to happen if Fat Man and Little Boy weren’t created.