LogFAQs > #986795427

LightSnake posted...

I realize this is harsh, but Imperial Japan was the country who started a genocidal war of conquest and were proclaiming they'd fight to the last. The US forced their surrender through brutal means, but the context is pretty important.

I also have to admit I'm not too broken up about the civilians who died when the allies bombed Berlin. And yes, they knew full well they'd kill civilians in those, too. As Germany had also started a genocidal war of extermination and conquest, they were undertaking ways to stop them. And yes, civilians were going to die in that.

Honestly the Soviet declaration of war had more impact than the nukes. Not to downplay them, but destroying a city was hardly a novel concept at this point. More people already died in Tokyo than Hiroshima or Nagasaki and they didn't really blink. Japan wanted an out to the war that was to their benefit and was hoping to broker that through the Soviets as a third party. When they declared war (on the same day as Nagasaki fwiw) that obviously closed that option.

I have to question if this logic also holds true for the fighting between Israel and Palestine.