The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear attacks during World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States at the order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman. After six months of intense firebombing of 67 other Japanese cities, the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6, 1945, followed on August 9 by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki. These are to date the only attacks with nuclear weapons in the history of warfare.
The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945, roughly half on the days of the bombings. Since then, thousands more have died from injuries or illness attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs. In both cities, the overwhelming majority of the dead were civilians.
The picture to the left represents the aftermath of the Hiroshima bomb in Japan. Knowing that the U.S. possesses one of the the strongest military defenses, does this image strengthen or weaken your opinion about the current war we are in? Are we turning the Iraq war into a image of devestation as pictured in World War II? Or are we helping? In relation to the image explain your feelings on this photo and its relation to the war we are now in. Is the U.S. too powerful? Or are we not doing enough and should enforce consequences such as the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on the current countries we are engaged in war with?
The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945, roughly half on the days of the bombings. Since then, thousands more have died from injuries or illness attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs. In both cities, the overwhelming majority of the dead were civilians.
The picture to the left represents the aftermath of the Hiroshima bomb in Japan. Knowing that the U.S. possesses one of the the strongest military defenses, does this image strengthen or weaken your opinion about the current war we are in? Are we turning the Iraq war into a image of devestation as pictured in World War II? Or are we helping? In relation to the image explain your feelings on this photo and its relation to the war we are now in. Is the U.S. too powerful? Or are we not doing enough and should enforce consequences such as the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on the current countries we are engaged in war with?
5 comments:
I think the war in Iraq and the World War 2 are different kinds of wars. World War 2 was fought over forty years ago and technology was different back then so were the circumstances. World War 2 was total war, meaning the war was being fought against the whole country as opposed to the Iraq War which is targeting a terrorist group. Because WW2 was against the whole country and because of the potential loses of our soldiers Truman deemed it morally necessary to employ the nuclear weapons. After the Cold War nuclear weapons were considered a last resort or for retaliation if one country used them on another. In the Iraq War it is not necessary to use nuclear weapons. Since we are fighting a group of people and not a whole country, there are other, better ways to fight the war. I do not think the U.S. is too powerful. The U.S. will never be too powerful because other countries and just as easily make nuclear and biological weapons today because they are cheap to make. The more powerful a country is the less likely it is to be attacked. Even though we are considered to be the most powerful country in the world, we were attacked and are still targeted today.
This photo does not really change my opinion of the Iraq war. I have known since the beginning of the war that our country had this power, even though I do not think it should be used. Even though this power is possessed I do not think it will be used in Iraq. World War II was a completely different type of war. Our stated goal for the war in Iraq is to help the Iraqi people gain freedom and attempt to rid the world of terrorism. Our goal in World War II was help the Allies win and prevent Japan from attacking us again. The atomic bomb was supposedly a last resort that was used. Unfortunately, we were not trying to “help” the Japanese people and used them to force Japan out of the war. I do not think the atomic bomb should have been used because so many innocent lives were lost. Seeing this picture makes me wonder how incredibly awful it would be to have a disaster like that take away everything in an area. The picture has an overwhelming amount of emotional appeal. I do not think atomic technology should be used as a weapon against other humans. Fortunately, I do not think it will come to that in the Iraq war since our goals are completely different.
This picture did not change my opinion of the Iraq war. There are many differences World War 2 and the current war in Iraq. In WW2, the U.S. was almost expected to retaliate to Japan because of Pearl Harbor and what they did to our soldiers. The use of the atomic bomb was very debatable because of the lost of so many innocent lives in Japan, but was that not the same thing Japan did to the U.S.? The use of the atomic bombs, although questionable, was almost necessary to solve some of the WW2 issues. By today’s standards, the U.S. would never use that kind of weapon again because of the access and technology most countries have on nukes. If the U.S. ever did, it would result in nuclear wars all over the country. Truman definitely got his point to Japan after the bombings and Japan quickly surrendered. The Iraq war is against a single terrorist group, not an entire country. Furthermore, it is ground battle of the U.S. troops because of the terrorist ability to hide within the country and even use their civilians against the U.S. armed forces. Therefore, the U.S. just could not go around bombing different parts of Iraq because the civilians are almost used as hostages. There is no single controlling authority because of the balance of powers between the dominating countries in the world.
Something had to be done or Japan would have continued to attack the U.S. Japan got everything it deserved. It wasn’t backing down so the U.S. had to show its strength by dropping two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By doing that, we got their attention real quick, and they surrendered almost immediately. The war we are in now is a little different than WWII. We are trying to help Iraq while we were defending ourselves in Japan. The photo doesn’t change my opinion of either war. The U.S. has to have a strong military because we are targeted by so many countries and terrorists. We wouldn’t be able to survive without such a strong military. Of course, an atomic bomb is not needed in Iraq because it’s a much smaller war and it’s only against a certain group, not the whole country.
It's true that the US may have a somewhat overwhelming army, but it's not like we throw about our power recklessly. If we did, then we wouldnt be in a war with Iraq still. We could easily obliterate any town, city, or country we so want but we try to use more conventional war methods. You see, we are no the only country to posses these nuclear weapons and we fear another country using them on us. This is why we try to limit the amount of these weapons made and who can make them. however, this hasn't stopped us from having a huge stockpile of our very own with numbers that shall never be fully known. So, I think that this photo acts as a reminder to us and all others that we could really cause a lot more damage than what has already been seen. We just choose not to in order to protect our own skins from this horrible fate.
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