Will an American President Ever Apologize for the Atomic Bombings of Japan?

Was Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb right?

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#27
#27
No apology now or ever. We were at war. The last "official" one we were in by the way. If they had the bomb they sure as hell would have dropped it on us if they could have gotten here. I only fault us for not bombing Tokyo first so we wouldn't have had to drop the second one.
 
#28
#28
MT LeConte said:
No apology now or ever. We were at war. The last "official" one we were in by the way. If they had the bomb they sure as hell would have dropped it on us if they could have gotten here. I only fault us for not bombing Tokyo first so we wouldn't have had to drop the second one.
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There was actually some reasoning for that.

The Selection of the Target | The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Historical Documents | atomicarchive.com

The weather records showed that for five years there had never been two successive good visual bombing days over Tokyo, indicating what might be expected over other targets in the home islands.
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#29
#29
Sometimes you just have to kick a country's ass so bad they don't ever want to start trouble again.
 
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#30
#30
MT LeConte said:
No apology now or ever. We were at war. The last "official" one we were in by the way. If they had the bomb they sure as hell would have dropped it on us if they could have gotten here. I only fault us for not bombing Tokyo first so we wouldn't have had to drop the second one.
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The 2 targets were major industrial cities that built planes and other weaponry.
 
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#35
#35
theFallGuy said:
I don't feel we should apologize. Did Japan apologize yet for Pearl Harbor?
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* I do not think your question really has any bearing on whether we should apologize*

But to answer your question, Japan has apologized several times, and indeed the Emperor attempted to apologize to MacArthur directly and assume full personal responsibility but was rebuffed. They apologized as recently as 2015.

Here is a list of WWII-related apologies from Japan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan

*I am not saying we should apologize, just informing you that they have actually been as contrite as imaginable over the whole affair to everyone else involved*
 
#36
#36
n_huffhines said:
Serious question, but why did we need to invade Japan to win? Hadn't we won enough of the Pacific that we had the upper hand? Couldn't we just sit on what had taken and fortified it. Make them bring the battle to us. Invasion is suicide.

In other words...if there was no A-bomb, would the only choice be to invade Japan?
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Japan had to be forced to surrender because they still occupied Korea, China and most of Southeast Asia.
On July 26, 1945 the Allied powers issued an ultimatum to to the Japanese demanding its unconditional surrender and outlining the terms of surrender which were:

  • the elimination "for all time of the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest"
  • the occupation of "points in Japanese territory to be designated by the Allies"
  • that the "Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, and such minor islands as we determine," as had been announced in the Cairo Declaration in 1943.
  • that "the Japanese military forces, after being completely disarmed, shall be permitted to return to their homes with the opportunity to lead peaceful and productive lives."
  • that "we do not intend that the Japanese shall be enslaved as a race or destroyed as a nation, but stern justice shall be meted out to all war criminals, including those who have visited cruelties upon our prisoners."
  • On the other hand, the declaration offered that:
  • "The Japanese Government shall remove all obstacles to the revival and strengthening of democratic tendencies among the Japanese people. Freedom of speech, of religion, and of thought, as well as respect for the fundamental human rights shall be established."
  • "Japan shall be permitted to maintain such industries as will sustain her economy and permit the exaction of just reparations in kind, but not those which would enable her to rearm for war. To this end, access to, as distinguished from control of, raw materials shall be permitted. Eventual Japanese participation in world trade relations shall be permitted."
  • "The occupying forces of the Allies shall be withdrawn from Japan as soon as these objectives have been accomplished and there has been established, in accordance with the freely expressed will of the Japanese people, a peacefully inclined and responsible government."
  • "We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction"
The Japanese response was what is called Mokusatsu meaning "to ignore"

Operation Downfall, Allied plan for the invasion of Japan was to take place in November of 1945. The atomic bombs were dropped in August of 1945. Before the dropping of the atomic bombs Japan had showed that they had every intention of fighting tot the last man woman and child. They conscripted 35 million civilians and had the parts of their military that had survived the early parts of the war.
 
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#37
#37
Mtntrout said:
* I do not think your question really has any bearing on whether we should apologize*

But to answer your question, Japan has apologized several times, and indeed the Emperor attempted to apologize to MacArthur directly and assume full personal responsibility but was rebuffed. They apologized as recently as 2015.

Here is a list of WWII-related apologies from Japan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan

*I am not saying we should apologize, just informing you that they have actually been as contrite as imaginable over the whole affair to everyone else involved*
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Japan never apologized for attacking Pearl Harbor. They apologized for "for failing to break off diplomatic negotiations before launching the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor." Even then the apology was not addressed to the United States, the victim of the attack. But to the people of Japan.
 
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#38
#38
#39
#39
volprof said:
With Kerry's visit to Hiroshima this week (and I don't think there's anything wrong with goodwill), I got to thinking about whether or not the US will ever officially apologize for the bombings. In past eras, this would have been unthinkable, but it seems like the US's actions are thought of in an increasingly negative light globally and domestically with each successive year, given the relative security of our distance from that time. There's even been speculation, via Wikileaks, that Obama has ruminated about apologizing and, while I think him the most likely of candidates to be the first to apologize, I also have difficulty accepting the claims of a Russian SVR (which is what Wikileaks and Snowden both are) tool on its face.

So, I'll do three things here:

1. Provide a poll that attempts to determine what VolNation posters think about the ethics of Truman's decision.

2. Ask you all less formally whether or not you think an American president will ever officially apologize for the bombings.

3. If "yes" to 2 above, then what do you think will be the implications of such an apology?

I will go ahead and answer the above for myself: Truman was right in his decision, whether or not Japan was ready to surrender, and this is largely because his decision to do so most likely prevented Japan from becoming another North and South Korea, as documents have revealed that the Soviets fully intended on invading northern Japan and Hokkaido by the time an American invasion would have occurred and perhaps even despite Japan's surrender. I theorize that Truman's decision therefore saved more lives, whether or not Japan was ready to surrender. Regarding an official American apology, coming from an American president, yes, I do think it will sadly occur at some point. The odds can only be in its favor, especially as Western societies trend more and more towards a bizarre form of reflexive self-loathing, something unseen in any other cultures in history. Lastly, I think that, besides being what will surely prove our most embarrassing moment in "domestic" foreign politics, I think it makes a particularly frightening gesture to other nations concerning our mindset about our nuclear deterrence: we probably aren't willing to use it.
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I agree with your analysis. Radical groups in the Japanese military attempted to stop the surrender, and invasion would have been far more costly to both sides. In sheer damage the firebombing of other cities was more devastating than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

I spent two years on Okinawa in the Army, and big parts of another two years in Japan later as an engineer. I've worked with a lot of Japanese people and found them to be very friendly and highly competent - I very much liked working with them. About half the later work was in Hiroshima, so I've been to the Peace Park several times, and it is very very moving - especially the first time. I could never wish that on someone else, but we do not owe an apology.
 
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#40
#40
Horrible mistakes were made on both sides. Apologies won't bring back the dead. All that is left is to learn from history and not repeat the same mistakes.
 
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#41
#41
MT LeConte said:
No apology now or ever. We were at war. The last "official" one we were in by the way. If they had the bomb they sure as hell would have dropped it on us if they could have gotten here. I only fault us for not bombing Tokyo first so we wouldn't have had to drop the second one.
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Pretty much the last one we won, too. Everywhere else we've failed to put an end to it, and the other side came back to finish. Saddam may be gone, but Iraq isn't finished. N Korea is barely contained. N Vietnam finished what they started.

Tokyo wasn't a good prospect; it was already highly damaged by firebombing. Also the only thing more or less holding things together (to make surrender possible) was the emperor in Tokyo. Surrender was simply not something the Japanese would do; it took the emperor to break through that part of the culture and make it happen.
 
#42
#42
508mikey said:
I wish they would drop one on N Korea to get that ugly fat mutt out of the news for good
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The sooner the better too. Hardly anyone pays attention to him or to his crazy country & nations think he's really insane so he likes to go out & make cheap threats of making war so groups of nations have to give him the time of day for awhile.....poor little fat insane bastard.
 
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#43
#43
Won't apologize. No need. One only has to observe the behavior of Japanese soldiers and the civilians on the midway islands to know it was the right thing to do.
 
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#44
#44
The number of Allied deaths to invade Japan would have been tremendous. Thank heaven Truman made the correct decision.

Visit-tour The Punch Bowl National Cemetery to get a better perspective of World War Two deaths. You can not leave that hallowed cemetery without tears. Those guys and gals did not make it home alive. The last time they saw their families was when they boarded the bus or train to ship overseas.

Why in this age do we think every act requires an apology? Read your history in order to understand the hell they brought to the Pacific Area. They had to be stopped. The Japanese received their due.

You are right, I have never nor will buy a Toyota-Nissan vehicle.
 
#46
#46
Arclight said:
The number of Allied deaths to invade Japan would have been tremendous. Thank heaven Truman made the correct decision.

Visit-tour The Punch Bowl National Cemetery to get a better perspective of World War Two deaths. You can not leave that hallowed cemetery without tears. Those guys and gals did not make it home alive. The last time they saw their families was when they boarded the bus or train to ship overseas.

Why in this age do we think every act requires an apology? Read your history in order to understand the hell they brought to the Pacific Area. They had to be stopped. The Japanese received their due.

You are right, I have never nor will buy a Toyota-Nissan vehicle.
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If we had invaded Japan rather than dropping the bombs, some of us wouldn't be here to debate this issue. There is also the possibility that if we and the Soviets invaded Japan, we would have been at war with Russia, too.
 
#50
#50
I'm sorry for gas bombing all those groundhogs. My boss made me do it.
 
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