Comment by doall | Hacker News Reader

Comment by doall | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

> The japanese committed millions of atrocities in World War II.

Killing combatants in war is different from "torture and murder millions of surrendered civilians and POWs" or "committed millions of atrocities". Please be more specific, accurate and show sources if you want to talk about this kind of large numbers.

>Their government denies virtually every single one.

Wow virtually every single one? So there might be lots of examples. Please show them so that I can check the validity of your claim. I am suspicious that you are exaggerating stuff like the Chinese government.

> the Far East (judges/prosecutors from all of the Allies, including Russia) put Chinese deaths at over 200,000 in that one brief event.

Death is different from raping. You should not mix them up. Killing or raping is bad no matter what.

> They tortured, starved and murdered POWs, the Bataan Death march being just one example. Unit 731 tortured and murdered prisoners with biological and chemical warfare experiments.

Yes torturing is really bad. But isn't US better at this? Both Japan and the US did bad things in the past. One thing to notice is that the US is still bombing and killing not just terrorists but innocent people including kids.

>And you keep saying they were ready to surrender. I agree they wanted a peace deal. But only if they could save face, and retain the territories they had conquered. The Military Facists who ran the government and the Emperor refused to consider unconditional surrender until the bombs were dropped. And even when the Emperor changed his mind, part of the military facists attempted to revolt and stop it.

Yes the Emperor and the Japanese military could have done a better job to surrender earlier. But did the US tell Japan that they will drop atomic bombs to make them surrender? The answer is no. The Japanese government did not even notice that it was an atomic bomb in the first place. US is the one who dropped atomic bombs and killed non-combatants, and no matter what you think it is considered one of the most inhuman actions in human history and this fact will never change.

BTW: I was born in Japan.

> Yes torturing is really bad. But isn't US better at this? Both Japan and the US did bad things in the past. One thing to notice is that the US is still bombing and killing not just terrorists but innocent people including kids.

Nice try to completely avoided the actual facts of the rape of Nanking, the Bataan Death March and Unit 731. Regardless of what the U.S. does now ( and I agree some of it is awful), Japan's armies raped, tortured and murdered enormous numbers of POWs and civilians during WWII. You can't deny it any more than I can deny that the U.S. currently kills terrorism suspects with drones.

> Yes the Emperor and the Japanese military could have done a better job to surrender earlier. But did the US tell Japan that they will drop atomic bombs to make them surrender? The answer is no. The Japanese government did not even notice that it was an atomic bomb in the first place. US is the one who dropped atomic bombs and killed non-combatants, and no matter what you think it is considered one of the most inhuman actions in human history and this fact will never change.

The dropping of the bombs was clearly humane. The Emperor and military were going to use millions of civilians as human shields and weapons during the invasion. They refused to surrender unconditionally until the bombs were dropped. They intended to duplicate the results of the "Divine Wind" yielded against the Mongols, only using human lives instead of a hurricane. All so they could retain their "empire" and their ability to subject Chinese, Koreans, and peoples across the NW pacific.

> BTW: I was born in Japan.

Then your nationality is Japan or not? Interesting to hear.

> Nice try to completely avoided the actual facts of the rape of Nanking, the Bataan Death March and Unit 731. Regardless of what the U.S. does now ( and I agree some of it is awful), Japan's armies raped, tortured and murdered enormous numbers of POWs and civilians during WWII.

Even if some include propaganda from the Chinese government, I have already said "both Japan and the US did bad things in the past." and not completely avoided the facts. You even did not answer my questions. Please read my comments carefully.

> You can't deny it any more than I can deny that the U.S. currently kills terrorism suspects with drones.

Oh yes, babies are terrorist suspects, doctors and patients in hospitals are also terrorist suspects. Aren't they?

> The dropping of the bombs was clearly humane.

If dropping atomic bombs is clearly humane, why not use them in every war? The US should use them in every war since Hiroshima and Nagasaki but they have not. Atomic bomb is considered one of the Weapons of Mass Destruction, that even the US justifies for starting a war in Iraq for the suspicion of them for just having a WMD. Clearly using atomic bombs is an inhuman action and the US knows it. That is why they have not used it anymore.

> The Emperor and military were going to use millions of civilians as human shields and weapons during the invasion. They refused to surrender unconditionally until the bombs were dropped. They intended to duplicate the results of the "Divine Wind" yielded against the Mongols, only using human lives instead of a hurricane. All so they could retain their "empire" and their ability to subject Chinese, Koreans, and peoples across the NW pacific.

Again I have already said "the Emperor and the Japanese military could have done a better job to surrender earlier". You seem to rush into conclusions without reading my comments carefully and many times having a false conclusion. At the present day, atomic bomb is a WMD and using WMD is clearly considered an inhuman action also by the US government themselves.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com