Recently, a friend and colleague of mine – Cliff May, President of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, who I work with weekly at PJTV – made an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Cliff and Mr. Stewart were having a heated argument on the subject of what constitutes torture and what is merely coercion. Here’s how the conversation unfolded:
Cliff May: Do you think that in World War Two we did not inflict pain and suffering on suspects in Europe and Japan–.
Jon Stewart: –I would hope we didn’t waterboard people. I would hope we–.
Cliff May: –We did do Hiroshima. Do you think Truman is a war criminal for that?
Jon Stewart: (pause) Yeah.
Cliff May: You do?
Jon Stewart: Yeah.
This view, expressed by Jon Stewart* and shared by millions, is becoming ever more widely held the farther from the event we become. Stewart and others maintain that the atomic bombings were criminal acts, claiming that the targeted cities received no warning, that they were of no military value, that Japanese resistance was crumbling and their use was unnecessary, and that Japan was trying to surrender at the time of the bombings which were therefore nothing but an unjustified and brutal signal sent merely to show the Soviets who’s boss.
None of these positions stand up to facts.
Let’s come back to the moral issue in a moment. But let’s begin with the historical facts.
Here’s what Stewart himself says about warnings:
Jon Stewart: Here’s what I think on the atom bombs. If you dropped an atom bomb fifteen miles offshore, and you said the next one is coming to hit you, then I would think it’s okay. To drop one on a city, and kill a hundred thousand people…
Cliff May: …You think that would–.
Jon Stewart: I think that’s criminal.
So Jon Stewart’s main point is that if the Japanese had been warned, quote, “then I would think it’s okay.” But the Japanese were warned. After 6 six minutes of grueling research, I was able to discover this leaflet:
“Read this carefully as it may save your life or the life of a relative or friend. In the next few days, some or all of the cities named on the reverse side will be destroyed by American bombs.
These cities contain military installations and workshops or factories which produce military goods. We are determined to destroy all of the tools of the military clique which they are using to prolong this useless war. But, unfortunately, bombs have no eyes. So, in accordance with America’s humanitarian policies, the American Air Force, which does not wish to injure innocent people, now gives you warning to evacuate the cities named and save your lives. America is not fighting the Japanese people but is fighting the military clique which has enslaved the Japanese people.
The peace which America will bring will free the people from the oppression of the military clique and mean the emergence of a new and better Japan. You can restore peace by demanding new and good leaders who will end the war. We cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked but some or all of them will be, so heed this warning and evacuate these cities immediately”
Much more here.
3 comments:
I'm glad to know that Stewart, whose comedy show is NEWS to too many simply has no FACTUAL basis for his judgment on Truman the democrat as a war criminal, and I am certain FDR as the concentration camp builder for americans who happened to be japanese by heritage.
To these people the idea that even after TWO cities were obliterated and the emperor had announced surrender a revolt by the japanese army in order to resist to the last person was only BARELY turned aside is meaningless.
Or that prior to the bombings american casualty estimates were close to 500,000 AMERICANS for the invasion which WAS CERTAINLY going to be needed ..and that we guessed up to 3-4 MILLION japanese would die.
That these kinds of decisions were compulsory, and made for the reasons they were demonstrate just how UNREADY this nation and it's polticians are today.
Jon Stewart is a putz. One day his eyes will be opened and he will have to confront the fact that his idiocy had fomented absolute lies in the hearts of the people of a mighty but decaying nation, and that his own responsibility for this is too much for him to bear on his own.
Like Epa said, the Japanese army launched a nearly successful coup against the Emperor to stop the surrender of Japan, despite having two cities annihilated in less than a week. Judging by the tenacity of the defense of Okinawa, I don't think the Japanese were prepared to surrender any time soon. An invasion of the Japanese homeland would have been Okinawa on a much much larger scale. I love it how everybody talks about the A-Bombs, but largely disregards the far more destructive firebombings unleashed against the Japanese mainland. Jon Stewart really doesn't know very much about history, just a large audience of 'we're better than you' liberals.
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