Why didn’t we warn Japan we would use the bomb if they didn’t surrender?

the official DP "americans in denial" thread...most amusing...

 

Again, why don't you at least read it. How could we have been more clear. These are not children. Japan knew what the consequences would be. They did not want to surrender. Considering they did not surrender after the first bomb, what in the world makes you think they would have done so based on some claim of a "superweapon"? Your points have no merit whatsoever.

Let's look again at the title of your thread:

"Why didn’t we warn Japan we would use the bomb if they didn’t surrender?"



Potsdam Declaration

Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender
Issued, at Potsdam, July 26, 1945

1. We-the President of the United States, the President of the National Government of the Republic of China, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, representing the hundreds of millions of our countrymen, have conferred and agree that Japan shall be given an opportunity to end this war.

2. The prodigious land, sea and air forces of the United States, the British Empire and of China, many times reinforced by their armies and air fleets from the west, are poised to strike the final blows upon Japan. This military power is sustained and inspired by the determination of all the Allied Nations to prosecute the war against Japan until she ceases to resist.

3. The result of the futile and senseless German resistance to the might of the aroused free peoples of the world stands forth in awful clarity as an example to the people of Japan. The might that now converges on Japan is immeasurably greater than that which, when applied to the resisting Nazis, necessarily laid waste to the lands, the industry and the method of life of the whole German people. The full application of our military power, backed by our resolve, will mean the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland.

4. The time has come for Japan to decide whether she will continue to be controlled by those self-willed militaristic advisers whose unintelligent calculations have brought the Empire of Japan to the threshold of annihilation, or whether she will follow the path of reason.

5. Following are our terms. We will not deviate from them. There are no alternatives. We shall brook no delay.

6. There must be eliminated for all time the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest, for we insist that a new order of peace, security and justice will be impossible until irresponsible militarism is driven from the world.

7. Until such a new order is established and until there is convincing proof that Japan's war-making power is destroyed, points in Japanese territory to be designated by the Allies shall be occupied to secure the achievement of the basic objectives we are here setting forth.

8. The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine.

9. 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.

10. 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. 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.

11. 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 re-arm 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

 

What is amusing is how ignorant some of you are to historical facts. I don't care if you hate America. But try and use something of substance to back it up. You may disagree with the fact we bombed Japan, but it is absurd to think we did not give a clear and unequivocal warning to Japan which they refused to heed.

 

Why would we?

 

Ah .... Sun Tzu. I should go read the art of war for the zillionth time, it never grows old or boring.

 

@ sun tzu

hes chinese not a jap so if that was your point LOL...


@ everybody else...

war is never an excuse to nuke civilians...2 times...


@browntwn...

so you sent them a "give up or we will kick your ass" note CONVENIENTLY forgetting to mention the nuclear holocaust, actually expecting them to "give up" in the middle of a war, based on a note you sent them?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!


ok ill spell it out: whats wrong with warning 100.000-s of civilians to get out of town or be turned to crystal? or bomb a smaller island just for demo and THEN send a "We will kick your ass note"

my version: you wanted to keep it a "surprise"
why?
my version: the lives of 100.000-s of civilians meant less than spoiling the surprise...

now whats not based on facts?

 

We did ask them to surrender. We also dropped leaflets on Hiroshima and Nagasaki warning of the coming fury and asking the Japanese to pressure their gov't to surrender.

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/ferrell_book/ferrell_book_chap11.htm

 

The leaflets made a point of the new power of the atomic bomb. They went into a bit of detail there.

 

1. There was nothing to reference as weapons of that type had never been used before. Telling Japan that they would face prompt and utter destruction of their homeland was very clear.

2. Since they did not surrender after bombing them the first time, what kind of idiot thinks they would have surrendered after bombing an empty island?

 

I think you are seriously uninformed or just naive on this topic. I would suggest stopping now with your little rants before you just make yourself look even more ignorant.

 

Nice post.

These fliers, in conjunction with the warning to the Japanese government left no doubt what they should expect if they refused to surrender.

 

LOL where does it mention mass bombing of civilians? where does it mention nukes? where does it say "you will die 100% this bomb does not discriminate its not the usual bomb"...

jap civilians heed warning: we dropped these leaflets leave your homes and go live in the woods and eat turds we may or may not bomb the instalations and workshops" LOL

great points you make...they really all had the chance to leave to their beach houses in malibu while you get the bombing over LOL...

oh and whats up with all the stories of the net that the notes never made it to your first target hiroshima?? oooopppss LOL looks like somebody made a boo boo and is trying to cover up the tracks?...

"japs surrender because of these notes" or get shot by the jap army for leaving home LOL...



translation from jap:

“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.”

 

i trust the american version so much...any impartial website? i found the note above with the translation above...

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/ops/hiroshima4.htm


yo browntwn

what kind of warning note is that that already mentions the destruction in hiroshima?? right a BS one...now take that document down LOL

 

They are Japanese, not "jap"

It would be nice, at a minimum, to speak in a manner that is not totally disrespectful of the people who you are pretending to be arguing for.

Even your cited source states:

"The OWI radio station beamed a similar message to Japan every 15 minutes."

You have made a total fool of yourself in this thread.

 

bcoz they wanted to test the bomb in wild

Title of the thread should be We Americans & not just We, not all dp users r american

 

Americans have loved war since the inception of the Federal Reserve in 1913.

Wish it wasn't so....

http://www.chuckypita.com/sarah-pal...fference-between-a-hockey-mom-and-a-pit-bull/

 

Nice post. The Japanese did not think the bomb was as powerful as it really was. They thought the alleged power was all propaganda.




Welcome John, Its nice to see you around. How is school?

 

It mentions "atomic" bomb.


And the assumption that if we warned them, they would surrender, is off.

I live in Japan. My great uncle was a child when Hiroshima was bombed. He went to school right near the epicenter. His body was never recovered. His family blame the government, which refused to surrender.

The Japanese military complex was willing to fight to the last woman and last child. The atomic bombings gave the power to those in government that wanted to end the war. It was necessary.

More people died in the fire bombing of Tokyo - 100,000 people in a single night of fire - than either Hiroshima (70,000) or Nagasaki (40,000).

So your argument is that we should have warned of a less lethal attack, while not demanding that we warn of the more lethal fire bombing?

I think it's implicit in war that you're going to get bombed. Every Japanese knew they were a target. Many had holes dug under their floors.

 

yo browntwn well you have made a total american out of yourself

1) where does it mention abomb? right it does not the note you show was written after hiroshima...why the playing dumb?

2) where was the warning for hiroshima and whats up with the 100-s of stories that they never got any warning about atomic bombs? as far as they knew it was another regular bombing campaign...





@ the rest...\


shame on you! war is no excuse to abomb civilians...especially not civilians of a country whos war apparatus was on life support and ready to die like japs...total BS and disrespect for human life...you would not be talking the same if it was your nation in question...

me thinks the US wanted to stop the russians from taking japan korea and vietnam make me think so...

 

great point