Re: Defense pact
The US was about to invade Japan (with the allies) and stood to lose around 1 million soldiers in the process. They're STILL (in 2022) handing out purple hearts minted in anticipation of that 1945 land invasion
Japanese civilian casualties were projected to be around 10 million
Meantime another 25 million people would have died in China - a US ally at the time - as the IJA continued its scorched earth retreat policy for at least another 6 months
The Japanese leadership weren't even particularly impresssed with Hiroshima. Compared with the one million dead in the Tokyo firestorm it wasn't even a drop in the bucket. What got their attention was that it was achieved with ONE bomb and they only realised that 3 days after the event
Hindsight is 20/20 but even Japanese will tell you that the 2 nuclear weapons saved more lives than they killed
Biting the hand that feeds IT
