That was a very well articulated response. I have had similar discussions with people but I was however not able to get the point across as well as you have here.
I know it's a touchy subject but I'm gonna go there briefly. This extends to modern day Israel and Gaza. There just is no justification for the slaughter of non-combatants. I don't care how brutal the Hamas militia is. The Israeli justification, i.e., that "they are all terrorists", is just flat-out wrong and cannot be accepted.
But, like you have pointed out here, they are not concerned about being held accountable for their mass murder because they are shielded by the USA.
This is part of why I say there is no war in Gaza. There are not two separate armies from two countries fighting there. It is just indiscriminate slaughter and it is nothing other than evil.
You are ignoring the fact that Hamas has had the support of the Palestinians, and that Hamas kidnapped and held, and still holds and tortures and murders, Israeli civilians, and that Hamas places war materials and other facilities in schools and hospitals. To say Israelis are evil for killing civilians (which they do their best to AVOID) while Hamas is not is unjust. Israel has been bombed for years, and it never did anything more than destroying the houses of families of suicide bombers, because the families were rewarded for the family member who suicided and killed. Always they removed the people before destroying the homes. Who started the present conflict? It wasn't Israel. The right of self defense belongs to Israel.
Just a couple of thoughts for your consideration. First, the residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't exactly civilians. Many of them were employed at the factories that made war materials. I also think your suggestion of bombing an unpopulated place first wouldn't have worked, because bombing one Japanese city didn't work. I majored in Oriental Studies in college, concentrating on Japan. Their culture only respected decisive strength. I don't know if Japan had agreed to surrender or not prior to the bombings, but given what I know, it seems unlikely. It is possible that claim is disinformation. All of that said, however, I don't think we can really revisit the situation all that much. It would be similar to ordering me to pay reparations to someone of dark skin simply because my skin is light. I had nothing to do with slavery, and neither did my ancestors. This was decided and done by our forebears. I was barely a year old at the time. The history of Japan invading and raping, killing, and pillaging towns and civilians goes back many centuries, and so does the similar behavior of China and Korea when they were stronger. Also not widely known is that Japan had been attacking our mainland for some time with hot air balloons carrying bombs being floated over the mainland. It is easy to practice hindsight. But suppose that Japan had surrendered. How long would that have lasted? Probably only until the next opportunity for attacking neighboring nations and America occurred. We still live in a world where China wants to dominate the world, and is only using prudence not to attack outright. Japan was forever changed for the better. I grieve all civilian deaths, but I just recognize that things are never that simple.
That was a very well articulated response. I have had similar discussions with people but I was however not able to get the point across as well as you have here.
I know it's a touchy subject but I'm gonna go there briefly. This extends to modern day Israel and Gaza. There just is no justification for the slaughter of non-combatants. I don't care how brutal the Hamas militia is. The Israeli justification, i.e., that "they are all terrorists", is just flat-out wrong and cannot be accepted.
But, like you have pointed out here, they are not concerned about being held accountable for their mass murder because they are shielded by the USA.
This is part of why I say there is no war in Gaza. There are not two separate armies from two countries fighting there. It is just indiscriminate slaughter and it is nothing other than evil.
You are ignoring the fact that Hamas has had the support of the Palestinians, and that Hamas kidnapped and held, and still holds and tortures and murders, Israeli civilians, and that Hamas places war materials and other facilities in schools and hospitals. To say Israelis are evil for killing civilians (which they do their best to AVOID) while Hamas is not is unjust. Israel has been bombed for years, and it never did anything more than destroying the houses of families of suicide bombers, because the families were rewarded for the family member who suicided and killed. Always they removed the people before destroying the homes. Who started the present conflict? It wasn't Israel. The right of self defense belongs to Israel.
Pure hasbara propaganda. It takes two to tango:
"Welcome to Hell" - https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/publications/202408_welcome_to_hell_eng.pdf
"Roadmap to Apartheid" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=3psMGQE0iW4
Just a couple of thoughts for your consideration. First, the residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't exactly civilians. Many of them were employed at the factories that made war materials. I also think your suggestion of bombing an unpopulated place first wouldn't have worked, because bombing one Japanese city didn't work. I majored in Oriental Studies in college, concentrating on Japan. Their culture only respected decisive strength. I don't know if Japan had agreed to surrender or not prior to the bombings, but given what I know, it seems unlikely. It is possible that claim is disinformation. All of that said, however, I don't think we can really revisit the situation all that much. It would be similar to ordering me to pay reparations to someone of dark skin simply because my skin is light. I had nothing to do with slavery, and neither did my ancestors. This was decided and done by our forebears. I was barely a year old at the time. The history of Japan invading and raping, killing, and pillaging towns and civilians goes back many centuries, and so does the similar behavior of China and Korea when they were stronger. Also not widely known is that Japan had been attacking our mainland for some time with hot air balloons carrying bombs being floated over the mainland. It is easy to practice hindsight. But suppose that Japan had surrendered. How long would that have lasted? Probably only until the next opportunity for attacking neighboring nations and America occurred. We still live in a world where China wants to dominate the world, and is only using prudence not to attack outright. Japan was forever changed for the better. I grieve all civilian deaths, but I just recognize that things are never that simple.