Thanks Roger, interesting read.

Seems that we as a country are a lot more hands on in rebuilding Iraq today than Japan back then, and Iraq seems less likely to work together as well. There are so many factors that go into rebuilding a countries infrastructure it seems overwhelming. Hopefully we get something going soon, our country is struggling itself.

Quick question if you know though, did we pre-plan to help Japan rebuild before the bombings like in Iraq, or was that kind of an after thought after the extent of the damage was realized?

The original plan was that portions of Japan were going to become territory of the US, China, and the USSR. Spoils of war.

remember... WWII was a dark time and Japan and the U.S. were enemies(so I'd assume helping japan during the aftermath was not really on the list of priorities before the war was won & it's not like they were just some harmless bystander in the war). supposedly we invaded iraq to liberate it's people from the Saddam regime, and the bombing of Japan was to stop a world war.... so I don't think you can compare the two. what happened during the war can be a touchy subject (and i'm no expert either)... so i'll leave it at that.

You could almost take from this that it was actually more accecptable to bomb Japan because the end goal was "valid". Where as the US & UK government outright lied about their reasons for invading Iraq and destroyed the country for reasons that are still murky. All the while waving flags and using things that had no connection to Saddam to validate the actions, such as 9-11.

(the above is not a statement, I am merely raising a point)

If they finished rebuilding, that's new to me.

I forgot it was 911 yesterday.. .. now I think I know why my package is missing.

c'mon now.. did i really need to type in purple? typing in purple seems so lame

agreed,. but when you guys get to talk'n about wars and patriotism 911 and alla that shit even i get confused, Im not sure if youse are being sarcastic or not.

I mean patriotism is a big thing in the usa....

sadly its a growing obsession over here too now(insert shudder emoticon)

Slightly off topic, but watch FOG OF WAR.

It's an amazing film by Errol Morris about Robert McNamara who was Defense Secretary during part of the Viet Nam war. During WW2 he formulated/strategized US firebombings on Japan (the Tokyo firebombings killed over 100,00 people in a single night). In the film, McNamara reflects candidly that if the allies had lost WW2, he and others responsible for the firebombings would have been tried as war criminals, deservedly so in his opinion.

The whole film is jaw dropping in so many ways. A lot of it is him reflecting on difficult choices he made during war times, the lessons he learned (many of them shocking and unsettling), and whether end goals ever justify their means. He is old, but really sharp and you can tell he still hasn't come to terms with some stuff. But it's also clear that he's spent a lot of time thinking about it.

I guess when you haven't convinced yourself that you have a divine right/duty/destiny to kill a bunch of people, it weighs on your conscience more.

i can see your point... i guess for me it's obvious since in california you're supposed to whine about the gov't

ahh...joining the dots.

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