cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/42490739

Japan condemned US President Donald Trump for comparing recent US strikes on Iran to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II.

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[–] 14 points 1 year ago* (4 children)

Does he not know that using the atom bombs to kill civilians was kind of considered a bit of a no-no?

The justification that "it ended the war early, actually 'saving' lives" is moot, killing civilians to save soldiers, is pretty much strongly considered the opposite of the point. It is a war crime.

Not having been charged with it, isn't something you want to go poking at. Everyone has kind of loosely agreed to leave it in the past. But that doesn't have to stay the case if you make people upset enough like that.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    During his feature length interview in The Fog of War, MacNamara said explicitly that if they had lost the war, he and his team would have been tried for war crimes. He cries a bit at one point while describing the firebombing of wooden cities, at how it was worse than the atomic bombs they dropped.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Yeah, that is actually one of the other points people sometimes use to refute the atom bombs being a war crime. That they didn't kill as many civilians as firebombs or carpet bombing... I know you aren't, just brought it to mind. But yeah, that only makes those other types of bombs also war crimes. Hehe.

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