EUHR Court rules life sentences against human rights.

[AkemiAzula 280]

Should Italy have a good hard think about the evils of the Roman persecution of the Christians?

 

Please...

 

History is history. 

 

Every nation was 'evil' at some point. The smart thing to do is to just ignore the past, because it doesn't relate to the present. If a bad situation arises, deal with it. But let's not hold grudges against old foes. Remember the French? We English used to be properly at war with them. Now we exchange a few snide remarks about their cheese eating ways.

 

Remember that the true moral victor is he who ignores antagonism and forgives his enemies, not he who dwells in grudging and grief. A nation did something you dissaprove of. These things happen. I don't particularly approve of some things America has done, but I'd welcome a free trade deal with them. 

 

Just because the things that happened back in the forties were a touch too extreme for some... Look, it was a different time. Ideologies were different. It has no bearing on the modern world. The same ideologies would never gain momentum now. Look at neo Nazis. Pathetic. Very few people would join a hated group just because they believed in something.

 

Would you want to become a Simcity2013 fanboy? Precisely. 

 

Anyway I still say life sentencing is stupid and wasteful of resources. It's like keeping a weed frozen in carbonite to teach it a lesson. Chuck it on the compost already.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

We are now well off topic.  Do we suppose enough has now been said, if not too much.  I think this should be closed.

[snick25 384]

 

(I would welcome a thorough American reflection on the use of the atom bombs too.)

 

It was either that or Operation Downfall. The latter would have caused many more casualties, on both sides, including civilians. The Japanese had prepared for an invasion and had piled millions of troops into Kyūshū in anticipation of Operation Olympic (the first phase of the invasion). There were an additional 28 million civilians in militias. American predictions on the death toll averaged at about half a million Americans and 10 million Japanese. The Japanese themselves predicted they would lose 20 million people in the event of an invasion.

 

Those are merely the numbers. Considering how fierce the fighting got in the Pacific Theater towards the end, especially in the Battle of Okinawa, one can assume the results would have been rather horrific, more so even than the results of the nuclear bombings. There were plans for extensive fire-bombing and even the use of chemical weapons on the American side, and God knows what the Japanese would have resorted to.

 

All things considered, while the civilian death toll and the effects of American nuclear bombings were pretty awful, the only realistic alternative would have been much, much worse.

 

As far as the discussion of Japanese attitudes towards the war are concerned... I will say the expungement of the events of Nanking from history books is surprising to us in the West, but one must consider the culture in Japan, where events considered bad or shameful are often swept under the rug. Also, most Japanese war criminals never paid for their crimes because the Americans didn't pursue them. The United States was concentrating on occupying and rebuilding Japan, and while I'm not sure how much foresight officials at the time had into the spread of Communism, one can argue many Japanese officials were kept in place out of need (at least in the American perspective) for a strong, stable government in the region.

 

EDIT: I do agree with Nonny's post. How exactly does this discussion relate to the original topic? Perhaps there should be a thread for the discussion of ethics or something similar, as that is what seems to be the central theme here.

[LexusInfernus 908]

Also, most Japanese war criminals never paid for their crimes because the Americans didn't pursue them. 

 

It should be noted here that also only a fraction of the German war criminals were ever prosecuted. Most got to keep their jobs as they were a vital part of the bureaucracy that was sorely needed to keep Germany functioning.

 

It is generally considered a dumb move for an occupying force to purge a state´s systems of people they consider to be bad for ideological reasons as such a move generally results in collapse and anarchy. Iraq is a fine example of what happens when you are actually stupid enough to do a purge like that. 

[AkemiAzula 280]

I know this is off topic but I'll just add that I agree with Lexus. It is stupid and idealistic for any conquering state of purge all of their old enemies. Better to win over them and make use of them. Your enemies are at the plateau that you are on, they were leaders and masters in their fields. Do not throw away perfectly good machinery because it was manufactured in unethical ways.

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

Yeah, this has gotten a fair bit off topic, should have been fixed earlier.

Closed.