[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Lanny_MacDonald

Captain, I think the documentary was called "Hiroshima: Why the bomb was dropped". It may also have been "Lifting the Fog: Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki". Those are the only productions I can find that ring true as to what the documentary was about.

You raise some good points in your situations. I think the Japanese may have also viewed this show of force (bombing an island) as a show of honor. I know after seeing that, given the option of kissing that person's ass or risking my city, I'd have kissed their ass. Jesus, if bombed Edmonton, and then said they were going to bomb Calgary, I think we'd all immediately surrender after seeing the damage of the first bomb (I mean after thanking them for whiping Edmonton off the globe).

I used to be really gung-ho about the military and was a real hawk about these things, but after living down here and being exposed to the ignorance associated with what the military can do, I just can't stomach it any more. Maybe its the daily exposure to the violence, but it gets old quickly. I'd much rather take the Canadian approach and talk things out than rush into something like that which happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

You know, its funny, but times have changed. The Americans love their toys and they love to show them off. That's what is happening in the Islamic world to garner support. A show of their toys and what they can do. Jesus, I shudder to think how close Afghanistan was to tasting one of the new toys in the arsenal (a burrowing low yield bunker buster nuke). Sadly, that's what some of these cultures want to see and the Americans are all too ready to accomodate them. If the Americans had taken this attitude in 1945 hundreds of thousdands of lives may have been saved. I'm not saying dropping the bomb was right or wrong, I'm just saying I think there was a better way to do it and that people at the time thought the same thing.

Thanks Lanny, I'll take a look for that documentary, I'll let you know what I think.

Your right, times have changed, if you remember the start of the war when the American's deployed the MOAB in Iraq, it was quickly forgotten about, the wrong weapon for the wrong war. Unfortunately, weapons like the bunker buster are going to become more of a necessary tool since the enemy is now more elusive, and piecemeal battles may become a thing of the past as mobility and precision striking capability become more important. There might be a better way to do things, but I think we are now beyond the hypothetical 12 on the clock, its unlikely that there is a diplomatic solution to the war on terror, or even a economic solution to the war on terror, and the American's aren't the only ones who should take thier share of the blame. However the American's have always been slow to get really angry, but when they do they have an all or nothing mentality, win at all costs screw the other guys. But where the world has changed is it used to be that you could fight a war and eventually become friends and allies, (see Russia, France, Germany and Japan), thats become a impossible solution as war no longer involves countries, but involves race, ideology and religion, and repairing relations between those lines is impossible and takes generations and not years.

I'm still a Military Hawk in that I've defended the need for the Canadian Military to be expanded and upgraded, for the protection of the people that serve, the people that need it and the international community. The ability for Canada to participate in UN peace keeping missions has degraded to the point where we actually only have a handful of troops deployed under the UN flag, imagine hearing that in the 60's and 70's where Canadian's wore the blue beret throughout the world. The Military also needs better transport and the ability to rapidly deploy itself as oppossed to needing other nations to transport and supply our troops.

But thats way off topic.

Thanks, I actually enjoyed this.