>“Blood on his hands; damn it, he hasn’t half as much blood on his hands as I have. You just don’t go around bellyaching about it,” Truman said, according to the book [*Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center*](https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Oppenheimer-Life-Inside-Center/dp/0385722044?linkCode=ogi&tag=bio-auto-20&ascsubtag=%5Bartid%7C2171.a.44361438%5Bsrc%7Cwww.google.com%5Bch%7C%5Blt%7C%5Bpid%7C176746df-998e-443b-a4a6-4fa369d33e02%5Baxid%7Cb378396f-ec17-4d66-b0d1-c98b798c78f4) by Ray Monk. He called Oppenheimer a “cry-baby scientist” and said, “I don’t want to see that son of a b–– in this office ever again.”



Genuinely, I feel like 100% of people who are like "we shouldn't have dropped the bombs!!!!" these days aren't even trying. They're actually just "war is bad so we should never ever *ever* have one!" or "America should've just accepted the Japanese terms, they let the emperor stay anyways!" 

  
The latter fails because it was a matter of principle to collect Japan's complete surrender and avoid revanchism, as well as to have the potential to try Hirohito (it is a failing that he was not tried). The former is me just exaggerating a little and conflating different opinions. But, in the case of the picture I provided, its quite literally just "we should only kill people I don't like/people my oomfs and twitter friends wouldnt like," as they then proceeded to justify Dresden and Iranian strikes on Israel (and wish for destruction of Tel Aviv, though in a joking manner).

  
At the very least I would like some consistency. I would also love love love if MY side of the argument wasn't just a bunch of balding fascists, conservatives, and nazis who think its okay to kill civilians and that that aspect of the bombing is justified, or that there is nothing wrong with the atomic bombings. like nooo bud thats not it youre not quite there. we bombed cities not people we didnt put shit in mailboxes or drone strike children like every modern genocidal dictator does, nooo we nuked cities which produced war materials, had propaganda value, was at this point vital to the economy (and to supporting nearby naval babies), and so forth. If you're okay with the action of killing civilians for the purposes of war I actually think you need to be born again and live a healthier life. Whether you are killing civilians outright (i.e. Japan committing retaliatory raids against Chinese villages with no value, strikes on Israel by any number of groups just to terrorize the population, drone striking hospitals in Ukraine, Im sure theres a gaza example but I dont keep up with that conflict anymore) or destroying factors of total warfare (destroying a city in part or entirety due to how much it provides to prolonging a war where every day hundreds of thousands die across the world) 

  
realistically it is all kinda semantics but like, I feel like people should  be able to realize things arent so binary as good and bad. The bombings were morally justified, I would say - the net cost balances out to zero, because we should never want to do it again, we must have been fully aware civilians would die, but also we would have done it still if every civilian had gone to Kure and the mountains, and it saved a great many more.

  
also can people who were against the bombings start giving like alternatives again. I miss reading that we would starve Japan into submission as if this wouldnt worsen famines that already existed across the Empire of Japan (the Japanese were very good at starving 2 million Vietnamese people as it stood and the Allies were very good at creating famine in the home islands and occupied territory by destroying infrastructure, which helped to curb the war effort) 

  
I have a whole thing I wrote up to justify the bombings but overall this is just to complain so like I'm open to debate and all but, yknow. I'd just like calmer conversation rn

  
oh ALSO I refuse to watch anymore of the anime about the effects of total war and US bombings on Japan because I already picked my favorites. neither are actually about the atomic bombs per se. I recommend with all the power in my heart: "In This Corner of the World" (which actually had a very interesting commentary on total war, what it means, and how we have to grapple with this fact. i love it so much im going to talk about it in a comment) and Grave of the Fireflies, which similarly shows the pointlessness of war, even though there is hardly a scene in it that takes place during the war. However, Grave of the Fireflies never stoops to blaming the United States. Instead, it only ever blames militarism itself, and if you watch the film with any understanding of history and the war, you should come away thinking "What's the point of nationalism, of expansion, of being proud to serve? What's the point of any of that?" as well as reflecting on what you have. (my favorite scene is when they recall the naval review)

  
anyways thats all.

I feel like the embodiment of Truman whenever any discussion happens on Japan in WWII