

The Luckiest or Unluckiest Man in the World? Tsutomu Yamaguchi, double A-bomb victim - justlearning
http://timesonline.typepad.com/times_tokyo_weblog/2009/03/the-luckiest-or.html

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mcantor
I'm a young guy, and all of this happened way before my time... but the
ambiguous morality of the bombs' use ("Was there a different way? No, Yes, No,
Yes!") does nothing to diminish the tingle in my spine when I read about this
man's uncanny ordeal. I'm amazed at Mr. Yamaguchi's gracious attitude towards
the Americans. He asks, "How could they do that?" and the article makes it
seem like he is more bewildered or curious than angry. I hope this world--and
my country, the United States, in particular--never forget the dire
consequences of those brutal weapons.

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xenophanes
Why would he be bewildered? The reasons for the bombing are _public_. He has
full access to them.

~~~
RiderOfGiraffes
Here's a thought. I'm not claiming it's true or correct, but it's how I
understand things ...

Looking at it from the outside, as a non-participant who has studied (and
practised!) game theory and strategic decision making, it seems obvious and
clear as to what happened, and the reasons behind it.

When you're on the _inside,_ maybe it's different. Maybe it's hard to divorce
feelings from reason, emotion from rationality. Maybe the reasons, although
logical and reasonable, don't seem to make sense.

Surely a different viewpoint changes your perception.

Looking at it from the inside, perhaps he can't see what you can see - simply
and dispassionately.

Looking at it from the outside, maybe you can't understand how he feels.

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dmix
Great video on the hiroshima bombing simulation:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rHrV2QhArA>

I find it incredible someone could experience that twice in a week.

~~~
nebula
_I find it incredible someone could experience that twice in a week._

and survive to tell the story :)

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johnnybgoode
It's a testament to the power of ___________ that the morality of the bombings
is widely considered to be ambiguous.

~~~
rms
It's a testament to the power of history being written by the winners that the
morality of the bombings is widely considered to be ambiguous.

~~~
tspiteri
The second bomb is more difficult to justify than the first, true, but I _do_
find the morality of the first bomb ambiguous. The article itself indicates
that to the Japanese military leaders, surrender was not an option; with
civilians considering killing their family when the enemy invades, I don't
think that surrender was being considered.

The amorality of the atomic bomb is sometimes attributed to civilian
casualties, but soldiers are humans too, and saving soldier lives actually has
value. And although some might say that soldiers chose to be in the war
voluntarily, this should not be used against soldiers. Otherwise less soldiers
will volunteer, making the draft inevitable.

And having soldiers and an army in a large country is a necessity. If such a
country has an inadequate army it does not get peace, it gets invaded. I do
not like to imagine what would have happened to the US if its army were not
stronger than the Japanese army.

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quizbiz
If you haven't actually read this, please do. Such a powerful read. Intense,
moving, and emotional. If you're having a tough time getting into it, skip to
the 2nd picture.

But a must read. Don't just vote up, skim and move on.

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lucumo
It is a beautiful article and I'm sad that they have allowed it to be ruined
by allowing comments on it :'-(

