in fifty years the question will be "Exactly why did the US invade Iraq?" and those of you who bought the administrations version, or the misinformation and propoganda will be saying: 'Sadam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, etc.' The same is true of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. The government's story, that many still propogate, is ' It saved millions of American lives!' there is absolutely NO evidence for that, it is purely speculation, based on what we Americans, who have little or no experience with Japanese culture, think the Japanese may or may not have done. useless to discuss. The question is WHY did the US drop the bombs? and to me there is not now, nor were there ever, any justification for it's use. end of argument. you don't kill innocent civilians, period.

Rabbi Sol talks about the madman, Hitler getting the bomb. you could as easily argue that Truman was a madman, 'only a madman could have done what he did'. and probably not be right in either case, Hitler may or may not have been a madman, just as Sadam Hussein may or may not have been, Personally I don't think either of them were insane, just willing to use the power they had. Just as the neo-cons argument for a new American Century is 'because we have the power we should use it' to remake the world in our image.

As to the original question and it's usual response, "to save American lives, if we had invaded they would have fought to the death, etc." the question that is never asked is: Why did we have to invade? Japan was defeated, no navy, no air force, no longer a threat to anyone, why not stand down, let your forces r & r in the South Pacific for a few months and blockade the Island? would starvation have been less or more cruel than nuclear anhailation? I know an army loosed is hard to restrain, but there was no reason to bomb or invade, just as there was no reason to invade Iraq. It was the choice of our 'leaders', and we have to live with the consequences. We are now a terrorist nation, for the threat behind everything we want other countries to do is 'we have the bomb!' and we are not afraid to use it. It angered and amazed me to hear the Bushes say that Sadam must be stopped because if he ever got a nuclear weapon he was a madman who would use it against defenseless civilian populations. that is US, the U. S. and we did it twice. yes, EVERY country has committed war crimes and attrocities, but this is our own personal shame. I only hope we are the only country to have to live with it, but the future is a nuclear nightmare, it's only a matter of time, our chickens will come home to roost, and boy will we be outraged!