[ExI] riots again

[Charlie Stross]

On 1 Oct 2012, at 19:50, Mirco Romanato <painlord2k at libero.it> wrote:

> Il 01/10/2012 18:55, Stefano Vaj ha scritto:
> 
>> Indeed. Heck, for Hiroshima bombing US media did not refrain to
>> provide stuff to the general public, even though the mid-term
>> consequences were more horrifying than Allied or German bombing in
>> Europe during WWII.
> 
> What mid-term consequences?
> Anyway, the near-term consequences of the A-bombs used was to spare
> two-millions lives of US soldiers AND a greater number of Japanese lives.
> Without A-bombs Japan would not surrender, the Japan occupied
> territories would continue for months to be occupied, with much more
> people dead by famine or killed. The Soviets would enter in the war
> against Japan and occupy a large part of East Asia.

Au contraire: the Soviets had *already* entered the war against Japan, and smashed the Japanese army in Manchuria. The campaign started on August 1st. The A-bombs simply gave the Japanese govt. a convenient excuse to surrender to the USA rather than to Stalin. 

(Why is the Korean DMZ where it is? Answer: because that's where the Soviet T-36's ran out of gasoline ...)


-- Charlie