Why Japan surrendered in 1945?

[pasoleati]

That is rich! Did the japs abide by the Geneva Convention?

That is irrelevant as the Allies had signed the treaties. Plus the custom of internatuional laws is that even if one party does not respect them others may not use that as a reason not to respect them.

[pasoleati]

Whether or not the Japanese attacked first is totally irrelevant as far as the actions of others are concerned. In the eyes of international law, the one who attacks without a declaration of war is quilty of breaching that particular rule, but it does not give any carte blanche for the attackee to breach the law.

The very idea of international laws is that one is better to try to regulate how wars are fought rather than ban them as the latter would automatically lead to condemning the losing side.

And ask yourself, did the U.S. declare war on Iraq and Afghanistan? No. So, by your logic any act by Iraqis or Afghans against any American is kosher.

[blinky]

Since you only seem to whine about the US at every opportunity my question is why are you here in the first place? I'm starting to think an American ran off with your wife or mother......

[merdock]

Japan still honors its war criminals as heroes.

Used POWs as slaves.

Murdered civilians.

Murdered merchant navy men and civilian passengers, evidence shows that they did really have fun in the killing.

Did rape young girls and women, used them as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers, gave them the innocent name comfort women, troostmeisjes 慰安婦 ian-fu.

Japan never officially apologized.

Humm ...... Hasegawa, I think that I do like the scale model manufacturer more than this so called highly respected historian who is talking about American war crimes when it comes to the bombing of Japan's cities.

Who cares about why Japan did surrender ?
Most important is that Japan did surrender and by that world war two did end.

Hi,
We my not like what the Japanese did but all combatants have done the same/similar things over the years no country is innocent? Be it concentration camps ,slavery ,murder ,rape those that are innocent please step forward?

Do you need a list?
Mark[Viking descent]

[Seigfried]

Hi,
We my not like what the Japanese did but all combatants have done the same/similar things over the years no country is innocent? Be it concentration camps ,slavery ,murder ,rape those that are innocent please step forward?
[Viking descent]

No Allies did anything like this:

[nomis]

mmmm

Reading this thread, as with some others, it is depressing to see individuals trading insults, whilst trying to make sense of mankind and human-nature.

It is no wonder wars, together with their associated dis-respect for human beings, have and will forever continue to be a part of daily existence.

Well done everybody.

Oh, and before you start trolling your insults towards me for expressing an opinion that offends your manhood, don't bother as I shall not be reading this thread further.

[PaulW]

Siegfried - "No Allies did anything like this:" (Picture of Allied POW being beheaded). Perhaps not, but how many Japanese prisoners were taken in the first place? Perhaps they didn't live long enough to be beheaded as many were shot out of hand:-

"And while it was "not official policy" for Allied personnel to take no prisoners, "over wide reaches of the Asian battleground it was everyday practice." (John D. Dower - War without mercy 1986)

"in 1943, "a secret [U.S.] intelligence report noted that only the promise of ice cream and three days leave would ... induce American troops not to kill surrendering Japanese" (Ferguson, Niall (2004). "Prisoner Taking and Prisoner Killing in the Age of Total War: Towards a Political Economy of Military Defeat)

Also, I don't think anyone has much to counter Pasoleati's (he lives in Finland by the way, not the US) point that the US has attacked without declaring war since Pearl Harbour.

Let me also say, I am not at all anti-US, or pro-Japanese. I am glad that Imperial Japan lost the war. However, there are historical facts that cannot and should not be ignored. War is dirty, vicious and unfair. All sides in almost all wars I can think of at some point murder POW's and civilians. Which is worse, to behead a POW (for a real or imagined 'transgression'), or bomb a city full of innocent men, women and children for little military purpose, except perhaps to terrorise a population (aka terrorism)? As a war progresses the enemy is generally de-humanised by each side. It's best to avoid war, where possible, in the first place.

[chen]

.

[bigschuss]

I read in a chapter heading to a book recently something that I think sums up this nicely…at least IMHO.

"In WWII the forces of imperfect good defeated the forces of near perfect evil."

So, say what you want about the U.S. and the atrocities that were committed under our flag…no doubt about it. But I think it's hard to refute that the U.S. were, by and large, the forces of good, as imperfect as they were.

[jacquesf]

It is always funny to listen to people apologise for the Axis in WW2. They strutted around like school yard bullies, then they got their arses kicked. Now people apologise and argue about how how they got their ares kicked. The"how" does not matter, they went looking for it. Karma is a bitch. J

[pasoleati]

Jacquesf, if the Axis were "strutting bullies", you must ask were they the only bullies in history? I don't think so. Yet, it seems that the Axis of WW2 (and Germany of WW1) are viewed as the only bullies in history against whom anything was allowable. E.g. France under Napoleon committed massive massacres in Spain. Should that have justified massacring French children? Spain in turn was responsible for genocides in Americas. Should Spanish civilians have been massacred for "karma is a bitch"? jacquesf, hailing from the land of apartheid, should his ass be kicked too?

To be frank, there are at least 50 people apologizing for the genocide of American Indians for every "apologist" of WW2 Axis.

[jacquesf]

And your point is....... You seem not to take into account that if these nations did not attack other countries, there would not have been war crimes and that includes the Spanish, French, all the imperialists and we can go on. You also seem to confuse political systems with international aggression and genocide. Bit of of a confusing argument. All of this to defend nations that started a war that killed over 70million people. I would say "apologis" describe your position quite well. J

[Edward]

Yet, it seems that the Axis of WW2 (and Germany of WW1) are viewed as the only bullies in history against whom anything was allowable.

Which sums up the underlying reasons for your continued arguments in there entirety.

[Gary Jucha]

G

Germany has been, and always will be Bad Losers.
The "Uber Mench" mentality can't stand criticism even when beaten fair and square.
It's as simple as that.

[Seigfried]

Germany has been, and always will be Bad Losers.
The "Uber Mench" mentality can't stand criticism even when beaten fair and square.
It's as simple as that.

We are talking about the Japanese - the Germans have gone some way to atone, the Japanese nothing. As far as they are concerned they never did anything wrong, and never lost the war either. And this is what they teach today.