Originally Posted by
Leon Jabachjabicz
KenV The Doolittle Raid was air power projection from carriers and Midway was a naval battle with heavy use of air power launched from carriers. Where and how are your so-called boots on the ground necessary for these??
Interesting point. My reply was in rebutal to the claim that Tinian was the only island that needed to be taken to win the Pacific war. That's absurd. Taking Tinian was dependent on all the sea, air, and land battles that preceded it.
Also, for the other points above, the 2x bombs brought the Japanese to the negotiating table and ended the war.
Oh my, not even approximately correct. While I agree that the two nukes were a critical tipping point for Japan, they accounted for a tiny fraction of the total destruction brought upon Japan and its people. And it's beyond absurd to call the table where the instrument of surrender was signed on the USS Missouri a "negotiating table." The first sentence of the second paragraph of that instruments states: "
We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters and of all Japanese armed forces and all armed forces under the Japanese control wherever situated." (emphasis added) There were zero negotiations.