WWII Historian Says G7 Leaders Need to Remember the Lessons of Hiroshima | Amanpour and Company
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Hiroshima, site of the G-7 summit, remains a living reminder of the unthinkable horror of using nuclear weapons....often bandied about these days as legitimate battlefield armament. In his new book, Evan Thomas concludes the United States had no other option than to drop the atomic bombs on Japan.
Originally aired on May 19, 2023
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Amanpour and Company features wide-ranging, in-depth conversations with global thought leaders and cultural influencers on the issues and trends impacting the world each day, from politics, business and technology to arts, science and sports. Christiane Amanpour leads the conversation on global and domestic news from London with contributions by prominent journalists Walter Isaacson, Michel Martin, Alicia Menendez and Hari Sreenivasan from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City.
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@leonardcapozzi3318 Жыл бұрын
In my opinion, Mr. Thomas' argument about the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan is mistaken. Yes, the US felt compelled to drop the bombs, but the choice to drop the bombs FIRST on population centers as large as Nagasaki and Hiroshima without first detonating the bombs over less-populated terrain as a show of force and a warning to the Japanese was an act of excessive force, which is a war crime. Perhaps if the US had first detonated the bombs over unpopulated terrain and still the Japanese had refused to surrender then maybe one can argue that there was no other choice than to commit this mass slaughter of civilians. Unfortunately, in addition to the obvious reason of ending the war, part of the motivation behind dropping the bombs was pure vengeance, part of the motivation was racial (I doubt the US would have dropped the bombs on a European nation in the same situation), part of the motivation was to see what effects the bombs would have on human beings and on structures, and don't forget the not so subtle messaging directed at the Soviet Union. The tragic events at Hiroshima and Nagasaki are a grim reminder of how utterly perverse the genie of violence becomes once it's let out of the bottle. The situation in Ukraine is another reminder. And there are so many others. Violence is not the answer. War is not the answer.
@kellharris2491 Жыл бұрын
I am not sure you know this but the extreme war crimes that the Empire of Japan commited in the Pacific were far more desistating then Hiroshima and Nagasaki Combined. Japan did not distingish between civilian or military and actually specifically targeted civillians in absolutly brutal fashion. They ate around a 100 people. The cannabalism wasn't out of hunger. They tortured their prisoners of war to death just for the fun of it. And it was even part of their orders to degrade them.They kidnapped a massive amount of women were they imprisioned them and repetedly raped them. The "comfort women were around 200,00 to 500,000. All told the civilians killed by Japan where 550,000 to 800,000. While the US only killed around 199,000 in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Japan was not some innocent victim in the war. They call it the Asian Holocaust. They actually had the same beliefs as the Nazi's only about themselves. Some estamate the deaths to be up to 30,000,000 just from 1937-1945. After the war the US felt guilty about hiroshima and even hid Japan's worst attrocities. The US spent a fortune rebuilding and helping Japan develop. The people there now are absolutly innocent of the atrocites of WW2 but even now they refuse to appoligize to the women that were kidnaped. And they don't teach about it in school at all. They were just as bad as Germany. This was in many ways justice. Japan stopped believing it's emperor was a God. It truly humbled this nation and made them change course.
@DeOmnibusDubitandum76 Жыл бұрын
@@kellharris2491 Interesting. So Japanese atrocities justify our own? I thought the Puritan US always fought just wars...
@DavidSchilter Жыл бұрын
@@DeOmnibusDubitandum76 Exactly. None of this eye for an eye business - we're not in the Middle Ages anymore, right? Hopefully, we'll also get rid of the death penalty here in the US too and become a lil' more civilized.
@tradeprosper5002 Жыл бұрын
Fire bombing the cities of Japan had already killed at least twice as many civilians (>330k). People talk about just the atom bombs, but fire bombing of Japan and Europe (eg. Dresden) were also a new level of warfare. The first atomic attack was probably justifiable, but the second was questionable.
@Synonomous Жыл бұрын
@@kellharris2491 You mean the videos of US soldiers prying the gold from the teeth of still alive , wounded Japanese soldiers is ok? Hypocrisy 101. They fire bombed civilians in Tokyo that lived in wooden structures. Such utter delusion.
@vivalaleta Жыл бұрын
What irony to say the "I'm good and you're evil" attitude is somehow Russian.
@nathanpiazza9644 Жыл бұрын
Author doesn't mention the victims of the bomb(s), only the feelings of the bombers 😮💨
@tnndll4294 Ай бұрын
poster doesn't mention the feelings of Asians who were the victims of Japan warcrimes. more total murders, rape, and slavery at the hands of Japan.
@codebus Жыл бұрын
Japan was trying to surrender. They wanted Russia to negotiate. This was three months the before the bombs. The president knew it. The war council was still split even after both bombs.
@DurgaDas96 Жыл бұрын
The guest says with a straight face that “ the US is not imperialist”. I can’t believe the interviewer let him get away with that statement. So conquering the entire North American continent by force and systematic genocide of Native Americans isn’t imperialism? Taking over Hawaii wasn’t an imperialistic action?
@Danimal1577 Жыл бұрын
At this present juncture in time, the United States is not imperialist
@Synonomous Жыл бұрын
@@Danimal1577 Only hegemonic. Much better.
@ksc743 Жыл бұрын
@@Synonomous all the world super powers are hegemonic right now.
@Synonomous Жыл бұрын
@@ksc743 Hardly. Do you see China in north or south America? Russia? EU? Only the U.S. (which IS Nato) is spreading towards the east to become dominant. I don't see ANY military bases from ANY other nation within reach of the U.S. You've looked at the map, right? Embarrassing statement.
@ksc743 Жыл бұрын
@@Synonomous you are arguing from a point of "boots on the ground" and some military hardware compared to the cyber warfare China is capable of? You are the one who should be embarrassed. Most countries, including the US, are lagging far, far behind when it comes to hacking and disabling enemy cyber infrastructure and satellites. Even "silly" companies like TikTok have to report back to the Chinese govt, no matter how much they deny it. The way China controlled their 1Billion+ population during the pandemic was something to behold. They would be as capable of disarming the US and Japan. I have no doubt they work on these stealth capabilities every minute of every day, it's that important.
@rohanrocks1826 Жыл бұрын
Why US has not apologized yet-:)? Any answer!! No Options. May be same applies to Russia.
@scottkrater2131 Жыл бұрын
Because we have nothing to apologize for. It was a lawful act of war. When is Japan going to apologize for the Nanjing Massacre? Hundreds of thousands of non combatants murdered. More than were killed by both bombs. Or the Doolittle raid reprisals the cost the live of 250,000 Chinese civilians?
@keiram8755 Жыл бұрын
I would suggest that all cultures have veins of madness that are waiting to be expressed, and to say that the US is not an imperial power as Mr Thomas says at 12:40 is jaw-dropping.
@Danimal1577 Жыл бұрын
At this present juncture in time, the United States is not imperialist
@keithklassen5320 Жыл бұрын
@@Danimal1577 America's imperialism is certainly much more subtle than old-school colonialism, but it remains intact.
@johnpodesta4002 Жыл бұрын
Great reporting. Thanks for posting this on youtube!
@tyeadel Жыл бұрын
Didn't someone say "history is doomed to repeat itself".
@ezeewrap66 Жыл бұрын
No. Historians are quite clear that history does NOT repeat. To believe otherwise is to abandon free will in favour of determinism. Perhaps you're thinking of the saying often attributed Mark Twain, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." 🙂
@chesterfinecat7588 Жыл бұрын
"We had to slaughter civilians." Sure, Japan had no more navy, air force nor ability to import any war materials but they weren't going to surrender and we were going to have to invade because siege warfare hadn't been invented yet.
@insanisstultitia3119 Жыл бұрын
Other historians research found that surrender could have happened without the bombings if the US had compromised on its goal of unconditional surrender. The sticking point for the Japanese was retaining the emperor in his position. It is unclear if they would have accepted the reduction of the emperor to a figurehead, as eventually happened after the war. Many officials advocated for maintaining the emperor’s authority as a condition for surrender even after the Hiroshima bombing.
@scottkrater2131 Жыл бұрын
That wasn't the only sticking point. They demanded no occupation, no forced disarmament, and no outside prosecution of their war criminals. And the Emperor never surrendered. According to him, he decided to end the war to save civilization (Japan) but he never said surrender.
@tnndll4294 Ай бұрын
Like Hitler saying he can't unconditonally surrender and wants to be retained.
@bobcornwell403 Жыл бұрын
I think that what is different now is that we now have a nuclear armed nation state with a leader with no mechanism within that state to remove him. In the Soviet Era, the politbureau had the power to remove their national leader.
@jaymacpherson8167 Жыл бұрын
The resolution for the war on Ukraine is for Putin to withdraw from the territory he invaded going back to 2014. Presuming he will resort to nuclear weapons assumes he views that as a non-terminal option. It also presumes the Russian military will follow such an order.
@BobQuigley Жыл бұрын
AND no NATO in Ukraine or Georgia.
@markolson2466 Жыл бұрын
No! Ukrainian people must have the right to live in their entire country in peace as European members of NATO!
@garybowler5946 Жыл бұрын
Truman never felt a thing over his decision he was a cold and mean man.
@kevinjenner9502 Жыл бұрын
Nuclear blackmail goes back to Truman. McArthur, Eisenhower, during the Korean Conflict.
@garybowler5946 Жыл бұрын
@@kevinjenner9502 McArthur was a real p.o.s. human being too. He mishandled Korea badly and also attacked the WW1 vets in DC and burned down the shanty town and killed alot of innocent Americans. Eisenhower was at least born with a soul.
@Danimal1577 Жыл бұрын
How do you know for a fact that Harry Truman was a "cold and mean man?" Cite and source evidence of this claim
@alanshackelford6450 Жыл бұрын
I'd suggest Putin give them some considerable consideration too. Deterrence has to have teeth. Bigger, better US defense presence on the Pacific in the 1930's = no need for Hiroshima.
@theunspeakable24 Жыл бұрын
This historian states that the US is not "imperialist". Maybe in words only. Look at our spread of democracy in Iraq, Vietnam, South America, Yemen. I sense that this historian is in a "democratic' trance. He's human and having a hard time facing what this country is doing. Did we not promise to not expand Nato? and did we not break that promise aggressively? Moral ambiguity is much easier on those making money from the war than anyone else.
@veramae4098 Жыл бұрын
You're wrong. Troll.
@robertmarken3794 Жыл бұрын
@@veramae4098 concise rebuttal
@Darhan62 Жыл бұрын
NATO is a defensive alliance. If Putin had chosen a different path in the early years of his leadership, Russia might even be a NATO member today. But now, Russia is a corrupt, failed democracy, ruled by a single dictator. There were certain expectations of Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It failed to live up to those expectations. The US isn't the one being "imperialist" here. We are simply standing up for Europe, for democracy, and for the rules based world order.
@JB-uv4hm Жыл бұрын
@@veramae4098 you’re blinkered. The US has been an Imperial power since 1898.
@abc_13579 Жыл бұрын
And before 1898 we weren't? I think some Native American Indians would beg to differ...
@akeleven Жыл бұрын
Point me to an era, a month, or a day when leaders were not posturing.
@ksc743 Жыл бұрын
I saw an interview with someone from the US Navy who said the war regarding Taiwan would be an Underwater Arms Race. Who has the most nuclear submarines?
@robertdillon9989 Жыл бұрын
Russia is not going to use a nuclear weapon, and anybody who thinks he is is profoundly wrong, because he knows Moscow will cease to exist 20 minutes later. He is not that stupid.
@DeOmnibusDubitandum76 Жыл бұрын
12:12 go figure, Japanese people reading history!! Anglo chauvinism is strong with this one!
@danielgray8504 Жыл бұрын
Yeah, this guy was dripping with arrogance about western superiority
@Rnankn Жыл бұрын
He was making a point about wisdom being found in history and philosophy. That’s elevating thoughtfulness over pride. That’s a rare perspective in all cultures, because most people don’t read history. What’s ignorant is trying to reduce everything to some clash of cultures.
@DeOmnibusDubitandum76 Жыл бұрын
@@Rnankn Nothing of the sort. Cultures clash, irrespective of my comment, which was not meant in that direction. He made it sound as if it was a total anomaly that a Japanese national would read continental philosophy, without any evidence to substantiate that it was.
@keithkuckler2551 Жыл бұрын
It was not just Oppenheimer, Sec of War, Stimson, was also against their use. He was no bleeding heart, a Republican who had served in previous administrations.
@johnlaudenslager706 Жыл бұрын
Of course there was a choice, a bad one and a worse one. The bad one we took: destroy two Japanese cities with two bombs and lose no US soldiers. The worse one we didn't: (since the Japanese had a culture of fighting to the last if it was man to man) kill multiple millions of Japanese and lose probably more than a million US soldiers. There are not many lessons to be learned from Hiroshima. One is that you might want to have nukes to deter others who have nukes. The other, the author Evan Thomas said repeatedly, sometimes horribly hard decisions have to be made. He does not say we should acquiesce to the demands of anyone who threatens to use their nukes.
@DurgaDas96 Жыл бұрын
I think there are objective standards as to what morality is, both in religious terms and secular terms ( see Kolberg et al). There’s no such thing as a “Putin” morality, as if the moral compass is mere relativity.
@MonicaTRodriguez Жыл бұрын
So matter of fact about the idea of going to war over Taiwan. Why would we do that? What reason would we have to go to war over Taiwan? Except for the profit of defense manufacturing companies. This guy chuckled as he said, "He was sentenced as a war criminal." Of course he can then say with a straight face, "The US is not an imperialist country." Is this guy ignorant or lying?
@birbluv9595 Жыл бұрын
Excellent, thought-provoking, scary interview.
@rip_peanut10 Жыл бұрын
no choice? no choice? amanpour journalism no choice? dont use or use. putin can also use that kind of moral righteousness.
@jameshol99 Жыл бұрын
Human beings will get what they deserve.
@Maxwell-mv9rx Жыл бұрын
You are living Hiroshima EUA drops bonbs over YOU . Are You right now? Truma is most evil sociopath like Hitle Amin Dada Stalin . EUA always cover up Truman massacre it is carnage never USA shows.
@Delvy787 Жыл бұрын
“America is not imperialist” 😂
@Danimal1577 Жыл бұрын
At this present juncture in time, the United States is not imperialist
@scottkrater2131 Жыл бұрын
If Americans were Imperialist, Japan would be an American colonial possession now.
@Delvy787 Жыл бұрын
American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, taking Hawaii.
@SylvainDuford Жыл бұрын
America is humane and not imperialist? Funniest thing I've heard in a while 😂
@Danimal1577 Жыл бұрын
At this present juncture in time, the United States is not imperialist
@Jesse-ey5xd Жыл бұрын
Most Republicans I know like to gloat about how we dropped bombs on Japan.
@nathanfarbman3927 Жыл бұрын
There’s always a choice. The Japanese may have had a strident position, but did we exhaust all efforts to convince them to lay down their arms? The argument that we saved Allied and Americans lives is again fraught. There were other ways to prosecute the war and bombing two defenseless cities is a stain on all of us.
@Danimal1577 Жыл бұрын
You purposefully omitted the fact that millions of Japanese were not killed because of a land invasion
@scottkrater2131 Жыл бұрын
Yes we did, and you forget the fact the Japanese were killing hundreds of thousands of other Asian's every month they continued to resist.
@ripadipaflipa4672 Жыл бұрын
I doubt we needed to drop that second bomb. Was it really the only position we had? I am sorry to b disagreeable but if I was in Japan in 1945 I would be on my knees begging to not drop another.
@ripadipaflipa4672 Жыл бұрын
Ok I sound ignorant and obviously didn’t listen to the end b 4 responding to what I heard. I didn’t realize about the 3 d bomb and wasn’t alive in the 40’s. I also hate when people like me respond b 4 allowing someone to finish what they’re saying. I apologize
@Danimal1577 Жыл бұрын
You purposefully omitted Japanese and East Asian warrior culture that goes back centuries, and is strongly embedded within the people
@Synonomous Жыл бұрын
@@Danimal1577 You purposefully conflate the foreign policy of warmongering generals/politicians with the civilian population so you can demonize them and justify burning them alive in their homes. I don't hold US citizens responsible for their gov'ts hegemonic foreign policies. Why do you? I've been to Japan numerous times and met these 'warriors', lol. Have you? Nicest, humblest, people. Those days are long gone and those people are all dead. The U.S. is trying to change that with their weapon deliveries, though.
@scottkrater2131 Жыл бұрын
@@Synonomous Nobody else in Asia finds them to be anything other than arrogant and still unapologetic about the crimes they committed in Asia. Even the Chinese applaud the US for dropping the bombs on Japan.
@kevinjenner9502 Жыл бұрын
Two very different types of bomb were used, and no amount of civilian casualties would of dissuaded our desire to see cause and affect in real time.
@Leonitus333 Жыл бұрын
I dont agree that atom bomb was required to end the war. We had firebombed the Japanese into submission incinerating whole cities and in all across the country. In my opinion, dropping the BOMB, was a show of power to the rest of the world.
@Danimal1577 Жыл бұрын
You purposefully omitted Japanese and East Asian warrior culture that goes back centuries, and is strongly embedded within the people
@scottkrater2131 Жыл бұрын
The Japanese government was far from submission. If not for the bombing, and the Emperor, they would have been perfectly fine with Japan being annihilated in a conventional invasion. Or it's people starved to death, as long as they retained power.
@Leonitus333 Жыл бұрын
I think the excuse of warrior culture is a bad one, soldiers are warriors on all sides. American warriors vs. Japanese warriors. They all were willing to go through extreme measures to win and die trying.
@Maxwell-mv9rx Жыл бұрын
Absolutely cinism. Still his book his thinks are historic value. It is whortless book. EUA drops nuclear bonbs over Japan citizen they arent in the war. Truman never was in trial concern his war crimes. Now this guys are undermines Japan massacre show untrue anout the war.
@Danimal1577 Жыл бұрын
You purposefully omitted the horrific massacres and war crimes of Imperial Japan
@Synonomous Жыл бұрын
@@Danimal1577 You purposefully omitted the video(s) of U.S soldiers digging the gold from the mouths of still alive,wounded Japanese soldiers with their bayonets. How about fire bombing civilians by the 100,000? Try again.
@scottkrater2131 Жыл бұрын
@@Synonomousyou left out the murder of prisoners by Japanese soldiers in every battle they fought. And they would kill American medics trying to help them. Japanese mutilated our dead.
@JB-uv4hm Жыл бұрын
Historians selling schtick.
@Darhan62 Жыл бұрын
Yes! I'm a Democrat, but not a peacenik. My father was in the Navy, and my grandfather before him. We didn't just decide to use the atom bomb for no reason as the historical revisionists suggest. We were forced into it -- thousands of innocents dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to prevent millions more from dying over the course of a protracted war, likely culminating in an invasion of Japan by US troops and yet more terrible choices. And here we are again. China does some bad things, but let's not allow the political rhetoric at home to lead us into an unnecessary armed conflict with nuclear potential. Better to use diplomatic means, and perhaps the threat of a "big stick," to help keep them on the straight and narrow -- not to "contain" China, but *constrain* the available choices that would be in rational interests of the Chinese leadership. As for Putin, he's backing himself into a corner, and I hope there's something we can do to prevent the Russian situation from spiralling out of control. We need to massively support Ukraine even in the face of Putin's nuclear sabre rattling -- if we didn't the entire rules based world order would be in jeopardy. We have to understand which risks we simply have to take for the good of the human future, and which ones we need to avoid while we still can.
@kevinjenner9502 Жыл бұрын
China’s illegal wars, occupations, regime change, and proxy wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, are a concern for us all.
@bl7406 Жыл бұрын
There was no reason for this. War is not an answer, ever.
@Rnankn Жыл бұрын
Unless you need to defend yourself. Otherwise the cruelest would become the strongest and they would dominate everyone else. Unfortunately, conflict is the norm in human history, and there is nothing to suggest humans have changed.
@kevinjenner9502 Жыл бұрын
“The invasion of Iraq was neither in self defense against armed attack, nor sanctioned by the UN Security Council authorizing the use of force by member states, and thus constituted the Crime of War of Aggression” (International Commission of Jurists Geneva)….Secretary General Kofi Annan declared the US invasion of Iraq illegal on Sept 15, 2004.
@Danimal1577 Жыл бұрын
You left out the fact that Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany started World War II, and Putin's Russia started the Ukraine war