Lindsey Graham is ignorant of WWII history.

[ExciteBike66]

Yes, the United States was attacked by Japan. But even in 1941 our country's existence was not threatened. There was zero chance that Japan would invade, and even less chance they would have succeeded if they tried. By the time of Hiroshima, Japan was powerless.

Bombing Hiroshima was intended to save the lives of soldiers, right or wrong. It was not intended to "save" America in any way.

[Emile]

1. He is also ignorant to Ronald Reagan withholding

F-16s to Israel.

[hlthe2b]

2. Shortened version works best: "Lindsey Graham is IGNORANT..."

(captures the full breadth)

[dutch777]

3. Yep, there you go! What a tool he is.

[DeeDeeNY]

9. Adding one word --

Lindsey Graham is WILLFULLY ignorant!

[localroger]

4. The bombings weren't even about saving the lives of soldiers

(bit of an aside, but...) Before the bombings we had a draft surrender agreement which was acceptable to us and which, since we had broken Japanese codes, we knew would be acceptable to the Japanese too. There was never going to be an invasion. All the supposed preparation for one was posturing. What the bombings were was a message to the Russians, that we had the Bomb and were willing to use it. This is why the Potsdam Declaration, which had been planned to contain the surrender terms we knew Japan would accept, was delayed until after the Trinity test and then when the test was successful reframed in terms we knew they would never accept. We didn't need anything Japan could offer us as much as we wanted to show Russia where she would be standing after the war.

[mopinko]

5. there's a great netflix series about the bomb.

turning point- the bomb and the cold war.
super interesting and in great depth.

[FailureToCommunicate]

6. Wow. This is NOT what our veteran parents, and we, were told. But it does make sense.

Anywhere I might seek info about this outlook...that is credible?

[Kaleva]

8. I would also like to see a credible source about that

[localroger]

13. Richard Rhodes covers it in The Making of the Atomic Bomb

He has primary documentation showing Secretary of War Stimson as being strongly in favor of offering the Japanese acceptable terms. The entire dialogue was thrown out the window though when they started making preparations for Trinity.

[gibraltar72]

7. You had me at, "Lindsey Graham is ignorant".

[walkingman]

10. Sen. Graham should immediately be censured for this comments about the use of nuclear weapons.

It seems to be quite common these days to "talk" about the usage of nuclear weapons without regard to the real danger and devastation that any usage of this class of weapon would create. Even a so-called tactical nuclear weapon, which seems to be considered acceptable to some morons these days, would put the entire world at risk of full scale nuclear war. Which means the physical safety not only of some 334 million Americans but also of millions of people in other countries would be at risk.

This should not be taken lightly - it would alter the course of human history.

[BannonsLiver]

11. He'd be in good company here

We have a few “new history”devotees that believe the US was the aggressor in WW2.

[walkingman]

14. I don't think I have ever heard anyone convey that idea?

[thucythucy]

17. I've seen at least one post here that comes close.

The poster asserted that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor after the US "threatened war" because we wanted the rubber from Indochina.

A few problems with that: a) the US didn't threaten war, though it did impose an embargo on oil after the Japanese military occupied Indochina and b) the US got most of its rubber elsewhere, Brazil for instance.

I have had and continue to have many critcisms of US foreign policy, past and present, but some folks take their criticisms to ahistorical extremes. Blaming the US and NATO, for instance, for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Nuance can be difficult if you see the world entirely in terms of black and white.

[JohnnyRingo]

12. I doubt he knows much about Civil War history either.

He probably still calls it the war between the states.

[Harker]

15. That's a step away from " the war of Northern aggression." n/t

[Kennah]

18. "That unpleasantness"

[Harker]

21. Now there's a real Grade A euphemism. n/t

[Crunchy Frog]

16. Lindsey looked and sounded REALLY bad in that video.

His face looks all puffy and swollen, and he sounds like he's got dementia. His ramblings are literal insanity.

Whatever one may think about the current situation in Gaza, I don't see how you could possibly equate Hamas with Imperial Japan. Japan had managed to conquer most of Asia and the Pacific, and had killed tens of millions over a period of years. We had been fighting them for years and losing hundreds of thousands of our troops, and stood to potentially lose many more. Hamas are terrible, but they are a terrorist group that controls one tiny enclave filled with impoverished stateless people, who managed to stage a single violent incursion that lasted a day. A nuclear strike on Gaza would, IMO, be the final nail in Israel's coffin.

[Demsrule86]

20. Radiation would kill Israel as well.

[Demsrule86]

19. Yes that is correct.

They would have fought on and sued for peace....based on Okinawa...it would have been awful. My Uncle was on a ship on his way to Japan. He landed in Europe on D-day. And after the fall, he and others were going to Japan. He said he and some other guys were going to jump off the ship to commit suicide. He was done. He was haunted the rest of his life by what he saw.

[Aristus]

22. Lots of people are ignorant of WWII history, though.

I was talking to someone once about what a great film Saving Private Ryan was. I happened to mention that the Canadian effort that day on Juno Beach was worthy of a movie of their own. My friend said: "Canada fought in World War II? I didn't even know they had an army!"